[HCIsland]

I still think the central reasons for the changes in Faramir's character were mainly to parallel the tension that was going on in Helm's Deep and Fangorn/Isengard. You couldn't very well have things so dire in Rohan and then cut to Sam asking Faramir to pass the bread. It just doesn't work. I also think they needed to stretch out Frodo and Sam's encounter with Faramir in order to make Faramir someone that the non-book reader will remember in a year's time when they are watching RoTK.<P>Having said that, I like to think there were ways in which the former could have been accomplished without changing Faramir's character to such a degree. <P>As for redemption, there were scenes shot in tunnels that seem likely to be under Osgiliath. I'm hoping this will be Faramir guiding the hobbits out of the city and this will give PJ an opportunity to give us a Faramir we are more used to, just as the gift giving in Lothlorien gave us a more familiar Galadriel. I also think that the Faramir we see in RoTK will be more to our liking as I don't think the same plotting issues exist with that movie as they did with TTT.<P>H.C.