A faithful translation of the book but futile for adepts

Rating: 6/10 (28 January 2002)

I've read the book 5 times, so going to the film was a serious risk. It's a real tribute to Peter Jackson that I didn't feel I should not be watching this. He followed the book faithfully (leaving out numerous side plots, songs, poetry and secondary characters, but that was inevitable). His imagery concerning the landscapes was extremely faithful to Tolkien. Especially Rivendel and Moria were excellently visualised. Most of the characters also corresponded to what you would expect after reading the book. But then the question arises: Why make a film at all, if all it does is slavishly illustrating the written word? I would expect a film to add an extra dimension. Of course, Jackson would have been crucified if he had dared to impose a personal view on the story. Thus, maybe it was not necessary to make this film. I don't feel I would have missed anything if I hadn't seen the film. But if as a result of seeing the film people will be stimulated to read the book this would surely justify the film. I also have a few comments. I don't want to start nitpicking about what has been kept and what has been left out, but I wonder if Gimli will be given more depth in the sequels. He was supposed to be overwhelmed by Galadriel and to develop a strange complicity with Legolas. But in Lothlorien Gimli was hardly given any attention. Most characters were well cast. Especially Saruman, Gandalf (I had imagined Sean Connery in that role but Ian McKellen does a great job) and Frodo. In my imagination, Boromir looked like Steve Reeves with long blond hair and Elrond like Paul Newman in the 1960's and Galadriel was more ethereally beautiful (Kate Blanchett is certainly pretty but not heavenly so). Well, that's everybody's private preference. But it was a pity that Sam, Merry and Pippin were not given any more pronounced personalities. Two things I did not like. One was the casting of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. I know many critics gave him very good marks, but to me he doesn't look the part. He's not tall enough and he doesn't express the depth and the suffering that goes with the character. His face is almost empty, he's just going through the motions. Liam Neeson in The Phantom Menace came much closer to the essence of Aragorn, and of course Max Von Sydow in The Seventh Seal: he would have been the ideal Strider. The second is the music. Too recognisable bur especially: too much like church music. Many times it terribly distracted me from the film: I had the impression to be at Communion or something.