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Incredibly
rich realisation.
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It
seems almost redundant now to add my voice to the army of glowing
reviews that have heralded "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring" as the best film of the year. By now, there are
hundreds of reviews relating how much of a miracle this production
is, how risky the investment was, and what genius it spawned. Many
reviewers start out by telling the reader how it has been ages since
they read the entire book, or how they never were bothered to finish
it, start it, or even consider opening it. The reviews then take
on the arduous task of summarizing the story, which in lesser movies,
would have taken a line or a paragraph. It's certainly a statement
on the depth of this film that it usually takes reviewers three
or four paragraphs to do the same.
I
won't do any of that. Let's cut to the chase.
This
is an incomparable movie. A grand, epic fantasy of this like has
never been attempted, much less carried out with such frevor, such
energy, and commitment to vision. A production that rings true on
almost all counts from production design, to casting, to music,
special effects, and to the sure hand of the genius Peter Jackson.
You would have to delve back into the films of Ray Harryhausen or
Biblical epics to find any comparison in scale and tone. "Conan
the Barbarian" and "Excalibur" were the last films,
made almost decades ago, that even attempted to connect with the
audience with such an uncompromising vision.
All
hail Peter Jackson. He had amused us with his quirky, yet entertaining
horror fare in "Dead Alive" (also known as "Brain
Dead"), gave us glimpses of his character in "Heavenly
Creatures" and "The Frighteners", and has been huddled
away in New Zealand, the land of Middle Earth, for more than two
and a half years, toiling away at what is a work of unbridled joy.
It is the love he shows for the content that wreathes this entire
film with a glow, a giddy aura that will seldom not connect with
the audience. The production design of Grant Major and the army
of designers at Weta is peerless and seems a shoo-in for awards.
The grand scenery of New Zealand, a real star of this film, is masterfully
used to stand in for the larger-than-life vistas of Middle Earth.
The adventurers are often filmed in a lilluputian scale next
to epic mountains, brilliantly green rolling hills, or in a watery
chasm, evoking the scale seen in Bruce Beresford's "Black Robe"
or David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia". The cast of the
film, almost uniformly, is excellent, from the moral yet mischievous
presence of Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, to the brooding
sexiness of the Viggo Mortensen's human ranger Aragorn, and to the
frightened yet brave hobbit Frodo, played by former child star Elijah
Wood. The supporting cast is perfect, as well, with particular verve
displayed by Sean Bean as the troubled warrior Boromir, the menacing
Christopher Lee as the turncoat wizard Saruman and Goonies' star
Sean Astin as loyal Hobbit Sam McGee.
All hail Weta, the FX studio set up by Jackson in New Zealand that
began producing effects almost unnoticed years ago for films such
as Jackson's "Frighteners", "Contact" and then
took on the heroic task of creating the underlying special effects
for this masterwork. These were effects that were not overblown,
but were skillfully weaved into the tapestry by the designers and
Jackson. Several images spawning from the collaboration of camera
trickery, digital effects, and set design will resonate in the audience's
memory long after the film has ended. These include a magical Elf
city of trellises, gazebos and glowing pillars; the dark, underground
city of Moria with a fantastic set piece of a broken stone bridge
hanging out over a chasm; the hell burnt transformation of the magical
tower of Isengard from a shining needle in a pristine forest into
the blackened workshop of the forces of darkness; and the cheery
green Hobbiton which is the starting point of the quest.
The
flaws in this movie are more than outweighed by its greatness. From
time to time, the mostly excellent heroic score by longtime Cronenberg
collaborator Howard Shore intrudes into what should be quiet scenes.
The battle scenes are too hectic and suffer from the dizzy-cam approach.
The design of the Uruk-hai baddies doesn't measure up to that of
the other monsters: the cave troll, the magnificently terrible Balrog,
the shrieking Ringwraiths and even the ubiquitous Orcs. The digital
formations in the flashback of the ancient battle against Sauron
seemed to regular, a fault more expressly shown in much lesser films
such as "The Mummy Returns" and "The Patriot".
The film also tends to drag in parts of the first third before the
true 'fellowship' group is formed, which is more to do with the
source material than the script.
Yet, these flaws are as nothing compared to what Jackson and his
filmmakers have striven for, which is to bring the spirit and scape
of J.R.R. Tolkein's imagination onto the screen. There is hardly
any part of the movie that does not speak of the love the filmakers
have for the story and aspirations of "The Lord of the Rings"
novels . The film does not slavishly follow the book's more obscure
passages, yet doesn't pander to modern tastes of the audience. It's
a take it or leave it approach that more films could benefit by,
sticking to its vision and offering the audience the opportunity,
for three delirious hours, to sink into a dream.
It
must be said again. An incomparable movie.
In theatres now
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