The Fellowship of hard work (DVD)

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2011)

Visiting Middle Erath is an huge journey: it took 13 years to Tolkien to write it, almost 6 years to Jackson to shoot it. For me, LOTR knocks at my door every decade: I read the first book upon recommendation by a friend in high school in 1991 (without finishing the two others books). Then, i went to see this first adaptation in 2001 but it's only now, in 2010 that i have watched the entire trilogy, taking a day of vacation to do so: first between 7.00 and 10.00, the second between 11.00 to 14.00 and the third between 15.00 and 18.00 just in time to catch my holidays train at 19.40.
I really have a like/dislike with this work: As it's fantasy, it's fascinating but Tolkien wrote it like history and it's as boring as school books. Consequently, i don't feel the same intensity of other fiction heroes (Harry Potter, Spiderman, ...). In other words, the story is too much about facts and lacks some passion, especially romances.
Nevertheless, this first movie was a good moment and with the first Harry Potter, it made the year 2001, the second best Christmas movies ever, behind 1984 (Ghosbusters + Gremlins).
The opening at the Shire really set the tone for the trilogy because it's the warmest and liveliest place in middle earth. After, all the locations goes grimier and grimier up until the dreadful Mordor. The appeal of this first movie, in addition to be the one that exposes the characters and places, is that it's the only one that reunites the fellowship. Thus, we don't find the separate stories that plagues the sequels and it's a harmonious flow. Another strong point of this movie is that we really appreciate the beauty of natural landscapes. Sure, the shoots are digitally enhanced later but at least, at the beginning, it's nature and not blue screen!