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Film
New Line Productions
A Review by By Mary Hoffman
[Armadillo 6.1 Spring 2004]
Third of three is hard to get right. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came with preceding whispers that they had saved the best till last and it would sweep the board at the Oscars and elsewhere.
So it was with the most delicious anticipation of a three and a half hour wallow that my family packed into our local Odeon for the third December running. Tolkien fans all and well-provisioned with popcorn and chocolate, we were going to see those hobbits through to Mount Doom and experience all the thrills of battles, comradeship and love both thwarted and rewarded.
And they were all there, no doubt about it. It many ways this third film was a triumph and Peter Jackson and co deserve all the laurels they have received. Aragornęs summoning of the foresworn dead was as powerful as it possibly could be and Jacksonęs decision to take them right on to the battlefield and inside Minas Tirith instead of releasing them on the shore was exactly right.
The Battle of Pelennor Fields featured the most stirring moments of the film, partly owing to a thrilling performance by Bernard Hill as King Thţoden, whose desperately brave speech to the outnumbered Rohirrim has them all shouting –Death!” as they ride to the relief of Gondor. His cry of –Forth, Eorlingas!” made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
And Minas Tirith itself, the White City of Gondor, looked just as I had always imagined it, as did Mount Doom, Angmar the Witch King, the Oliphants and so much else. Some of the most effective scenes are those only suggested in Tolkienęs book. In particular, Pippin climbing up to light the beacon in Minas Tirith against Denethoręs orders and the wonderful chain of answering fires that spring up all the way to Edoras ® –Gondor calls for aid!” and –Rohan will answer!”
Everything about the terrible Steward of Gondor, Denethor, and his sons Boromir and Faramir is brilliantly handled but nowhere more movingly than in Faramiręs hopeless charge back to Osgiliath, while his unfeeling father eats a messy meal of cherries and blood (apparently) and Pippin sings a Celtic lament. David Wenhamęs Faramir and Sean Beanęs Boromir, briefly seen again in his finest hour, seem unlikely offspring for John Nobleęs pessimistic Steward.
Andy Serkis was altogether splendid, from being the Smţagol who kills another hobbit-like creature for the treacherous ring, to his transformation into the fleshless, schizophrenic Gollum, doomed to follow it even into the fiery furnace at the end. Frodo and Sam were valiant, very dirty and loyal and Richard Tayloręs hideous orcs were magnificent throughout.
But in spite of these highlights, I personally did not like the film as much as The Two Towers. It had an unwieldly and inelegant shape, like the book, with its multiple endings and long appendices. The battle itself could not match Helmęs Deep, the beautiful-looking Minas Tirith crumbled as easily as the polystyrene it was probably made of, Cate Blanchett was even more maddening than in the previous two films and Gimli deteriorated entirely into comic relief. Merry and Pippin remained interchangeable (in fact, I always got them the wrong way round).
It made no sense at all to remove Saruman and in spite of the filmęs length there are some weird other cuts ® we donęt see Faramir and Eowyn get together and no-one except for Eowyn seems to notice or care that Thţoden is dead. Plenty of scope then for the extended DVD and eventually the directoręs cut.
So, as with some other trilogies, I felt that the ultimate accolades had passed over the best work and rather unimaginatively landed on what was a very satisfactory but not superlative ending. Other viewers, including the Academy members would disagree. It was certainly absolutely right that Howard Shore should have got the Oscar for best score and Peter Jackson deserved his little gold statuette, though I think he should have got it sooner. And I should like to have seen nominations in some category for Ian McKellen as the perfect Gandalf, Miranda Otto for showing that not all Tolkien women are soppy, Andy Serkis and team for really making one care about a CGI character and Bernard Hill for a bit of old-fashioned proper acting.
Next Christmas just wonęt be the same but ® what am I saying? Weęre going to buy the extended boxed set of all three films on DVD ® better start ordering the popcorn now.
Read Mary Hoffman's Film Reviews of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers
Visit The Lord of The Rings Website