Kakki wrote: > You must surely be our premier Tolkein expert! I have not read the books > since the late 60s so maybe I will not be so disappointed when I see the > film. I don't see how anyone could ever perfectly translate the books to > film - they are too magical.
Coming out of lurkdom to defend my fellow-countrymen, since LOTR was essentially a Kiwi project! I haven't seen the film yet - the queues here have been ridiculous! And despite several attempts, I've never managed to make it all the way through the books, since I get bored about 2/3 of the way through - and I usually read voraciously! I read Fried Green Tomatoes recently, in one sitting. I'll pick up on Kakki's point though, and ask if anyone can name a movie that has COMPLETELY captured the essence of a novel of this length? Any adaptation to the screen leaves something lacking, it's just inevitable between the two forms. Either the characters lack development, or some "vital" scenes are lacking, to make room for more important story development. To fully capture the entire book, I think you'd need a 10-20 hour movie, which just isn't going to happen. Peter Jackson is a Tolkein fan, but he's primarily a film-maker, and he still wants a "successful" movie. Probably a couple of the best adaptations I've seen in recent years have been Dolores Claiborne, and The Shawshank Redemption - interestingly, both works by Stephen King. Admittedly The Shawshank Redemption (or to give it it's correct title - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption) is a novella, and therefore shorter to begin with, and some liberties were taken. But the main "essence" was there in both films. I'd be interested if anyone CAN name a movie that does COMPLETE justice to the written form! Hell ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz
