how do you like the portrayal of frodo? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Hilde Bracegirdle · 08-24-2007, 05:22 PM

Not meaning to interupt the stream of the current conversation, but I will toss in my pebble if you will kindly picture it further up the river rather than smack in the middle of the on going discussion regarding how to measure a film's success. (Though I believe that particular debate hinges on which definition of success you are using!)

At anyrate, reading though this thread, it stuck me how well Tolkien suggested Frodo's internal battle. If I remember aright, he didn't dwell overly much on the emotive aspect, but left the reader's imagination fill in the blanks. It was an effective approach that I think may or may not have worked well in a film. It would be a lot harder to get across, certainly, but would have lent a more depth to the production. As it was, most of the struggle was somehow externalized, through visual clues and discussions. We were told what was going on with Frodo, rather than discovering it for ourselves, through Frodo's process of discovering it for himself.

I still have problems reconciling the 2 Frodos, and admit it was rather shock when I first saw Elijah up on the screen. But I do understand that in making a movie the conciderations are far different than in writing a book.

08-24-2007, 05:22 PM	#23
Hilde Bracegirdle Relic of Wandering Days Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: You'll See Perpetual Change. Posts: 1,480	Not meaning to interupt the stream of the current conversation, but I will toss in my pebble if you will kindly picture it further up the river rather than smack in the middle of the on going discussion regarding how to measure a film's success. (Though I believe that particular debate hinges on which definition of success you are using!) At anyrate, reading though this thread, it stuck me how well Tolkien suggested Frodo's internal battle. If I remember aright, he didn't dwell overly much on the emotive aspect, but left the reader's imagination fill in the blanks. It was an effective approach that I think may or may not have worked well in a film. It would be a lot harder to get across, certainly, but would have lent a more depth to the production. As it was, most of the struggle was somehow externalized, through visual clues and discussions. We were told what was going on with Frodo, rather than discovering it for ourselves, through Frodo's process of discovering it for himself. I still have problems reconciling the 2 Frodos, and admit it was rather shock when I first saw Elijah up on the screen. But I do understand that in making a movie the conciderations are far different than in writing a book.