FILM REVIEW: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Zealand, 2001)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Christopher Lee
When New Line Cinema first offered a relatively unknown director a budget of $285m, to make a trilogy of films from a source that was deemed un-filmable, you could have been forgiven for assuming we would have another Heaven's Gate on our hands. Likewise, as more and more big-screen imitations have turned up and fallen short, it is easy to be cynical about The Lord of the Rings because of the legacy it has left. But as is so often the way with these things, it only takes a quick revisit of the trilogy for all fears to be laid to rest and for all the magic to once again take hold.
Even if the other instalments of this trilogy had never seen the light of day, The Fellowship of the Ring remains a masterpiece in its own right, an epic with substance and emotional power which rewrites the rulebook for fantasy filmmaking. Considering the enormity of the project and the ambitious scope of J. R.R. Tolkien's novel, it is something of a miracle that it was even made at all. But what is a bigger miracle is that a film this long, with this many characters and this much introduction, should be so flawlessly executed that it holds up even after 20 or 30 viewings.
Part of what makes the film so magical is the sheer level of craftsmanship and attention to detail, both in the visual representation of Middle Earth and the deeply affectionate treatment of Tolkien's story. Before even the prologue has finished you are utterly convinced not only that Peter Jackson was the right choice to direct but that every effort has been expended to do justice to the material. There are no dodgy special effects, no props which have been built down to a price, and no locations which feel like the real world is being frantically kept off screen.When designing the film, Jackson and WETA's Richard Taylor sought to create a world and series of cultures which would expand beyond the four corners of the screen. Everything about the film, from the hair on the hobbits' feet to the grandest building, feels completely bespoke, and in being so detailed the smallest object like a belt or a sword can come to embody and define an entire culture. Because of this level of detail, you never have that awful experience of recognising a prop or set piece. You won't find the tankards in The Prancing Pony hiding in the back of your cupboards, and the woodland communities are not simply jumped-up versions of Endor in Return of the Jedi.But although the world of Middle Earth is rich with its own cultures, this is balanced out by a desire to be realistic in the film's depiction of characters and situations. The battle scenes may be fantasy violence, but the violence is structured realistically. You don't always need to show blood to understand that people are getting hurt, and unlike the Star Wars prequels we don't end up with fights which defy the laws of physics because of an over-indulgence in CGI. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings as a mythic pre-history, as something that could have existed in a forgotten dark age. And that same spirit has been replicated here: we believe enough in the mechanics of this world to accept it, but there is also plenty of magic in which to lose oneself.
Fellowship is the gentlest film in the trilogy, with more focus in its first hour on Hobbiton and setting up the idyll of the Shire. On the surface this would seem like the easy part of the whole project, since it doesn't involves epic battles with a cast of thousands or scenes of enduring physical pain. In fact, this is the part of the trilogy that Jackson simply had to get right. These scenes have to demonstrate not just the idyllic and sheltered lives of hobbits, but the pure and harmonious way of life which Frodo undertakes his quest in order to preserve. And they succeed wholeheartedly, making us feel part of this community, at home with its customs and laid-back means of existence. Hence when the first elements of darkness creep in with the arrival of the Ringwraiths, we are every bit as terrified as the hobbits or inhabitants of Bree.Even though it is the gentlest in the trilogy, the film has real darkness and builds the creeping sense of horror really well. In the first encounter with the Ringwraith, we see insects crawling away from the tree in which the hobbits are hiding, like the whole of creation is repulsed or terrified by the very presence of this fallen king. The scenes in Moria are deeply claustrophobic; even before the orcs and goblins turn up you feel like you are walking through the bowels of hell, on a thin path of light between two immerse darknesses. The Balrog and the Uruk-hai are terrifying, the former especially since its presence is subtly suggested through the evocative use of red light, and when revealed it is every bit as monstrous as one would have hoped.What is really striking about The Lord of the Rings, and Fellowship especially, is how this progression of increasing darkness is counterpointed by humour. Though this aspect is less prominent in the books, it makes sense for there to be some form of comic relief amidst the gathering gloom and destruction of human souls. Jackson comes from a background in horror comedy, having made his name in the 'splatstick' horror of Bad Taste and Brain Dead. There are clear hints of this macabre humour in the battle scenes, and the comic interplay between Merry and Pippin as is much comic relief as a naïve, absurdist reaction to the strange, dark worlds ahead of them.
