Movie Rant
Well first of all I want it to be known that The Fellowship of the Ring has one of the best endings I have ever seen in a movie. I watched it yesterday (the extended edition of course :P) and, as always, while I really like the whole thing, the ending particularly grips me. In case I haven't said it yet i'll say it again... it has one of the best endings I have ever seen. Why? I think it is because of the way it turns the tables on the rest of the movie. This is not the ending the audience was looking for or expecting - we are looking for some sort of “well that’s one stage of our journey over, see you in the sequel” kind of ending. Instead, total tragedy hits and we can only watch helplessly as the fellowship is scattered and seems to be about to be totally destroyed.
The tragedy is two-fold. Firstly we see the fellowship fall apart due to internal conflicts – Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo, and Aragorn and Merry realise that they too are only a threat to their friend Frodo, as they, too, will eventually succumb just like Boromir. The fellowship, which until now has triumphed with a kind of Three Musketeers heroism (all for one and one for all), now fails under the impassable test of temptation. The second part of the tragedy is the Orc attack. They suddenly descend on a fellowship that is both scattered and confused, owing to its recent internal conflicts. The total hopelessness of the situation is seen in the way Aragorn takes a hundred or so Orcs on just because he has no choice, in the way Merry and Pippin have to give themselves up to get Frodo away safely, in the way the orcs just don’t stop pouring out from the trees. We as the audience know that this is the end, that despite all their escapes in the past, there is no escape for the fellowship this time.
Well to me at least, this total failure of the fellowship right at the crunch point makes it a very powerful climax to a movie that appeared to have been building towards something else. All the themes of the movie come together at this point as well.
So anyway, if you can understand that, that’s the reason I think the ending of FOTR is superbly well done. It’s a brilliant (somewhat crudely done in places but still effective) movie. I can’t wait till King Kong (well actually I can, I’m waiting now…). It’s going to be every bit as good. The short trailer that’s been showing for the last month is enough to grip me! They showed the full trailer for the first time on Close Up tonight. As a trailer, it isn’t as good, but it’s still impressive.
Anyway, movie rant over. I was going to right more, but that took longer than I thought it would and I’m going to bed.
Night~
The tragedy is two-fold. Firstly we see the fellowship fall apart due to internal conflicts – Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo, and Aragorn and Merry realise that they too are only a threat to their friend Frodo, as they, too, will eventually succumb just like Boromir. The fellowship, which until now has triumphed with a kind of Three Musketeers heroism (all for one and one for all), now fails under the impassable test of temptation. The second part of the tragedy is the Orc attack. They suddenly descend on a fellowship that is both scattered and confused, owing to its recent internal conflicts. The total hopelessness of the situation is seen in the way Aragorn takes a hundred or so Orcs on just because he has no choice, in the way Merry and Pippin have to give themselves up to get Frodo away safely, in the way the orcs just don’t stop pouring out from the trees. We as the audience know that this is the end, that despite all their escapes in the past, there is no escape for the fellowship this time.
Well to me at least, this total failure of the fellowship right at the crunch point makes it a very powerful climax to a movie that appeared to have been building towards something else. All the themes of the movie come together at this point as well.
So anyway, if you can understand that, that’s the reason I think the ending of FOTR is superbly well done. It’s a brilliant (somewhat crudely done in places but still effective) movie. I can’t wait till King Kong (well actually I can, I’m waiting now…). It’s going to be every bit as good. The short trailer that’s been showing for the last month is enough to grip me! They showed the full trailer for the first time on Close Up tonight. As a trailer, it isn’t as good, but it’s still impressive.
Anyway, movie rant over. I was going to right more, but that took longer than I thought it would and I’m going to bed.
Night~
posted by David | 12:32 am
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