A dream come true and a cinematic masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2002)

Pure genius. Haunting. Magical.
Anything that I might say about this film will not suffice. It's an achievement of epic proportions and the best tribute to Tolkien one can think of.
It is, in everything, a perfect film, if such a thing does exist (and I always thought it did not). An unsurpassable ensemble performance from a group of actors (each one becoming the character to a level of total identification), like an orchestra performing the most complex baroque musical architecture, under the guidance of a maestro which accomplishes the sublime.
Peter Jackson realizes the impossible. He brings Middle Earth to the cinema, with a huge respect for Tolkien and each of his creations, doing it while creating a unique, personalized and ingenious cinematic piece. The best praise one can make to the film is that it has a soul. The essential of the book is there. And by the essential I mean that which is not palpable, because, if on one hand the film conveys in an admirable fashion Tolkien's universe and concepts, what truly distinguishes the film is the ability to convey that which is not palpable and immediate, that which one keeps from the reading of the book and cannot be rationally described, because it escapes between the fingers, like sand. What I mean is the grandeur and complexity of Middle Earth (in mythological and physical terms), the heroic feeling, the enchanting beauty and the profound melancholy given the perception that the times are changing and the ancient times coming to an end (this is most beautifully conveyed in Galadriel's opening speech during the prologue: 'the world is changing. I can feel it.').
Peter Jackson creates a beautiful, grand, epic, intimate, emotional and exciting cinematic monument. The special and visual effects are only at the service of the whole, nothing more. Galadriel's temptation for the ring, and Bilbo's last coveting of it are truly cinematic masterpieces on its own. The disorientation and confusion which takes hold of the Fellowship after Gandalf's disappearance in MÃ³ria is one the most heartfelt and touching scenes I have ever witnessed in my life. Furthermore, Peter Jackson's sense of evil is astonishing and a gift, only at the grasp of a predestined man. Isengard's decadence and Mordor's shots are, to say the least, haunting and mesmerizing.
It is a masterpiece and the best reading and tribute one could possibly make to Tolkien. Because, and this should be clear, it's not the transfer or the conversion of the book to film. It's Peter Jackson's version. His reading. His tribute.
And tears flowed down from my eyes while realizing, during the film, that his version, was, in so many ways, mine.
10 out of 10.
Carlos Miguel da Silva