Tolkien likened the ring to a machine: something which is cold, clinical, calculating and by its very nature heartless. Tolkien was not a Luddite, but he was aware of the way in which technology could be used to eradicate human will. One of the delicious ironies of the story is that the enemy is both a distant concept (like 'technology') and something which must be carried with them (like a sword). Characters are seduced by the concept or potential of the ring - Boromir, believes it will help his people and save his country. But what is designed to bring victory can just as swiftly bring defeat, and just as men die upon their own swords, so the ring will destroy those who carry it.Much of Fellowship examines the rise of industry and man's relationship with nature. The elves, who have a harmonious relationship with nature, are in the autumn of their years and are beginning to leave Middle Earth. The orcs and Uruk-hai, meanwhile, represent the march of progress, technology and modernity, exploiting and trampling on nature in the name of power. Sauron's decision to tear down his trees and replace them with machinery is a symbol of civilisation advancing at the expense of nature, a development which creates competition for resources and causes humanity to turn on itself. While Sauron creates a pure, almost Aryan race in the Uruk-hai, mankind stands on a knife-edge, unsure of which direction in which they should proceed.The film also has a breathtaking soundtrack, which contains some of Howard Shore's very best work. Because The Lord of the Rings is a deeply emotional story about worlds colliding and civilisations collapsing, it is necessary for the score to be prominent and for it to embody and encapsulate the different cultures. In this case, it fits so perfectly that you can't believe that the actors weren't mapping out their movements to it. From the tender scene between Aragorn and Arwen to the drums matching the Uruk-hai's tempo through the woods, the music never misses a beat and succeeds where so many melodramas fail, matching emotion to music without compromising the performances.The Fellowship of the Ring is a barnstorming masterpiece, which balances its multiple stories effortlessly. Although it has an easier job than its brothers in this respect, you never feel as though characters are being ignored or getting left behind, and every performance in the ensemble has depth and conviction. The film is visually spectacular, from the ethereal beauty of Lothlorien to the gloomy depths of Moria. Its set-pieces are as intimate and thrilling as its romantic scenes, and Jackson's direction is flawless. It is the perfect start to a perfect trilogy.
Rating: 5/5
Verdict: A perfect start to a perfect trilogy
Written by
Daniel Mumby |
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
|
Labels:
Action-Adventure,
Daniel,
Epic,
Fantasy,
Film Reviews,
Heaven's Gate,
Peter Jackson,
The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Lord of the Rings
|
- (500) Days of Summer
- 3 for the Price of 1
- 3D
- 90 minutes
- A Canterbury Tale
- A Good Year
- A Shot in the Dark
- A Single Man
- Abel Ferrara
- About me
- About Schmidt
- Acoustic
- Action-Adventure
- Adaptation
- Agnieszka Holland
- Airplane
- Alan J. Pakula
- Alan Parker
- Alan Watts
- Album Review
- Alejandro Amenabar
- Alexander Payne
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Alice in Wonderland
- Alien
- Alien 3
- Alien Resurrection
- Aliens
- All The President's Men
- Alnwick Academy of Dance
- Alnwick Playhouse
- Alnwick Theatre Club
- Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who
- An Education
- Andrew Brett Hayes
- Andrew Stanton
- Angel Heart
- Animation
- Anime
- Anton Corbijn
- Apocalypse Now
- Apollo 13
- Art Films
- Asif Kapadia
- Avatar
- B-Movie
- Back to the Future
- Bad Lieutenant
- Barry Lyndon
- Basic Instinct
- Batman
- Batman and Robin
- Batman Begins
- Batman Forever
- Batman Returns
- Battenberg
- Battle of Britain
- Battleship Potemkin
- Be Kind Rewind
- Belleville Rendezvous
- Ben Wheatley
- Bernard Rose
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Biopic
