BBC Dramatization of LotR

[davem]

(OK, Esty! I know this isn't the movies forum, but this is really a discussion about the merits of different adaptations of the book, focussing on the Radio series, & there isn't a Radio board! I will make clear by the end that this is a Book related point!)

I think its also that so much of the original language was used. It shows that if you trust Tolkien, & tell the story as he wrote it, you'll communicate the story far more effectively. I still feel there's a lot of wisdom in the review of 'Towers' in Mallorn (Tolk. Soc. journal) that Jackson seems to have been under the impresion that LotR is an action movie in book form!

Verlyn Flieger summed up the movies recently (in the 3rd progress report for next years Tolkien 2005 anniversary conference):

Q 'What is your opinion of the Peter Jackson films?'
A 'I have seen films 1&3. I think they are big, noisy, special-effects-filled action movies. They don't come anywhere near the subtlety & psychological complexity of Tolkien's book. The liberties Jackson took with plot & character are indefensible, & his additions to the story unnecessary'.

(I know, quit beating around the bush Ms Flieger, & just tell us what youreally think!)

I must be fair, though, & say that Tom Shippey, another Tolkien expert who I admire, said: 'They were about as good as could be managed, especially given the financial constraints'. He then says that a fuller explanation of his views is currently in press for a forthcoming book.

I don't know if anyone has opinions on why a particular adaptation of LotR/Hobbit is successful (or otherwise) for them, what it has to contain, what the particular 'mood' or atmosphere of, say, LotR is - I can't really put it into words, except to say, when I finish reading LotR, I'm in a certain 'mood', a mixture of sadness, nostalgic regret, not just for the world of Middle earth, but maybe for my own younger self (ie, every time I re read it, I find memories surface of other times & places I've read it, kind of linking me back to who I was nearly 30 years ago) - all that, & something more. A 'Tolkienesque' melancholy, or something.

Ok, now, for me, the radio series, for all its faults & limitations, does that, produces that same effect, though not so strongly. The movies don't - & that's not simply down to my not having 30 years of 'history' with them. I think there are certain 'moments' which are necessary - the one that springs instantly to mind is Sam returning home to Bag End, & Rosie welcoming him in & placing Elanor on his lap - IT HAPPENS AT NIGHT, MR JACKSON!!!!!!!!!! - (Deep breath, calm, calm, calm...) That moment has to be just as Tolkien describes it for it to work for me. If it doesn;t happen exactly as in the book, that feeling doesn't communicate, & the 'spell' isn't cast.

Any other aspects of the book which others feel communicate the 'spirit' & mood of the book, & which any successful adaptation must keep exactly as Tolkien wrote them (I'd say everything between p1 & p1069 should be kept as is, but adaptors should be free with anything else ).