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Old 11-23-2004, 09:18 PM   #17
Lush
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Arwen replaces Glorfindel for three reasons, as far as I can tell.

First of all, this is a movie. You can't have a zillion characters running around, and expect people to remember each and every one of them. There are time-constraints as well. If Jackson were to stick in Glorfindel, and then proceed to setting up the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen, that would have taken ages.

Second of all (and this has been mentioned before, but I would like to flesh this topic out somewhat), you can't catch a single glimpse of Arwen in Rivendell in the first film, and then, two years later, suddenly having the same chick marrying Aragorn out of the blue. Neither does the sort of narrative subtlety that characterizes Aragorn's longing for Arwen in the book exactly work in a cinematic medium. All these questions of pacing come up. And frankly, I can't picture modern audiences getting particularly excited over a relationship that was to be developed in the exact manner that it is in the book. It wouldn't come across as exciting, or tender, or even meaningful. It would mostly be like, "Um, what? Why is he going for the housewife when Eowyn is such hot stuff?" Once again, because cinema works differently. And because watching pretty women do stuff is fun.

Third of all, Liv Tyler looks hot on a horse.

I was actually pretty satisfied with the way Arwen was portrayed in the first film. It was later, during this whole "Arwen is dying" crap in RotK that I got irritated. Neither did I think the Osanwe scene was well-done. Actually, the only appearance of hers I enjoy in the other two films, is during the flash-forward scene to Aragorn's death. What a mourning dress! Everything else pretty much felt heavy-handed and sentimental.

But in FotR, seeing her being chased by the Nazgul was something. And I thought the kissing scene on the bridge worked. I thought it had just the right amount of melodrama and mystique. Not to mention the great background music.
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Last edited by Lush; 11-23-2004 at 09:22 PM. Reason: clarity!
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