- Black Comedy
- Black Narcissus
- Black Swan
- Blade Runner
- Blake Edwards
- Blockbuster
- Boozer
- Breaking Point
- Brian De Palma
- Brian Henson
- Britannia Hospital
- British New Wave
- Bryan Singer
- Burke and Hare
- Byron Haskin
- Caper Film
- Capricorn One
- Captain Moonlight
- Carol Reed
- Carrie
- Charlie Kaufman
- Childrens
- Chinatown
- Chris Morris
- Christianity
- Christmas
- Christopher Nolan
- Cinema
- Citizen Kane
- Clio Bernard
- Comedy
- Comic Book
- Coming of Age
- Concert Films
- Cosmo Duff Gordon
- Cronos
- Cult Films
- Damien O'Donnell
- Dances with Wolves
- Daniel
- Danny The Champion of the World
- Darren Aronofsky
- David Fincher
- David Keating
- David Lynch
- David O. Selznick
- David Zucker
- Debra Granik
- Deliverance
- Delta Spirit
- Dirty Pretty Things
- Disney
- Docudrama
- Documentary
- Doug Trumball
- Download
- Dr. Dog
- Dr. Strangelove
- Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Drama
- Dreams
- Duncan Jones
- Ealing
- East is East
- Eddie Murphy
- Edgar Wright
- Emeric Pressburger
- Epic
- Eraserhead
- Erotic Thriller
- Escape from New York
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Fairy Tale
- Fantasy
- Film noir
- Film Reviews
- Films of the Year
- Fire in Babylon
- Flash Gordon
- football
- Found Footage
- Four Lions
- Franc Roddam
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Franklin J. Schaffner
- Fred Schepisi
- French New Wave
- Fritz Lang
- Gavin Millar
- Gene Saks
- George Cukor
- George Lucas
- George Nolfi
- George Pal
- George Roy Hill
- Ghost Story
- Ghosts of Mars
- Giallo
- Gig reviews
- Gilles Paquet-Brenner
- Godspell
- Gojira
- Gone with the Wind
- Gonna Sing Gotta Dance
- Green Zone
- Gridlocked
- Grindhouse
- Guillermo Del Toro
- Guy Hamilton
- Hallowe'en
- Hammer
- Harold Pinter
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Heartless
- Heaven's Gate
- Hector Babenco
- Hiroyuki Morita
- history
- Horror
- Howl's Moving Castle
- I Know Where I'm Going
- If....
- In Bruges
- Inception
- Independent Film
- Indiana Jones
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Insomnia
- Into The Night
- Ishiro Honda
- James Cameron
- James Dearden
- James Matthewson
- Jane Sanderson
- Jaume Collet-Serra
- Jaws
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Jerry Zucker
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- Jim Abrahams
- Jim Henson
- Jim Loach
- Jim Sharman
- Joel + Ethan Coen
- Joel Schumacher
- John Boorman
- John Carpenter
- John Hillcoat
- John Landis
- John Michael McDonagh
- Jonathan Demme
- Joseph Losey
- Joseph McGrath
- Josie Cerise
- Juan Antonio Bayona
- Julian Schnabel
- Juliette Binoche
- Karel Reisz
- Katell Quillévéré
- Keeper of the Keys
- Kevin Costner
- Kevin Macdonald
- Kick-Ass
- Kill List
- Kim Spence
- Kind Hearts and Coronets
- Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Kitchen Sink
- Krzysztof Kieslowski
- La Haine
- Ladyhawke
- Lasse Halstrom
- Let The Right One In
- Lime Scurvy
- Lindsay Anderson
- Lisa Cholodenko
- Logan's Run
- Lone Scherfig
- Lord of the Flies
- Love Like Poison
- Lynne Ramsay
- Marc Webb
- Martial Arts
- Martin McDonagh
- Martin Scorsese
- Mathieu Kassovitz
- Matthew Vaughn
- Melodrama
- Memento
- Metropolis
- Michael Anderson
- Michael Cimino
- Michael Crichton
- Michael Frayn
- Michael Powell
- Michael Winterbottom
- Michel Gondry
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Mike Hodges
- Monster Movie
- Monty Python
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Morgan Spurlock
- mp3
- Mr. Nice
- Mulholland Drive
- Mumbling On
- Mumby at the Movies
- Mumbys
- Murray Lerner
- Muse
- Music
- Musical
- Nacho Vigalondo
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- Neil Simon
- Neo-noir
- New Blog
- New Hollywood
- Nick Cave
- Nicolas Roeg
- No Country for Old Men
- Noah Baumbach
- Noises Off
- Nominations
- Northumberland Gazette
- Nouvelle Vague
- O Lucky Man
- Of Time and the City
- Old Crow Medicine Show
- Oranges and Sunshine
- Orson Welles
- Out of Africa
- Out of Place
- Pantomime
- Paul Crowder
- Paul Greengrass
- Paul Verhoeven
- Pedro Almodovar
- Peeping Tom
