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Bêthberry · 09-24-2004, 08:49 AM

Excellent thread Imladris and very nicely presented. Top notch thesis! (I've already nominated Kransha for Best Post of the Week , but I'm wondering if I'm allowed two nominations? It is *my* thread after all.)

I think there are aspects of the mythological impulse Jackson caught very well and others he did not. I think he captured the geographic panorama of place well: the sweetness of the bucolic Shire, the sweep of Rohan, the marble stolidity of The White City.

For me, what ruins the gravitas of the movies is a comic vein that intrudes at the wrong time. I think there are lots of comic touches in Tolkien, but they are sudden little surprises which give whimsy and emotional relief to the story without destroying the essential seriousness of the Quest. Here, I think, Jackson was influenced by his love of two things: his bookish love of Tolkien and his cinematic love of Lucas' Star Wars. The Star Wars influence shows mainly in the special effects and the similarities of some of the physical characterisations. The comedy i Star Wars, to me, did not ruin the story line, but helped develop it.

I don't think Jackson was as successful as Tolkien or Lucas in handling comedy within the mythological feel. I hated the 'shield boarding' scene at Helm's Deep because I don't think it was properly integrated. Ditto the dwarf tossing lines. Out of place. The drama of the battle was not heightened by these bits of farce, but diminished. I'm not sure I'm making myself clear here, but I do feel there is a difference and I can't quite find the way to explain it.

I have also seen an actor, live on stage, do a superb Gollem--the actor is an accomplished gymnast (if not contortionist!) and not only an actor--and so, despite how interestingly Gollem was done, I was disappointed that he was portrayed by a'cartoonish' form.

Perhaps what I am saying is that Jackson was unable to integrate the two most important influences on his imagination in a way which gave a seemless unity to the movies. And this disjunction ruins the mythological sweep. For me.

09-24-2004, 08:49 AM	#4
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	A mythtake Excellent thread Imladris and very nicely presented. Top notch thesis! (I've already nominated Kransha for Best Post of the Week , but I'm wondering if I'm allowed two nominations? It is my thread after all.) I think there are aspects of the mythological impulse Jackson caught very well and others he did not. I think he captured the geographic panorama of place well: the sweetness of the bucolic Shire, the sweep of Rohan, the marble stolidity of The White City. For me, what ruins the gravitas of the movies is a comic vein that intrudes at the wrong time. I think there are lots of comic touches in Tolkien, but they are sudden little surprises which give whimsy and emotional relief to the story without destroying the essential seriousness of the Quest. Here, I think, Jackson was influenced by his love of two things: his bookish love of Tolkien and his cinematic love of Lucas' Star Wars. The Star Wars influence shows mainly in the special effects and the similarities of some of the physical characterisations. The comedy i Star Wars, to me, did not ruin the story line, but helped develop it. I don't think Jackson was as successful as Tolkien or Lucas in handling comedy within the mythological feel. I hated the 'shield boarding' scene at Helm's Deep because I don't think it was properly integrated. Ditto the dwarf tossing lines. Out of place. The drama of the battle was not heightened by these bits of farce, but diminished. I'm not sure I'm making myself clear here, but I do feel there is a difference and I can't quite find the way to explain it. I have also seen an actor, live on stage, do a superb Gollem--the actor is an accomplished gymnast (if not contortionist!) and not only an actor--and so, despite how interestingly Gollem was done, I was disappointed that he was portrayed by a'cartoonish' form. Perhaps what I am saying is that Jackson was unable to integrate the two most important influences on his imagination in a way which gave a seemless unity to the movies. And this disjunction ruins the mythological sweep. For me. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.