The Hobbit in July 2007?

[Sauron the White]

davem ... while you and I are at complete opposites regarding the worth and quality of the Jackson films, I do think you may have something regarding the Ang Lee idea. COH just could be the thing for Lee. His two big strengths seem to be the capturing of beautiful visuals and Middle-earth certainly has that - and the deft hadling of characters that are less than optimistic or the usual hero types. Lee could be just the director for COH.

I do think that if you expect a ratcheting down of action scenes you badly do not understand the commercial aspect of modern film. Filming something like COH would be a minimum $100 million (US dollars) venture. A studio putting out that kind of money would want a proven money making model to follow - and as much as you would not like it - the Jackson LOTR films would be front and center in their mind.

I feel that there was a more than proper balance in the Jackson films and Hollywood looks at the box office receipts and most likely agrees. COH would have plenty of action. But perhaps Lee could present it differently and balance it with the more personal struggle of Turin.

I do think you are onto something with this idea.

[Lalaith]

Oh...I´ve just had a thought, while discussing the late great Bergman on another site, particularly vis a vis the Virgin Spring...wouldn´t he have made a cracking CoH....sigh....

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Oh...I´ve just had a thought, while discussing the late great Bergman on another site, particularly vis a vis the Virgin Spring...wouldn´t he have made a cracking CoH....sigh....

If by "cracking" you mean "completely bizarre", then probably. We would certainly finish the film with a very intimate understanding of the emotions of all the characters!

[davem]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Oh...I´ve just had a thought, while discussing the late great Bergman on another site, particularly vis a vis the Virgin Spring...wouldn´t he have made a cracking CoH....sigh....

And what would Kurosawa have made of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by davem

And what would Kurosawa have made of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad?

Well, for starters, he'd probably have been happy there were no letter 'L's in the name.

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by davem

And what would Kurosawa have made of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad?

Not much, I imagine. Maybe you should drop some names of people who have a film in their oeuvre indicative of their being fit to tackle the material. Maybe Terry Gilliam, Ridley Scott, or Alfonso Cuaron? These filmmakers are capable of making mature, uncompromised works and (based on their prior work) might actually include the things we want to see: namely balrogs, dragons, Morgoth, Sauron, trolls, etc.

[Sauron the White]

Ridley Scott already tried this genre. It was called LEGEND and was pretty bad.

[Lalaith]

If by "cracking" you mean "completely bizarre

Pah, Bergman wasn´t just "scenes from a marriage" you know, he could be incredibly austere.
Kurosawa, now there´s a thought....he could have done "aure enteluva" really well, for sure...

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Pah, Bergman wasn´t just "scenes from a marriage" you know, he could be incredibly austere.
Kurosawa, now there´s a thought....he could have done "aure enteluva" really well, for sure...

He wasn't just Scenes, true. Bergman was also Winter Light, Autumn Sonata, Cries and Whispers, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly, Persona, The Silence, Hour of the Wolf, Fanny and Alexander, and many more that I haven't yet seen. Which of these would you say makes him seem like a good choice for Tolkien? Or maybe it's one that I did not list? Seriously, I'm wondering how we get from Bergman's themes of psychosis, split personality, the nature of death, the existence of God, etc., to the swords and dragons of fantasy, mature though it may be. Is it the troupe of dwarfs in Winter Light, perhaps?

I'd love to see Tolkien's material adapted in a serene, adult way as much as anyone, but Bergman? Kurosawa? Really, someone tell me why these, and not, say, Yasujiro Ozu? Or Andrei Tarkovsky? They've all got nothing to do with Tolkien or anything even similar.

Del Toro was actually a really good suggestion. There are also some other relatively young, quality filmmakers who have not yet branched into the genre but might be willing to, such as Jonathan Glazer, Christopher Nolan, Richard Linklater. No, they don't have much more in their portfolios to support them as candidates than those seasoned masters mentioned, but they are at least alive.