Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is a 2004 collection of literary studies essays edited by Janet Brennan Croft. It discusses Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings in his 2001–2003 film trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy book.
The collection was seen as quite negative by scholars. The film scholar Kristin Thompson felt that the book's denigration of Jackson was disappointing, and that too many of the essays were catalogues of differences between film and book, complete with adverse commentary. In her view, these made the error of assuming that Jackson was trying to be as faithful as possible to the book and failing, while Thompson argued that Jackson was aiming to please a modern audience, making intentional changes to achieve this goal. Other scholars gave mixed responses, while noting that the collection represents the many Tolkien scholars and fans who do not feel that the films succeeded in representing Tolkien's book.
Background
J. R. R. Tolkien was an English philologist and professor of English interested in medieval literature at the University of Oxford, and a Roman Catholic. In 1954–55, he published the three volumes of his fantasy The Lord of the Rings; sales have exceeded 150 million copies. In 2001–2003, the New Zealand film director Peter Jackson released a big-budget film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. His interpretation of the book differed markedly from the themes expressed by Tolkien, evoking strong reactions from film-goers, Tolkien fans, and scholars alike.
The essay collection Tolkien on Film was the first to be produced in reaction to the film trilogy, appearing in 2004. In a note to the Second Printing, the book's editor Janet Brennan Croft wrote that "This collection remains, we feel, the most important gathering of criticism on the film from a literary studies perspective, as opposed to a film studies perspective. Film studies has different aims and concerns, a different vocabulary, and different theoretical underpinnings from those a reader will encounter in this book." Accordingly, the essays in the book are mostly written by scholars, not film critics (J. E. Smyth excepted); apart from Croft herself, the authors include the Tolkien scholars David Bratman and Jane Chance, the scholar of fantasy Amy H. Sturgis, and the fantasy author Diana Paxson.
Essay summaries
+ The essays Part Author Discipline Title Summary Introduction Janet Brennan Croft Tolkien scholar Introduction The editor states that the "blockbuster" films generated varied reactions from viewers, readers of Tolkien's book, and scholars. Views range from delight at the films' success and awards, to finding them "profoundly antithetical, or even sacrilegious, to Tolkien's text and themes and almost too painful to watch." She states that "we tried to solicit strong and convincingly argued opinions on all sides", accepting that "not all the views ... will be to every reader's taste." Film history J.E. Smyth Film critic The Three Ages of Imperial Cinema from the Death of Gordon to The Return of the King Smyth compares the themes of Jackson's films to those of the 1939 The Four Feathers by Alexander and Zoltan Korda, and to the 1962 Lawrence of Arabia by David Lean. She states that the Great War and the fall of the British Empire marked these films, and that Jackson's films mark the rebirth of "heroic imperialism" facing enemies in the East. Adaptation / Revision David Bratman Tolkien scholar Summa Jacksonica: A Reply to Defenses of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Films, after St. Thomas Aquinas Bratman presents points made by others in defence of Jackson's approach, and attempts to refute each one in the style of Aquinas. He criticises numerous aspects of the book, but states that he likes Jackson's Boromir, and his handling of the Wormtongue-Éowyn relationship, and especially Frodo and Gandalf's discussion of "the moral question of Gollum", and Éowyn's "defiant speech on fearing being locked up in a cage". Janet Brennan Croft Tolkien scholar Mithril Coats and Tin Ears: "Anticipation" and "Flattening" in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Croft notes that fans of the book were often "deeply disappointed" by the films. She suggests that the reason is that where Tolkien subtly builds tension, Jackson "habit[ually]" gives away what will happen, just like Morton Zimmerman's script, which Tolkien disliked. Croft argues that both men "flatten[ed]" Tolkien's characters, dialogue, and plot. Diana Paxson Fantasy author Re-vision: The Lord of the Rings in Print and on Screen Paxson writes that people usually "receive a book or a film as holy writ, direct from the mind of the maker, but it takes time for a work's creator to see it thus." She compares Tolkien's and Jackson's creative processes, noting that both, as seen in Christopher Tolkien's The History of The Lord of the Rings and the extended versions of Jackson's films, continually "re-vision[ed]" the story. Heroes and Leaders Kayla McKinney Wiggins Scholar of Folklore The Art of the Story-Teller and the Person of the Hero Wiggins writes that "If Tolkien's novel is epic fantasy, Jackson's interpretations of it are epic films." She finds their vision and execution "grand", and the extensive battle scenes "quite impressive". But she feels that Tolkien's focus on "narrative and the gradual evolution of character" is "largely lost" in the film version. In her view, Jackson misses Tolkien's treatment of Aragorn as an "epic hero" and of Frodo as an "Everyman" "fairy tale hero". Instead, Jackson "offers the conflicted, modern protagonist, smaller in scope and lesser in nature." Daniel Timmons Tolkien scholar Frodo on Film: Peter Jackson's Problematic Portrayal Timmons writes that Jackson's portrayal of the Hobbit protagonist Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, "diverges from the letter and spirit of Tolkien's book". Timmons suggests that this is to appeal to filmgoers, "used to frenetic melodrama and staged suspense". Frodo's "humble and heroic trials" are replaced by "a reconstructed and flawed" account, making him "a common individual", "divested ... of his unique and noble character". However, the final scene of the film trilogy, Timmons writes, goes back to "Tolkien's great book" for its "poignant and powerful ending", as Frodo sails off into the West, to what Tolkien calls "a far green country under a swift sunrise". Judith Kollmann Scholar of English Elisions and Ellipses: Counsel and Council in Tolkien's and Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Jackson's versions of the Council of Elrond at Rivendell, and Gandalf's council at Minas Tirith ("The Last Debate"), are "abbreviated" and radically modified. The Council of Elrond is compressed to a short argument, emphasising a reluctant Aragorn, not Frodo. The Last Debate, without the Princes of Gondor, becomes a casual meeting of friends within the Fellowship of the Ring; and it is Aragorn, not Gandalf, who sets out the seemingly reckless approach, to go and fight Mordor at the Black Gate. A Woman's Part Jane Chance Tolkien scholar Tolkien's Women (and Men): The Films and the Book In Chance's view, Jackson shifts the story's "focus from Frodo's hero-journey ... to the love story of Arwen and Aragorn". This "subordinates and devalues ... Tolkien's key theme of the ennoblement of the ordinary to the more ordinary marriage of the nobility." She notes that this gives women a more central place than in Tolkien, taking "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" from an appendix to centre stage. In her view, this does honour a "central concern" of Tolkien's mythology. Cathy Akers-Jordan Writing instructor Fairy Princess or Tragic Heroine? The Metamorphosis of Arwen Undómiel in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Films In Akers-Jordan's view, the film Arwen may seem to be unlike Tolkien's, but she is presented as a "true descendant of her heroic ancestors, such as Lúthien, Eärendil, and Galadriel." Victoria Gaydosik Scholar of English "Crimes Against the Book"? The Transformation of Tolkien's Arwen from Page to Screen and the Abandonment of the Psyche Archetype Examining Jackson's treatment of Arwen, Gaydosik quotes screenwriter Fran Walsh's joking remark "Crimes against the book!". She notes that the heroine's journey is less familiar than the hero's; Tolkien uses "Psyche, a passive love-object" as archetype for Arwen. Jackson is informed instead by cinema's "pumped-up action-adventure heroine", though the second film, The Two Towers, backed away from presenting Arwen wielding a sword in battle, informed by fans' reaction to the first film. Gaydosik suggests that the films succeed in developing the mythology that Tolkien had wished to create, indeed that a mythology consists of "stories that keep being told and retold". Maureen Thum Scholar of English The "Sub-Subcreation" of Galadriel, Arwen, and Éowyn: Women of Power in Tolkien's and Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Thum notes that Tolkien describes people who tell fairy tales as sub-creators. In her view, Jackson succeeds in this role, portraying Galadriel, Arwen, and Éowyn as powerful women, just as Tolkien did, without "falsification or distortion ... as some critics have argued". She examines Yavanna, Varda, and Lúthien from The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, showing that in his Legendarium, Tolkien, far from being "anti-feminist", placed women in "pivotal roles". She argues that in The Lord of the Rings, the female figures are much more important than their "relatively brief appearances" might suggest. Fan Fiction Susan Booker Arts Librarian Tales Around the Internet Campfire: Fan Fiction in Tolkien's Universe Booker examines Tolkien fan fiction inspired by Jackson's films. Commenting that "Some colleagues cringe" at her subject, she states that by 2004 there were around 300,000 fan websites of stories set in Middle-earth, and that to "study alligators" one needs to visit "treacherous bayous". She notes that some fan authors have never read Tolkien, relying entirely on Jackson's narration. Booker notes, too, that despite Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume The History of Middle-earth, there are plenty of gaps that fans can enjoy filling in. She attempts to characterise these authors, and their readership. Amy H. Sturgis Scholar of Fantasy Make Mine "Movieverse": How the Tolkien Fan Fiction Community Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Peter Jackson Sturgis notes that fan fiction, conventionally dated to a Star Trek fanzine in 1967, could be said to have started in the Middle Ages, when authors "embellished and explored" Arthurian legend. Tolkien fandom too has a long history. Fanfiction.net alone had over 30,000 Middle-earth stories by 2004; and there were hundreds of Tolkien forums and online groups, not all following Jackson. Some traded in stories, others in images, poetry, or songs. The Lucky Number Mark Shea Catholic writer The Lord of the Rings: A Source-Critical Analysis Shea ends the book with a parody of a learned work of philological scholarship. He states that "Experts in source-criticism now know that The Lord of the Rings is a redaction of sources ranging from The Red Book of Westmarch (W) to Elvish Chronicles (E) to Gondorian records (G) to orally transmitted tales of the Rohirrim (R)," each with "their own agendas", like "the 'Tolkien' (T) and 'Peter Jackson' (PJ) redactors". He notes confidently that "we may be quite certain that 'Tolkien' (if he ever existed) did not write this work in the conventional sense, but that it was assembled over a long period of time..." Shea adds that "T is heavily dependent on G records and clearly elevates the claims of the Aragorn monarchy over the House of Denethor." He comments that "Of course, the 'Ring' motif appears in countless folk tales and is to be discounted altogether", while "the 'Gandalf' narratives" seem to be shamanistic legends, recorded in W "out of deference to local Shire cultic practice."
Publication history