Of all the pieces of writing we completed this year, I felt the most pride when I handed in this film report for The Return of the King. Not only did I have alot of good points, but I had alot of quotations and examples pulled from other texts as well. I think this was the culmination of everything I have learned throughout my ELA career and I hope I am able to produce a piece of similar quality on the diploma exam.
The Return of the King:
Effectiveness of Film Techniques
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King tells the story of a hobbit’s journey to destroy a very powerful ring
and restore peace to Middle Earth. Many question if the film The Return of the King is a suitable
recreation of the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. The director, Peter Jackson has
combined a large amount of literary, cinematic and dramatic techniques which raise
the question: Is the hero in a story always right? The failure of Frodo to
properly dispose of the ring leaves the viewer with the knowledge that the hero
of a story can in fact do wrong, and will leave them with that knowledge when
they watch other films of similar genres.
Introduction
In the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the director Peter
Jackson uses cinematic, dramatic and literary techniques through Frodo, Gandalf
and other characters to show the viewer that the hero in a story can do wrong,
and their journey is as much a quest for knowledge and wisdom as it is for power
and recognition. Although Frodo is not attempting to complete his quest for
power and recognition, he does feel obligated to risk his life to complete the
task assigned to him and learns a lot about himself along the way. Jackson uses
J. R. R. Tolkien’s storyline and has developed it for film. Jackson uses
Tolkien’s characters of Gandalf and Frodo to portray the doubt about themselves
and others that many heroes in stories have. Jackson and his film crew have
used a huge amount of scale models, computer generated figures and massive sets
to bring Tolkien’s world to life. After going above and beyond with the visual
elements of the film, Jackson has also managed to include subtext not mentioned
in the story, such as the gluttony of Denothor or the visual corruption of
Frodo. The Return of the King has
become more than just a story loved by fantasy fans, but a visual masterpiece
that has made Peter Jackson worthy of knighting.
Literary Elements
The Return of the King is Peter
Jackson’s interpretation of the original novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. The
screenplay, written by Phillipa Boyen, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, is their
attempt to recreate Tolkien’s work in a way that would be suitable for the
silver screen. Many critics have lashed out at Jackson for his removal of some
scenes and characters that were in the novel, however the elimination of those
was necessary because of the sheer volume of content throughout the three
books. For example, in the film Theoden leads the Rohirrim to Minas Tirith with
no interruption. In the novel they are warned of an Orc army blocking the way,
and are told to take a hidden road to the White City. Jackson felt this was
unnecessary to include in the storyline so it was left out of the film in order
to keep the viewers attention.
The literary techniques used
throughout the film are often used to portray doubt within the character; an
uncertainty the character has which becomes a common thread during the film.
Many of the heroes in The Return of the
King either fear they are wrong when they are right, or believe they are
right when they are wrong. Frodo is the hero often believing he knows what is
right, but unfortunately for his friend Sam he often puts more trust into the
creature Gollum than he should. Sam tells Frodo “He means to murder us!” when
Gollum starts to manipulate Frodo into believing Sam is trying to steal the
ring from him. Sam realizes that Gollum’s intentions are to kill the Hobbits
and steal the ring back, but Frodo is blinded by his affection for the ring. He
is able to relate to Gollum because he had been in a similar situation when he
was first corrupted by the ring. Frodo does not believe Sam understands the
burden he carries, and that it will destroy his happiness for the rest of his
life. This is shown when Bilbo asks Frodo if he could see his ring again, and
Frodo tells Bilbo he is “afraid [he’s] lost it.” This shows Frodo is sorry the
ring is gone, and he does consider it a loss more than a victory.
The White
Wizard Gandalf is used as a symbol of hope for the other characters in the
film, but he often questions the results of certain battles in the story
diminishing the hope of everyone else. Gandalf is portrayed as a saviour of
sorts, and gives the viewer a feeling of safety when he comes to the rescue. At
other times the things he says gives the viewer feelings of uncertainty. If the
saviour character is worried about something, the other characters must be
petrified. Gandalf makes Pippin nervous before the battle for Minas Tirith when
he refers to the quiet, calm weather as the “deep breath into a plunge.” This
is similar to the “calm before the storm” that often happens in nature, meaning
he believes the battle ahead will be a bloody one. When Gandalf has uncertainty
of the future events, the viewer and other characters also question whether or
not the future is in favour of Gondor and the Fellowship of the Ring.
