This was used when the riders were to attack the hobbits on their journey to Rivendell and especially in the scenes where the hobbits stayed in the village of Bree. The Quality of acting and casting in the film allowed each of the actors to establish a strong role for themselves and demonstrate the qualities needed for their individual characters. Gimli for example is a very strong character. He conveys a real feeling of his passion for his culture and history, which in the book is something very important to the many dwarves as well as elves and men.
Also without wasting valuable minutes of the film, the relationship between Gimli the dwarf and the Elves was subtly included to show the slight prejudice they have for each other formed by the long history they share. One thing that I think the film had was a good use of humour. Not always shown in the book, humour is a vital aspect in most good films. Pippin and Merry were used as the typical clowns of the Shire and were the main culprits of anything that went wrong.
As in the book Pippin was the one who creates so much disturbance in the silent and dormant Moria, but other such instances for example the dangerous firework “display” that Pippin and Merry decide to put on, showed them to be the naive jokers in the film which is necessary and creates laughter. Other times clever one-liners were also used, like “They come in pints? ” which is a very British / Australian based joke, as said by Merry when referring to the beer. The rather more hidden jokes as used by Gimli, like “No one tosses a dwarf” when he was saying that he could cross the Bridge of Khazi??
rd-di?? m himself, could be taken either way! I think the use of humour overall lightens the atmosphere in the film, as without humour, the film would be very serious due to the nature of the story line. There were many parts of the book that were left out or changed to accommodate for the film. This was mainly because of the time factor, but some of the sequence was altered I feel to appeal to the film viewer as opposed to the book reader. The female character Arwen, played by Liv Tyler, was used to rescue Frodo, in the film, and take him to Rivendell to be cured after he was attacked.
In the book a male character called Glorfindel did this. This was done, I feel, to introduce Arwen earlier on and capture her more on screen to strengthen her romantic relationship with Aragon the Ranger. Relationships in films are key and when you consider that in the book Arwen features very little and there is no leading female through out the novel, I understand why they have enhanced the role of Arwen. There are two other small alterations to the storyline that I picked up on. The first was that in the book Frodo and Sam set out from the Shire with Pippin and with the intension of joining with Merry.
In the film they bump into the two other hobbits in a cornfield. This change in the story is slightly unnecessary but I think it is done to save on time and to give a felling as if its just typical that the two liabilities of the village should turn up on Frodo’s secret journey, adding to the profile of Merry and Pippin. The other point was a lot more hidden and meaningful. The sword used by Isildur, who defeated Sauron, was carried, in the book, by his descendant Aragorn played by Viggo Mortensen.
In the film the sword is only introduced when the council have met at Rivendell. My interpretation of why this is done is because in the film Rivendell is the place where us as the viewers and the characters too, have a lot of questions answered. It is the place where the history of the ring is made clear and the explanation from Elrond combined with dialogue from Aragorn really completes the story for the viewer. In one scene Boromir picks up the sword when he was discussing the Battle that Isildur fought thousands of years beforehand with
Aragorn. This confirms in the viewers mind the significance of the sword in the battle. The explanation of the history of the battle by Elrond was not the only time in the book where complicated parts of the story were explained. Saruman’s various soliloquies featured throughout the film were combined with close up shots of Gandalf to explain why Gandalf made certain decisions and to show what he was thinking, this too was not in the book but adds reinforcement to allow the viewer to understand more of the complexities in the story line.
An example of this is when Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, had to make a decision of whether to travel though the mines of Moria. By the close up featured in this scene we know that it is a decision Gandalf will not take lightly but we don’t know why. Then the voice of Saruman, played by Christopher Lee, says, “Moria, you fear to go into those mines. The dwarves delved too greedily… you know what they awoke… shadow and flame,” while this is being said Saruman looks at a book with illustrations of a blazing hot Moria.
This speech incorporated into the film then explains the reasoning behind Gandalf’s anxiety. Galadriel the queen of Lothli?? rien played by Cate Blanchett was used, as a character, to explain why the necessity to destroy the ring by showing the outcome of Frodo’s possible failure. Her voice was used in the opening introduction to the story, to maintain her role as a character that understands the full meaning and power of the ring.
All these examples of characters that talk about the purpose of the fellowship are there to explain what is an otherwise complex book, however I think that it is over done and that if they had left some of this out then the special mystery that the book has would have also been captured in the film. The last few scenes with the Orcs’ attack on the fellowship, enhanced by the acting, really displays the greed, duty, heroism and courage that surrounds the Fellowship of the Ring and indeed the whole trilogy. Here the acting is really essential as there is little that the film producers can do to change it.
All of the actors of the remaining fellowship play their part in the last stages of the film. Boromir, played by Sean Bean passionately shows the power that the ring had on people and indeed the feeling they felt when they realised that any desire for it shows their weakness. Elijah Wood conveyed Frodo’s feeling of paranoia and fear of Boromir and everyone in the Fellowship as he runs away, then Sam Wise Gamgee’s loyalty to Frodo played by Sean Astin also gives an insight into the devotion the characters have with each other and their land.
All of this contrasting with the dramatic and nail biting battle between the fellowship and the Orcs finishes the film off as well as leaving it on a cliffhanger as the fellowship is separated. I think that over all this film has shown great use of special effects, music and acting, to extract the morals and the emotions imbedded in Tolkien’s writings. There is little that I can criticise this film for. It has taken the book and dramatised it with little alteration and I think it is a spectacular perception of J. R. R. Tolkien’s masterpiece.
The closing words of the film were that of Gandalf’s, played over in Frodo’s mind, giving him hope and courage to fight on, paving the way for the next instalment of this epic. People who have not read the books will no doubt be eager to see the Two Towers the second of the three films to see how the fellowship copes with being separated and with little hope, as the film was left at a crucial point. I can’t wait to see how they have produced and directed the Two Towers but basing my expectations on this film, it should be spectacular!
