The Two Towers
Dec. 19th, 2002 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rangersylMy journal is running behind! Thursday I saw the Two Towers after having been sold-out of a Wednesday viewing. Arrgh! I suppose my expectations were too high after Fellowship. TT deviates significantly from the tale as told by Tolkien. I am aware that books are books and movies are movies, and that each format has differently storytelling sensibilities. I understand WHY PJ did what he did, but I daresay I might have made different decisions.
The Good: And there's a LOT of good here. The casting, acting, cinematography, painstaking attention to Tolkien's details once again amazes. Gollum is not only stunning - but realistic and had a depth and stage presence that is astounding. The sheer artistry of the moviemaking is awe-inspiring. As with the first movie, the best dialogue and scenes come straight from Tolkien's pages, and much of the dialogue falls into this category. A person who did not read the books would be blown away by the master storytelling.
The Bad: This is where someone who had read the books can get tripped up. The Arwen factor was forced, since it was definitely not in the books. The Elves at Helm's Deep didn't bother me too much. How can I argue about more Elvish screen time? I think not. It would have been nice to have Huorns, though. The added scenes with Aragorn's brush with death left me scratching my head wondering why.
The Ugly: Faramir. The singlemost jarring alteration to the story was Faramir. I have to clench my teeth and say that I understand why PJ did it, and yet I disagree with it wholeheartedly. Rest assured that Faramir does regain (or maintain) his nobility at the end. I didn't know this for certain and spent the last part of the movie fuming at Faramir. Or rather at PJ's version of Faramir.
I need to see the movie again for this reason - I was annoyed at the end of it and couldn't really relax and enjoy it until I knew that Faramir would come through in the end.
In PJ's defense -- why the changes? Because The Two Towers is a difficult book to make into a movie (perhaps it didn't need to be a 3-hour movie). The theme that PJ sought to highlight is that this story hinges on each character making a conscious decision to do the right thing. And these choices are always the difficult ones that will require sacrifice before the end. Seeking to tell this story from the angle of 'choice' is a valid one, and is taken straight from Tolkien's books. Free will and choice are a running theme in the story, and I applaud PJ for having the insight to see that and use it to craft his movie.
Let me just say for the record that The Two Towers are NOT Barad-dur and Orthanc. They are Orthanc and Minas Morgul. Thank you. I feel better already.
Now that you have been forewarned, it is safe to enjoy the movie!
The Good: And there's a LOT of good here. The casting, acting, cinematography, painstaking attention to Tolkien's details once again amazes. Gollum is not only stunning - but realistic and had a depth and stage presence that is astounding. The sheer artistry of the moviemaking is awe-inspiring. As with the first movie, the best dialogue and scenes come straight from Tolkien's pages, and much of the dialogue falls into this category. A person who did not read the books would be blown away by the master storytelling.
The Bad: This is where someone who had read the books can get tripped up. The Arwen factor was forced, since it was definitely not in the books. The Elves at Helm's Deep didn't bother me too much. How can I argue about more Elvish screen time? I think not. It would have been nice to have Huorns, though. The added scenes with Aragorn's brush with death left me scratching my head wondering why.
The Ugly: Faramir. The singlemost jarring alteration to the story was Faramir. I have to clench my teeth and say that I understand why PJ did it, and yet I disagree with it wholeheartedly. Rest assured that Faramir does regain (or maintain) his nobility at the end. I didn't know this for certain and spent the last part of the movie fuming at Faramir. Or rather at PJ's version of Faramir.
I need to see the movie again for this reason - I was annoyed at the end of it and couldn't really relax and enjoy it until I knew that Faramir would come through in the end.
In PJ's defense -- why the changes? Because The Two Towers is a difficult book to make into a movie (perhaps it didn't need to be a 3-hour movie). The theme that PJ sought to highlight is that this story hinges on each character making a conscious decision to do the right thing. And these choices are always the difficult ones that will require sacrifice before the end. Seeking to tell this story from the angle of 'choice' is a valid one, and is taken straight from Tolkien's books. Free will and choice are a running theme in the story, and I applaud PJ for having the insight to see that and use it to craft his movie.
Let me just say for the record that The Two Towers are NOT Barad-dur and Orthanc. They are Orthanc and Minas Morgul. Thank you. I feel better already.
Now that you have been forewarned, it is safe to enjoy the movie!
