Lord of the Rings film is a captivating trilogy filmed in New Zealand. The novel was written by J.R.R. Tolkien and the film was directed and produced by Peter Jackson. The entire production lasted for eight years! The trilogy parts are The Fellowship of the Ring released in 2001, The Two Towers released in 2002 and The Return of the King released in 2003. The genre of the film is classified into different ways, that is, it can be said to be a mixture of adventure and action or science fiction with an action-packed adventure. After having a hilarious time watching the movie, I will classify it under ‘epic adventure fantasy’.
The plot of the movie starts with an explanation from a cool-sounding voice of a woman. She tells of how the ring was formed and a battle that nearly killed the Dark Lord. For many years the ring was thought to be lost, but it is found in the hands of Bilbo Baggins who is a hobbit. The main subject is one ancient ring thought lost is being sought by an evil Dark Lord called Sauron that needs to be destroyed, hence the title Lord of the Ring. The ring is however placed in the hands of the minute creatures of the land Middle Earth, the hobbit named Frodo Baggins. Together with apt friends, the nine-hour film tells a story of the breathtaking quest ending the reign of the Dark Lord. The key actors in the trilogy are Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKeellen as Gandalf, Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchet as Galadriel and Sean Astin as Sam.
I give credit to Peter Jackson in the way the rest of the adventures are captured. The mountains, epic creatures, snowy mountain tops, forests, natural touch of rivers, evil orcs, unknown danger, bottomless pits and vast armies are cleverly directed to give the true picture of the novel.
The actors in the film have the expertise of depicting the real roles. When I read the novel I wondered how creature Gollum looked like. Peter Jackson used perfect graphics to produce the emaciated and weak Gollum. Andy acts amazingly with the repetition of the words ‘my precious’ which sounds whispered to the inner self than to the audience. The dark lighting of the valleys and the perilous stair gives the mood and the tone as I watched. The actors in general fulfilled my expectation of the Tolkien fantasy novel (David, 2008).
The cinematography employed was artistically done. The camera movement showed most of the shots. The artistic camera movement of the aerial point of view, worms views point, close-up and tracking movements. One outstanding scene that perplexed me was Orlando Bloom shooting at the big mammoth-like creature, the tower of the all looking eye, and the armies. I was somehow tilting my head and moving on my couch as the camera could pan, tilt and track actions mainly in the battle scenes. The monuments of Minas Tirith and Helms Deep were being shown from all angles. One could see the whole site as the actors pondered on their next move. In the third trilogy, the hobbit sings a smooth song, that is contrasted sharply by the director’s cut and dissolve technique. He sings ‘home is behind the world ahead and there are many paths to tread….’ As the song ends the wrath of fired archers of the orcs hit the humans. The weakness of men is being shown from the start of the movie till the end. The steward in Gondor feasts as people struggle to hold back enemies. This explains why a human could not be a hero to carry the ring. They failed in the beginning. I could even see black people riding the mammoth-like creatures! The soundtrack steals you away, creating a proper mood and focusing you on the storyline. The tracking of the horses and the accompanying soundtrack give the real feeling of the situation, unlike other movies which overuse technology and give an artificial feel. This emphasized the fantasy of the film. The angle movements were effectively placed at high and sharp angles.
The film makes its case through sacrificial aspects of the actors in the demeaning land of Middle earth. Most of the characters show their roles as they are linked to the subject matter. Although the movie is profound, I find the first part more intriguing than the others. The battles and funny creatures frighten at the same time show slight weakness of the graphics employed. The final part of the movie captures your attention and could make you hold on to your remote and after every episode, you will be clicking the replay button. It is a must-watch masterpiece by Peter Jackson.
References
David, W., Schultz, B. & Linduff, M. K. (2008). Art Past, Art Present. (6th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.