- Penny Brown
- Period Drama
- Peter Brook
- Peter Brown
- Peter Hyams
- Peter Jackson
- Peter Sellers
- Peter Weir
- Philip K. Dick
- Philip Ridley
- Piracy
- Pixar
- Plenty
- poetry
- politics
- pope
- Porco Rosso
- Prince of Darkness
- Princess Mononoke
- Prison Drama
- Propaganda
- Quadrophenia
- Queen
- Radio
- Remi Bezançon
- Repulsion
- Review Revisited
- Rhyming play
- Richard Attenborough
- Richard Donner
- Richard Lester
- Richard O'Brien
- Ridley Scott
- Road Movie
- Roald Dahl
- Robert Hamer
- Robert S. Fiveson
- Robert Wise
- Robin Hardy
- Robin Hood
- Rock Opera
- Roger Corman
- Rogue Trader
- Roman Polanski
- Romance
- Romantic Comedy
- Romantic Drama
- Ron Howard
- Sam Wood
- Sarah's Key
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
- Saving Private Ryan
- Schnepps
- Science Fiction
- Scott Hicks
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Sebastian
- Senna
- Sergei Eisenstein
- Shadowlands
- Shine
- Shock Treatment
- Shutter Island
- Silent Film
- Silent Running
- Singer-Songwriter
- Sir Henry at Rawlinson End
- Slasher
- Sleeper
- Sleeping Beauty
- Source Code
- Spetters
- Spike Jonze
- Spirited Away
- Sports Films
- Stanley Kubrick
- Star Wars
- Stephen Frears
- Stephen Hopkins
- Stephen King
- Stephen Schwartz
- Stevan Riley
- Steve Roberts
- Steven Spielberg
- Stop Making Sense
- Studio Ghibli
- Super Size Me
- Surrealism
- Swords-and-Sandals
- Sylvain Chomet
- Talking Heads
- Terence Davies
- Terry Gilliam
- Terry Jones
- That Kefalonia Moment
- The Adjustment Bureau
- The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn
- The American
- The Arbor
- The Bed-Sitting Room
- The Boys from Brazil
- The Cat Returns
- The Clonus Horror
- The Dark Knight
- The Deep Blue Sea
- The Deer Hunter
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- The Eagle
- The Elephant Man
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
- The Fog
- The Ghost Writer
- The Go-Between
- The Goon Show
- The Guard
- The Haunting
- The Hermit's Tale
- The Illusionist
- The Kids Are All Right
- The Killer Inside Me
- The King's Speech
- The Lady Vanishes
- The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
- The Lord of the Rings
- The Lovely Bones
- The Magic Christian
- The Man Who Fell to Earth
- The Man Who Knew Too Much
- The Muppet Christmas Carol
- The Ninth Gate
- The Odd Couple
- The Omen
- The Orphanage
- The Others
- The Paradine Case
- The Party
- The Passenger
- The Pink Panther
- The Prestige
- The Proposition
- The Red Shoes
- The Rest Of Your Life
- The Return of the King
- The Road
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- The Secret Garden
- The Skin I Live In
- The Social Network
- The Squid and the Whale
- The Sting
- The Thing
- The Third Man
- The Two Towers
- The Usual Suspects
- The Verve
- The War of the Worlds
- The Who
- The Wicker Man
- Theatre
- Theatre Reviews
- They Live
- Three Colours - Blue
- Three Colours - White
- Thriller
- Tideland
- Tim Burton
- Timecrimes
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Titanic
- Tom
- Tom Hooper
- Tomas Alfredson
- Total Recall
- Touching the Void
- Trading Places
- Treetop Flyers
- True Grit
- Twelve Monkeys
- Tyneside Cinema
- Unknown
- Victor Fleming
- Wake Wood
- WALL-E
- War Film
- Warkworth Drama Group
- Watchmen
- We Need To Talk About Kevin
- Western
- Westworld
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
- WhatCulture
- Wild at Heart
- William Peter Blatty
- Wim Wenders
- Wind in the Willows
- Wings of Desire
- Winter's Bone
- Witness
- Woody Allen
- World Cinema
- Zack Snyder
-
Reflections - It is weird to read my correspondences from the late August/early September period, being the time of transition between my old function in life to my new ...12 years ago
-
MOTHBALLED - While Mix and Match with Mumby continues on Lionheart Radio, this blog will no longer be updated. Thanks for reading :) Daniel12 years ago
-
Let's wrap things up - Dear all, It's been a while since I posted on here. A lot has happened in the last six months which has prevented me from posting new stuff on here. Gradua...14 years ago
-
0 comments:
Post a Comment