Bad director, good movie

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2003)

Peter Jackson hasn't the first idea--or perhaps has only the first idea--of how to tell a story in a movie. A character points to a ringwraith and says, 'Look, a ringwraith!'; cut to the ringwraith. In general, that's the extent of Jackson's skill in visual narrative. Also, lacking a sense of story, he lacks a sense of myth, which is one of the two things that Lord of the Rings is. (The other is invented history, which he does get.)
Jackson is an enthusiastic but unbridled filmmaker. Sometimes his shots cut together, sometimes not, and have to be glued together with loud music; sometimes his scenes are modulated in proportion to the whole, sometimes not, but you don't notice for all the noise.
However, out of an obvious affection for the books, a sense of drama and epic, a goodish script, a mostly good cast, a good crew, a bunch of computer equipment, and all the money in the world, he has managed to cobble together a pair (so far) of classic fantasies, according to movie standards. They would be better viewed in half-hour installments, and, their huge lush landscapes notwithstanding, could do with a lot more fresh air. But they're as good as--and better than--one could sensibly expect.
The second film improves on the first--slows up a bit, steers away from the faux 3-D effects, and allows space for some finer and subtler things to emerge: splendid performances in the roles of Eowyn and Faramir, a depth of feeling in the characterization of Gollum, and moments of real visual poetry. But strangely, it's much less like the book, despite its fidelity to details of name and incident and setting.
However, the most obvious ways in which Two Towers departs from the book were apparent in Fellowship, too. The books are all story and no drama; the films are just the opposite. The books leave an impression of clearness: clear air, clear water, clear thought; the films are filled with drive, grit, and ceaseless motion--rather like the factory of Isengard, and most unlike the cloister of Lorien.
But I'll probably go to see this one a third time, anyway.