The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Rating

Director
Peter Jackson
Screenplay
Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (Novel: J.R.R. Tolkien)
Length
178 min.
Starring
Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Marton Csokas, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler
MPAA Rating
PG-13 for epic battle sequences and some scary images

Review
When you look back in fondness at a film made a decade ago, you can’t help but question whether you were too generous to it. For The Lord of the Rings trilogy, ten years has not dulled by admiration and appreciation for one of the classic big screen epics.

In 2001, The Fellowship of the Ring started the vaunted trilogy with great fanfare. Helmed by a J.R.R. Tolkien fan named Peter Jackson whose prior big screen experiences included the intimate Heavenly Creatures and the decidedly small fantasy thrillers Meet the Feebles, Dead Alive and The Frighteners. Why New Line decided to trust an expensive adaptation of three celebrated novels, all filmed simultaneously to a box office-untested neophyte is all now a part of history.

What Jackson’s appreciation of the source material did was engender a respect and dedication to making the best picture possible. And Tolkien’s tales, meant for older kids, weren’t exactly written for a silver screen adventure. A good deal of footage, shot for the film at first, was left on the cutting room floor and several fan favorite scenes and characters (notably the spry deity-like songster Tom Bombadil) were left out of the screenplay altogether. The film would test each fan’s ability to divorce himself enough from the source material to accept necessary changes for a cinematic feel. While there are still many who grouse over various changes between source and finished product, there’s no denying that the great majority of Lord of the Rings readers were pleased.

The story follows a quartet of hobbits, a diminutive race of life-loving creatures whose love of wine, food and song is well known, embark on a journey to take a mysterious ring across the land to a council who would decide the fate of the world. The many facets to the story, covering a fellowship of nine characters (four hobbits, two men, one dwarf, one elf and one wizard) never forgets that each has his own story to tell. While the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys Davies) and the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) don’t get as much development in the first film as their more prominent companions, their rich performancse establish their personalities long before we come to know them properly.

Of the rest, there’s no question that Ian McKellen ‘s profound performance as the wizard Gandalf the Grey is an iconic one. McKellen’s years in the profession have given him a unique understanding of how to take a character, bring it to life and then add a layer of charisma and depth that define Gandalf.

The rest of the fellowship is notably capable. Viggo Mortensen gives us a strong, likable Strider (a pseudonym for royal heir Aragorn); Sean Bean makes the arrogant Boromir a pitiable, yet frightening character; Elijah Wood is self-sufficient and charming as the young Frodo Baggins; Sean Astin delivers warmth and compassion as Frodo’s dedicated gardener and friend Samwise Gamgee; and Billy Boyd as Pippin Took and Dominic Monaghan as Merry Brandybuck work so well together that despite the awkward and unprepared nature of their characters, we feel a kinship with them and understand why a hobbit like Frodo would be friends with them.

But Jackson’s world isn’t just about the story of nine, racing against a dark destiny to destroy a powerful artifact of the Dark Lord Sauron, never seen as more than an unblinking eye wreathed in flame. It’s the richness of setting and a supporting cast of characters whose limited screentime doesn’t prevent them from leaving indelible impressions.

Ian Holm portrays Frodo’s uncle Bilbo, the hobbit whose adventures in Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit brought The One Ring out of the depths of the Misty Mountains into the hobbit homeland of The Shire where it prolonged his life, but seemingly posed no threat. Holm’s performance is gentle, yet weary. He conveys the toll the ring has taken on Bilbo with admirable ease. The wizened Elf who guides and unifies the fellowship, Elrond the Half-Elven, housed in his idyllic retreat of Rivendell, is stoicly portrayed by Hugo Weaving who, despite his frequent appearance in villainous roles, keeps Elrond paternal. Portraying Galadriel, the Queen of the Elves, Cate Blanchett deftly narrates the saga while creating a beautiful and haunting elven matriarch.

Yet, none of these excelling performances would be much without a lavishly detailed world in which to interact. From the delicate, yet homely gabled roofs of Rivendell to the squat, comfortable hobbit holes of the Shire, art director Grant Major and set decorator Dan Hennah with help from master Tolkien artist Alan Lee, do a marvellous job in establishing the world of middle earth. And if you doubt their ability to provide grand spectacle outside of the lovely New Zealand landscape, look no further than the massive tree-home of the Elves of Lothlorien or the gigantic statues along the banks of the river Anduin.

It’s this command of both grand, epic elements and small, intimate moments that characterizes Jackson’s work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and especially The Fellowship of the Ring. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that what he has achieved with this film is astounding. Blending Ngila Dickson’s detailed costume design, Howard Shore’s soaring orchestral score, the rich tableau of sounds and effects, and the other-worldly masterpieces of makeup by Peter Owen and Richard Taylor, give The Fellowship of the Ring a singular design that transcends the envisioned world Tolkien crafted decades before.

And the film would be nothing without the undeniably brilliant work of cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. In The Fellowship of the Ring more so than any of the other pictures, the craftwork here is commendable. Instead of relying on visual effects to created the noble, but diminutive hobbits, Lesnie used old filmmaking techniques of forced perspective to make a character like Gandalf tower over his hobbit companions. One of the most breathtaking scenes is inside Frodo’s small hobbit hole where Gandalf, too tall for the interior is folded up on a small chair. Frodo, takes a pot from the table and carefully pours him a cup of tea. McKellen was positioned quite near the camera while Frodo was stationed farther back in the room. The room itself was created with forced perspective in mind, using optical illusions to make a segmented table look whole and porportionally sound. Watching any detail from the many productiond diaries found on the DVDs will give you a sense of just how much creativity and dedication was put into making The Fellowship of the Ring something magical that will not whither in the passage of time.

Like The Wizard of Oz and E.T. before it, The Fellowship of the Ring and the rest of The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been etched into the memories of modern audience and will, with each generation, find new fans and followers until it achieves a legendary reputation, a process that, after ten years, has not diminished.
Review Written
September 9, 2011