The excellent Film adaptation of an excellent novel

Rating: 10/10 (28 September 2005)

New Zealander Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Tolkien's mythological masterpiece "The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring" (the first part of Tolkien's story) the epic journey and battle between good and evil retold on film. The story of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) a young hobbit from the Shire, a small place in Western Middle Earth embarks on a dangerous quest to destroy the legendary one ring with the help of a courageous fellowship. The film follows the hobbits journey across middle earth to Rivendell where a council of all the races of middle Earth decide the fate of the one ring; a fellowship is assigned to aid Frodo in his quest to destroy the ring in Mordor. Along this journey they encounter numbers of evil forces sent by Sauron to obtain the ring and rid the world of the goodness. Jackson's daunting task of constructing the screen adaptation of a literacy masterpiece builds an anticipation to fail as some of the audience were aware of Tolkien's depth of creation, having read the book; however Jackson successfully recreated the world of Middle Earth on screen using a variety of techniques. This transition between book and film is often made but rarely is it done with such brilliance, an exceptional success in which Jackson recreated the classic novel. Jackson's film consisted of an enormous cast and crew and was mostly shot on location in New Zealand, took over fifteen months to film in entirety, yet this massive scale film still brought out the fundamental themes of human existence and all the themes Tolkien originally created. Jackson's choice to film the three films out of sequence had no implications to the film. Elijah Wood delivers a knockout performance as Frodo Baggins and really captures the role. The quality of acting is often lost in big blockbusters, however in this film it remains to a very high standard which is a great acclaim considering the large amounts of actors involved.
Jackson opens his film using non simultaneous sound; this powerful lyrical voice over with a black screen beautifully sets the tone of the film and we are brought into the film world immediately. The delayed opening of the film creates suspense to speculate on the opening frame. The powerful prologue that follows demonstrates Jackson's film making to its best, the narrative is set and as we are told the history of the ring we are diverged from reality and are brought into an incredible action sequence combining great cinematography and special effects. The kinetic camera is a great metaphor for the intensity of the battle. Jackson demonstrates the narrative effectively with the battle sequences from the past, cleverly signifying the depth of Saurons power and the power of the one ring. A series of dramatic close ups of the one ring circled by fire, coupled with the signature music which is repeated throughout clearly symbolises the narrative. Jackson also employs techniques of extended fades of entire black to demonstrate the evil in the narrative successfully. The spectacular opening to this film undoubtedly sets the standard for the rest.
Many powerful cinematic techniques are employed throughout the film to add to the creation of a fantasy world. Difficulties arising in scale issues between the hobbits and human characters are successfully overcome using scale doubles and techniques such as forced perspective with a moving camera. Sound is used most effectively and powerfully engages a distinct sense of mood in important parts of the film. This is most noticeable when Frodo puts on the ring and enters the world of the ring wraiths; the diegetic music and sound we could hear is taken out and instead is replaced with a number of eerie sound effects and lighting techniques, this impressively conveys the evil in the narrative.
The Mise en Scene is composed with such a brilliance that it successfully transcends normal concepts of reality and has enabled Peter Jackson to create a totally imaginary convincing world on film. Sets and locations are conceived with incredible care and detail and are loyal to the descriptions of Tolkien. The location choice of New Zealand provides an ideal backdrop to the creation. The remote mountainous locations and woodlands provide the perfect locations to best demonstrate the narrative successfully. Costume and make-up both successfully aid the concept of creating Middle Earth.
One of the greatest sequences in "The Fellowship Of the Ring" is the end battle sequence at Amon Hen. Jackson produces an immense battle scene between the remaining members of the fellowship and the Uruk-Hai. The sequence begins with Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) battling with the Uruk-Hai, the kinetic camera and the increasing speed of the editing intensifies the battle; the music changes and the tempo also quickens this effectively brings the audience into the battle. Brilliantly choreographed fights also aid the creation of a believable scene on film. Sound also plays an important part in this powerful emotional climax of the death of Boromir. We see him receive an arrow to his chest and immediately the sound is removed. This hard hitting absence of the nondiegetic sound and the fade of the diegetic sound greatly contributes to the reality of the battle as we are forced into Boromir's position, a great technique in which Jackson captures this highly significant moment beautifully.
Jackson establishes an incredibly high standard with the "Fellowship of the Ring" for the sequels, combining a detailed Mise en Scene, amazing cinematography, visual effects music and sound to create one of the best film adaptations of a book.