The Lord of the Rings and Respect to the Original Literature

Ben Marshall

That The Lord of the Rings trilogy is of distinguished quality remains an uncontroversial statement to any person who has had the privilege of watching the movies. I personally consider The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Extended Edition) to be the single greatest work of cinema I have ever viewed. I cannot help but conceptualise this trilogy as a single, inextricable cinematic entity, as I dare say do most others too. It appears to me that the legitimacy of such a notion speaks fundamentally to the quality of consistency between the three pictures. Truly, they are analogous to a sprawling, intricately woven mosaic. The tiles fit together seamlessly to form the grandest of epics ever put to film. During my many hours of viewing, I have been struck by how the genesis of these films seems to have predicted their success as all-time cinema classics. Specifically, how the dogmatic fervour surrounding Tolkein’s original literary works invested the overarching and minute methodology of Peter Jackson (Director) and his team with the focus and determination to honour and elevate the source material.

How is it that eleven hours and twenty-two minutes of content demonstrates a consistency most films could only dream of? It is beyond obvious to state that Tolkein’s works played an essential creative role in the making of the films. However, what may be underestimated is the psychological approach that its status engendered. It is evident that the filmmaking was inspired by the three hours of appendices on the making of Middle Earth from head to humongous-hairy-hobbit-toe in the entire team. Richard Taylor, creative supervisor of the Weta Workshop that generated the hundreds of thousands of props, recalled telling a small team of intern designers freshly plucked from local New Zealand colleges that if they did not invest every part of effort possible, they were not worthy of their work. Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) remembered Ian McKellen (Gandalf) instructing him on how his hands should be placed in one scene to ensure faithfulness according to the pages of the book he carried with him to set. It does not seem coincidental to me that the project was able to succeed on every creative and technical level. It appears that the complete respect for the books ran to the very core of the project, and manifested itself in the efforts of each crew and cast member. Listening to senior personnel speak about their roles sounds as if each came from the mouth of Tolkien, reverent in their comments, and invigorated in their approach to realising his vision. A most vivid example is the lack of a physical embodiment of the main villain: Sauron, throughout the films. Such an un-Hollywood move would, in my estimation, never make it to the screen in modern movies of the same spectacle and budget. Indeed, Sauron almost did make an appearance, with footage shot of the big battle of the Black Gate. However, Peter Jackson in the commentary discusses how it was untrue to Tolkein’s vision to have such a flashy villain, as it would distract from the central storyline of the two hobbits, unaccounted for in their mighty adversary’s arrogance - achieving what eleven hours ago (in movie time) looked like just a fantasy.

Perhaps because of the aesthetic of the epoch and by the small army of people required to bring it to life, my mind finds an interesting connection between this movie and the teachings of Sun Tzu and how the Art of War may be compared to cinematic undertakings. His wisdom about not advancing relying on sheer military power alone appears apposite when considering how a $300 million film like The Justice League (2017) pales, in comparison to just one of the trilogy’s films. The significance of foreknowledge concerning the source material is also fitting, like the fact that all three films were drafted, shot, and edited successfully was central to their cohesiveness. However, the sagacity of moral character’s value to a fighting force I would argue is the most fitting. A general must maintain the will of the people. The existence of and esteem held for the literature acted as a creative and technical backbone for the entire filmmaking process, providing every worker a constant reference to the end goal.