Journal: News & Comment

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The unexpected war movie

I've never read The Lord of the Rings. My wife and I read its prequel, The Hobbit, a few years ago, so I imagined the film of the first book of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring) would be something like that -- a kids' adventure story, full of strange places and creatures, bold deeds, and maybe a few somewhat scary monsters.

But Rings is not, at heart, an adventure story, nor a kids' story, nor an "action" story, nor a fantasy of the sort those of us who have grown up only on its reputation have come to expect. It is a war story, and a tale of horror. It is full of fear and violence and death, hacking and stabbing, soot and muck and cauterizing fire, destruction, monsters, and bleakness. Major characters die unexpectedly and terribly. While interspersed with green oases of peace and tranquillity, it is tale of a relentless march into deep dismay. And at the end, the worst is yet to come.

My wife hated it, and it's hard to say I enjoyed it. Can you enjoy a war movie like Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, or Full Metal Jacket? (Or even Aliens?) That's the kind of film Lord of the Rings is. Sure, there is bravery and goodness, but under a constant barrage of sickness and evil. The war fought by the Fellowship is necessary, but far from noble. It is desperate, tragic, and soaked in blood as the world turns into a desolate wasteland.

That makes sense, since J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the books during wartime. There are obvious parallels between the enemies of the Rings tales and the Nazis, and between the dark power of the Ring and the corrupting lures of fascism and communism in Tolkien's time. But of course, the story resonates now too, as it did for those in the time of the Vietnam War thirty years ago.

The film is a spectacular technical and storytelling achievement. It includes some of the most frightening monsters ever filmed, battle scenes of both shocking immediacy and massive scale, and interludes of lushness and greenery as bucolic as anything in Babe (which had the same cinematographer). There's a lot going on at many levels -- not least the idea that the small and the meek may be the strongest in times of great trial. Light and darkness represent good and evil, but sometimes the tables are turned -- darkness may be a safe hiding place, while a distant light could be the worst thing in the world.

Don't take your young kids: they'll have nightmares. If you're looking for a good-time escape at the movies, well, try Harry Potter (with the kids) or Ocean's Eleven (without). I think that's what we'll see next time we get a babysitter. I am certainly glad I saw The Fellowship of the Ring, exhausting as it was, and I'll see its two sequels when they arrive. I'll need the twelve-month break before the next one, though.

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