[Fordim Hedgethistle]

One of the functions of fantasy is, according to Professor Tolkien, that it shows us the world in a new light, allowing us to see it afresh and to realise the wondrous and the fabulous as it exists before us in the everyday. How can anyone who has fallen under the enchantment of the ents, for example, ever look at a tree in quite the same way?

I think that the films offer us the same sort of opportunity. I have found that there is much in the book that has been "recovered" for me through my experience of the movies. It's not that the films have 'changed' or 'improved' my perceptions of the book or how I imagine it -- Frodo still looks like Frodo and not Elijah Wood for me -- but, rather, I have found that certain aspects of the book have become fresher to me, having seen the movie version of them.

For example: after seeing FotR and crying my eyes out at the death of Boromir, my perceptions of the character in the book have reverted to an earlier sense I had of him. When I first read the book, he was a tragic hero, but on subsequent readings his greatness and heroism became expected, even commonplace, and all I could see were his flaws. But the film reminded me of what attracted me to him in the first place, and I have been able to retrieve that sense of him and to graft it onto my more experienced (cynical?) view, resulting in an altogether much richer and fuller sense of the character.

The list of such characters and moments for me goes on and on. The charge of the Rohirrim is right there at the top of the list. I never lost my sense of wonder at this moment in the book, but the version of it that gets up on screen -- with the army charging forward crying out "death death death" -- well, again, I cried like a fool when watching that, and have been able to carry that sense with me as I go back to the book. There's a sadness in that moment which I saw first in the movie and am able now to appreciate in the book.

Theoden himself has been revealed in all kinds of wonderful new dimensions by the films. He is far more complicated than I had given him credit for. When I first saw TTT I thought, "Theoden is not like that! He's not a self-doubting man in retreat from the full reality of the situation!" Imagine my shock when I re-read the book and realised that all along, there had been hints of this in the story, which I had missed utterly.

Again, there are dozens of examples, but I will finish with but one more: the smile that Frodo gives as he boards the ship. The joy, the absolute happiness that Wood is able to convey in that moment is not really anywhere in the book, but it makes sense to me and has "recovered" that moment in a way that I had never anticipated. It is terribly terribly sad for those who are being left behind, and for those who are departing, but Frodo is finally going to find the peace and healing tha he had never thought to have. Of course he would be happy.

Oh -- just one more. Gandalf. I recovered my enchanted sense of wonder at his power when he described the "far green country" to Pippin. I had forgotten that he was an Istari, and a noble figure far above the humble appearance and powers that he allowed himself in Middle-earth.

So, did anyone else have aspects of the book "recovered" for them? I'm particularly interested in hearing if there are any themes or ideas that you had forgotten about or never seen in the book, but which the movie helped you to recover.

NOTE: Please -- only post to this thread if you wish to discuss the ways in which the movies helped or enhanced or recovered your experience of the book. If you want to slag the films or complain about things they did "wrong" there are plenty of other threads you can do that on!