Subject: Review: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)

From: Dennis Schwartz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 21:07:38 -0000

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE (director/writer: Peter
Jackson; screenwriters: based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien /Fran Walsh/
Philippa Boyens; cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie; editor: John Gilbert; music:
Howard Shore; cast: Elijah Wood (Frodo), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Liv Tyler
(Arwen), Viggo Mortensen (Strider/Aragorn), Sean Astin (Sam), Cate Blanchett
(Galadriel), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Billy Boyd (Pippin), Dominic Monaghan
(Merry), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Hugo Weaving
(Elrond), Sean Bean (Boromir), Ian Holm (Bilbo), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Lawrence
Makoare (Lurtz), Craig Parker (Haldir), Marton Csokas (Celeborn); Runtime: 180;
New Line Cinema; 2001) 

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz 

"Fellowship" feels like every other "good versus evil" big-budget epic of $90m
plus that has ever been filmed, including "Star Wars." However, New Zealand
director Peter Jackson (Heavenly Creatures) does a good job of adapting J. R. R.
Tolkien's first part of his trilogy, the 1,000-page three volume set published
between July 1954-October 1955, "The Lord Of The Rings," by clarifying the story
(an invented myth about an heroic quest--the theme of doing good for the world,
somewhat, borrowed from the Finnish epic Kaleva) as simply and as eloquently as
he could and by the magnificent visual scope of the film and excellent use of
computer graphics, and by offering a robust and faithful rendition which should
gratify the devoted readers of the popular novel and at the same time offer an
accessible presentation to those new to the book. 

Unfortunately, it is a three hour film that grows wearisome after a while, as
too many plot points are repeatedly explained and one battle begins to look like
another (with the Orcs, Ringwraiths, and Uruk-Hai) and after one cliffhanger
scene after another it begins to take on the B-movie look of a serial adventure
shown back in the days of double-features during Saturday matinees.
Nevertheless, this version of Tolkien, co-scripted by Jackson and Fran Walsh and
Philippa Boyens, comes off as an elegant visual action venture and the
filmmakers should be congratulated for the results because this is a difficult
book to put on film. It was tried in a 1978 animation by Ralph Bakshi, and that
venture did not fare well. 

Ian McKellen, gracefully plays the magical Gandalf, the lanky good wizard garbed
with a tall pointed hat and a long grey beard and who is a towering friend to
the Baggins family living in the Shire. Gandalf drops in to visit his
diminuitive Hobbit writer friend Bilbo (Ian Holm-he's reduced to an imaginary
Hobbit height of three feet, as are all the Hobbits) on his 111th birthday
celebration, as Bilbo promises to turn over the most powerful magical ring in
the Middle Earth for safekeeping to the innocent Hobbit who has now grown to be
a trustworthy young man, his adopted nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood), but there's
needed some additional coaxing from Gandalf before Bilbo reluctantly yields the
magical Ring and retires to an elvish hideaway. Frodo knows nothing about the
One Ring and its evil powers over any other force in Middle Earth. It was forged
by the malevolent Sauron on Mount Doom in Mordor as a source of dark power to
control the world, but was lost in battle and disappeared for a few centuries
until it's retrieved by the improbable, Bilbo Baggins. 

The plot revolves around the need for the potent evil Ring, which can only be
destroyed in the place it was created, being brought back to that treacherous
place by Frodo as the Ringbearer with the help of his loyal friend Sam (Sean
Astin) and frolicsome buddies Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd).
They leave their beloved Shire for the first time with only that important
mission in mind; they get help along the way from the magic of Gandalf and from
the "human'' warriors, the heroic swordsman Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the
conflicted Boromir (Sean Bean), who wavers about destroying the Ring, and the
Elf archer Legolas (Bloom) and the fiery Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). 

The main obstacle along the way for Frodo the Ringbearer and his eight
Fellowship guardians comes from a renegade wizard who has been overtaken by
Sauron's evil, Saruman (Christopher Lee), the mentor of Gandalf, who gathers his
fearsome fighting monsters into an army who go to battle in order to capture the
Ring. There are constant dangers from the relentless Dark Riders, various types
of evil swordsmen, and all the natural dangers encountered along the way. The
earnest Ringbearer and his bold companions keep going on despite these dangers,
realizing the evil that will befall civilization if the Ring gets back into the
wrong hands. 

After battle an injured Frodo receives needed help from the magical Elf princess
Arwen (Liv Tyler) and in the Elvish settlement of Rivendell the princess' astute
father Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and the Elf Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), will
offer their wisdom and comfort for all of the Fellowship members. 

The Ring itself is a tremendous temptation even for those who are good but
imagine what they can do with its powers, as some contemplate taking it for
themselves. 

Before reaching Mordon, the Fellowship must cross the deadly Mines of Moria,
which is a cavernous tomb strewn with corpses where they are forced to fight
their way out of its dark recesses with the fierce subhuman Orcs and one
vengeful giant Orc. The film ends in Mordon with a nonending, the way action
serial chapters used to in order to get the viewer excited about the next
chapter. 

Tolkien meant for his mythological writings, voraciously read by the true
believers of the novel, to look at a world other than our own, a fictionalized
world with a different language and mythology and lore (there were no hidden
religious messages). Each battle was perceived as a step ahead in Frodo's
evolutionary scale and a way to fulfill enlightenment without looking back to
the safe place he ventured from. Tolkien was after something else in his
writings than what faces America today in its fight against terrorism, though it
is hard not to relate the film to these recent events. 

Tolkien was a scholar who was interested in ancient languages and was dismayed
that the English people lost the oral stories of the fifth century Anglo-Saxons
who conquered England and gave the country its traditions and language and
identity. When he wrote the book in 1939, England was under attack by the evil
forces of Nazism. For him it became a question of the small people (ordinary
people) being asked to exhibit courage to stop the world evil. His myth was
rooted in reality, as he asked if we could undo the evil with a quest just like
his beloved and good-hearted Hobbits did. 

It was an enjoyable but exhaustive spectacle to take in, a chance for today's
adults to look at what many teenagers and hippies were reading back in the
counterculture days of the 1960s. This film had a rousing musical score by
Howard Shore and was directed with a deft passion and an ear for comedy by
Jackson, and it also benefited by having great actors like Ian McKellen and Ian
Holm give the film some needed colorful characterizations between all the
animated battles. Tolkien was not much for giving women much to do in his
stories, as in this film the talented women actresses, Tylet and Blanchett, are
wasted in small roles. 

This is a cult book from yesterday that makes a popular film for today, one
worthy of an Oscar nomination as Best Film (this one is much more literate than
Gladiator or Braveheart, recent award winners--not that I think this is really
the best pic of the year but, at least, it is the kind of film Hollywood could
be proud of). 

This is the first installment in this trilogy, as there will be "Lord of the
Rings'' features released the next two Christmases, with all three films
directed by Peter Jackson. 

REVIEWED ON 12/28/2001     GRADE: B 

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" 

http://www.sover.net/~ozus 

[email-masked] 

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED   DENNIS SCHWARTZ

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