Tolkien
was quite open about his dedication to religion and the Catholic Church and his
writings often related to his religious views. With Peter Jackson’s Return of the King being a dramatization
of Tolkien’s novel, it can be expected that many references to Christianity or Catholicism were
also reflected in the film. The majority of films and novels with religion as a
major theme will often have some kind of Christ-like character that acts as a
saviour similar to Jesus. Charles Dickens’ A
Tale of Two Cities has a Christ-like character in Sydney Carton. Before
death, Carton delivers the famous line “It is a far,
far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest
that I go to than I have ever known.” This is similar to when Gandalf speaks of
the “white shores” when Pippin speaks of his sadness for his almost certain
death. Both Gandalf and Sydney Carton represent Christ because of the way they
look forward to death more than they dread it. They are attempting to spread
the idea that Heaven or the land after death is better than the life everyone lives
in, similar to what Christ did in Christianity. Tolkien even admitted that “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously
so at first, but consciously in the revision.”
Peter Jackson did his best to recreate the story that Tolkien created, therefore
it became necessary for him to include the religious elements that are
reflected in Tolkien’s writings.
Cinematic Elements
The camera
angles, long lens shots, eerie lighting and dramatic music are all examples of
the cinematic elements Jackson uses to create effect in The Return of the King. Throughout the film every situation makes
the viewer question whether there is still hope or if everything will end. The
lighting used in the shots during the battle for Minas Tirith begins as a dark,
flat light. This backs up Gandalf’s assumption that this will be the last time
any of them will every fight. As the battle goes on, the scene starts to get
brighter and as help comes and the Nazgul flies off, Minas Tirith is sunny once
again. This is Jackson’s way of showing the viewer that although what is said
during a scene, the hero can be wrong and the cinematic effects can show the
viewer there is some hope. When Frodo first wakes up after destroying the ring,
Jackson uses glowing white light to illuminate the room. This raises the
question of if Frodo is really alive or not, as the same lighting is used in
one of Aragorn’s dreams and when Gandalf is describing the land after death.
The glowing white light is the same that is usually associated with Heaven in
other films.
The
cinematic lighting can also be used to represent despair and treachery. The
dark spaces and shadows of spider webs in Shelob’s lair make Frodo and the
viewer feel trapped and unsure of what could be hidden in the darkness. The
lighting during all of the Mordor scenes is also very dark and disturbing. When
the top of Minas Tirith is shown in the distance you can see the dark clouds
hanging over Mordor with the fires of Mount Doom being the only light you can
see. Those dark clouds had been there for 1000 years, forever reminding the citizens
of Gondor of the evil that still lingered so closely because of the decisions
of their past king.
Jackson also
uses a lot of intricate camera work and editing to create cinematic effect. At the exit of Shelob’s lair, Jackson uses a
longer camera lens to have the background move as the camera pans across. This
shot shows the many different cavities to the cave, while still showing the
main exit as a circle causing it to look like an eye. Jackson has a lot of
shots focused on the eyes of characters or of circles such as the one at the
exit of Shelob’s lair. All of these circles hint at the corruption of the ring
and all of the circles in the movie seem to deal with some kind of evil or
corruption, like the entrance to Mount Doom or the mouth of Shelob’s lair. When
Frodo tells Sam to “go home,” the camera shows a still shot of Frodo’’s face,
which is filthy and shows his yellowing bloodshot eyes. Throughout the trilogy
Frodo goes from a clean, bright blue-eyed hobbit to a dirty, beat-up mess. Much
of this filth is from the long tiring journey, but in the “go home” shot the
filth also shows the corruption and evil from the ring. Jackson also found it
necessary to film The Return of the King
near his home in New Zealand. The rolling hills, mountains and large open
fields were a perfect fantasy land that was able to represent Middle Earth just
like Tolkien had described it.
