Wednesday, August 29, 2012

At The Midpoint Of The Extended Trilogy


If I ever met Peter Jackson, I would give him a big, wet, sloppy kiss on the mouth with tongue. This epic only gets better with each viewing. If you could pick one character to be the 'hero' of the story who would it be and why? Or is that a stupid question? I am told it's Frodo but I gotta say I am pretty impressed with Sam and Faramir. But Sam is the hero of the story.

3 comments:

Hobgoblin238 said...

Just finished it with the wifey.

Jordan said...

You know what's particularly interesting? The characterization of Sam (and of the Sam/Frodo relationship) is actually one of the biggest changes that the Jackson writers made.

For all of Tolkien's genius, he was definitely a supporter of the British class system. So Sam in the book is not very bright, and is very definitely subordinate to Frodo in a way that would be distasteful to modern if actually put onscreen unchanged.

Similarly, movie Aragorn has to earn his right to the crown (through his actions in Two Towers which are very different from the book version). In the novel, he just is the exiled king, what are you talking about? Whereas in the movie he's got to undergo a radically amped-up series of trials in order to prove to himself and everyone else (and the audience) that he's got what it takes. (Also, Arwen in the movies is a legitimate character and not a one-dimensional trophy princess.)

Kal said...

Thanks for telling me all that. I appreciate those little tidbits because frankly I found the book to be such a slog that I just gave up. I am perfectly happy for whatever tale the filmakers came up with because it all works for me and remains true to the spirit of the work - with all it's complicated histories and details.