New interview with Christopher Tolkien

[Lalwendë]

CT's attitude reminds me somewhat of what happens when an old home is sold. Whether you feel happy or sad about leaving the place behind, anything the new owners do will upset you, and do something they will. Even if the films had been more faithful it may have been like driving past and seeing new windows in and the trees chopped down. In one respect he should be happy as it was as likely as not they would have razed it to the ground and rebuilt it (John Lennon or John Boorman had some insane ideas for example). Unfortunately, there's not a thing you can do about it.

"They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people 15 to 25," Christopher says regretfully. "And it seems that The Hobbit will be the same kind of film."

I wonder has he ever realised that the books are packed with action? But seriously, this does remind me of the regular griping you see in Guardian film blogs which bemoan the superhero film as being "for young males, a load of tripe". They are, however, great fun and make a lot of money, unlike Lars von Trier films which a certain portion of the mature audience enjoy - only a small one though, as older people have kids and can't go out, which is perhaps why nobody is ever going to make a film of The Archers. Even for me, who would have loved a gentle, lengthy BBC TV serial of Lord of the Rings, there's the realisation that if you need to spend a fortune in special effects and whatnot then you are going to have to do a few things to please the paying public. Though they could have kept in Tom Bombadil, purely to annoy the hoodies

According to the article, which may or may not be true (and I would not vouch for it without referring to a respected biography), Tolkien sold for £100k in the late sixties which was an absolute fortune back then, considering you could buy a nice big house for around £2k.

This though, is nonsense:

This amount was meant to allow the writer's children to pay their future inheritance taxes. Tolkien did it early because these taxes were very high under the Labour government of England of that time.

It wouldn't have helped to pay for death duties at all as they were and are incurred on an estate.

Some things not picked up on from the article...

What about this controversial statement?

First in England, then in France, he reassembled the parts of The Silmarillion, made the whole more coherent, added padding here and there, and published the book in 1977, with some remorse. "Right away I thought that the book was good, but a little false, in the sense that I had had to invent some passages," he explains. At the time, he even had a disagreeable dream. "I was in my father's office at Oxford. He came in and started looking for something in great anxiety. Then I realized in horror that it was The Silmarillion, and I was terrified at the thought that he would discover what I had done."

And how about the journalist being insulting here:

Rather quickly, however, the film's vision, conceived in New Zealand by well-known illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe, threatened to engulf the literary work. Their iconography inspires most of the video games and merchandising.

Knowing that Alan Lee and John Howe are two ordinary fans like the rest of us who both have incredible respect for Tolkien, I think they may be a tad insulted by this statement. Their 'vision' was actually conceived years before and they were chosen because of their work - it passed muster with Tolkien fans before the film so there is no reason why it should not pass muster afterwards. And is one of the very best things about the films.

[Mithalwen]

I thought it was income tax he needed the cash to pay - I am sure the details have been discussed here before a while back. Sure I ended up digging up the legislation.. not that I am obsessive or anything. Idea that it was on the lines on having to pay a very hight rate of tax before he received the income. 2K wouldn't have bought Tolkien's bungalow in Branksome Chine even though it wasn't very big and was spectacularly ugly. Since selling the rights wouldhave increased the value of the estate I can't see it would help with death duties. I suppose the share of profits might have been hoped to cover them if Tolkien didn't anticipate the films actually being made in his life time... though given the longevity in his family apart friom his parents he perhaps hoped for longer than he got. But what I have read on the issue before implied an immediate need rather than inheritance tax planning.

[Lalwendë]

The Hobbit panel is happening right now at Comic Con and a fan just asked Jackson if he would make a film of the Silmarillion. Jackson said there was "almost no chance" as "the Tolkien estate hold the rights and the Tolkien estate does not like the films".

Very topical.