The music
throughout The Return of the King is
extremely significant for plot development in the film. The soundtrack Jackson
has chosen can be a warning something drastic is about to happen, or it can
show hope for a character in a dangerous situation. There are a few situations
when the music changes from a minor key straight to it’s relative major key, changing
the mood from gloomy and dark to happy and bright. Each key in music has a
relative major and minor key, meaning they use the same notes but create a
different mood and atmosphere, just like the characters. As the characters each
individually grow throughout the story they stay the same but become just a
little bit different and usually for the better. The music also does an
excellent job of indicating how much the hobbits missed home. Even during the
final trek up Mount Doom, Celtic sounding music similar to what was heard in
the first film begins playing, making the viewer realize that all that is on
Sam’s mind as he carries Frodo up the hill is that he will get to go home after
he reaches the top. The Shire is a place of peace and serenity for the hobbits,
and they grow homesick during the film despite their dedication to the task.
Dramatic Elements
Although
some of the smaller incidents in the film may seem trivial, Jackson explains in
the bonus feature of the extended edition of The Return of the King that everything that happened in the film
had purpose and meaning behind it. The character of Denothor is used to show
corruption within a good society and his total disregard for another person’s
life. Denothor knows it is idiotic to send his troops out to fight before the
help from Rohan comes but he still sends them away in order to defend his
honor. There is a scene in the film where Denothor is sitting with Pippin in
the hall and he has a huge feast spread out before him. Instead of finishing a
piece of food, he simply takes one bite of something, sets it down and picks up
something else. Jackson uses this wastefulness as an illusion to the fall of
Rome. The gluttony and selfishness portrayed by Denothor is similar to that of
the Romans right before the end of their rule. Although Denothor is just a
steward who is in control when there is no king, he takes full advantage of his
power and shows no remorse for sending his son away to an almost certain death.
Peter
Jackson uses the character of Arwen as a symbol of how well the quest to
destroy the ring is going throughout the film. In one scene she is holding a
book in what seems like a struggle. Her dropping the book is extremely
symbolic, as it represents the loss of hope by Elrond for the destruction of
the ring. Elrond says to Aragorn “Arwen is dying. Her fate is now bound to the
ring.” Elrond is using Arwen as that extra motivation for Aragorn to do
everything he can to have the ring destroyed, as he knows Aragorn has the
potential to save Middle Earth.
Another
dramatic element often looked past in The
Lord of the Rings trilogy is Peter Jackson’s choice to use Elijah Wood as
Frodo. Jackson does a lot of close of shots of the faces of characters,
particularly of Frodo. As mentioned in the bonus feature, Elijah Wood has vivid
big blue eyes. As the trilogy goes on, those big blue eyes begin to look dirty
and eventually turn almost yellow. Jackson wants the viewer to see how the ring
has not only mentally corrupted him but visually corrupted him. As the film
ends, Elijah/ Frodo’s eyes return to their original vivid blue, but the ring
has left a scar in his mind that leaves him asking “How do you go on, when in
your heart you know there is no going back?”
Conclusion
Jackson’s
interpretation of The Return of the King
achieves his goal of staying mostly true to the novel but making a film that
would keep the viewers interested the whole time. He manages to keep the
literary elements from The Return of the
King novel while including cinematic and dramatic techniques not mentioned
in Tolkien’s telling of the story. Jackson uses all three elements to show that
he believes the hero is not always right, and everyone needs companions to
assist them in making the right decision. The
Return of the King is a story of friendship, betrayal and doubt which
Jackson has turned into a cinematic masterpiece.
Citations
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1963). Letter to miss eileen elgar. In Letter. Retrieved
from http://www.americanidea.org/handouts/06240110.htm
Williams, S. (2003). Lotr: Christian and catholic. In Article.
Retrieved from http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0160.html
Actors. (2003). Viggo mortensen (aragorn) quotes. In Quotes from cast.
Retrieved from http://versaphile.com/lrcanon/quotes/viggo.shtml
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