There are not many movies that leave me to do some self introspection of my views; when I am intrinsically convinced I was dissatisfied; but LOTR: TTT does just that. I hesitate to disparage such a universally acclaimed movie to the extent I am going too; I am also willing to accept, that perhaps I have failed to see what clearly a battalion of critics have seen. Nonetheless, I am going to speak my sentiments of the movie.
First & foremost. I did not like LOTR: TTT at all; in fact I was so displeased, that I was willing to leave the cinema hall mid-way. What kept me in the cinema seat, was my determination to at least attempt to see what everyone has loved. Was it the content; was it the technique; was it the performances? To the concluding reels, I failed to see what that was. Were the entire world’s views the truth? Were my feelings the truth? One thing was for definite; I had regretted staying in the theatre to watch this; I had regretted paying for the ticket. I found nothing to be redeeming; nor was I impressed with the content or the technique, despite the besiege of computer wizardry & aerial cinematography.
The words to describe LOTR in accordance with my sentiments are: melodramatic; artificial; monotonous, unimaginative, commercial, self-indulgent, over-done, incomprehensible, corny, amalgamation, immature, artless.
I have not seen the first version of LOTR & after watching the 2nd, I am more than reluctant to watch it. I am not new to Tolikens epic trilogy however, it is one of my most cherished literary experiences of my yesteryear. It is perhaps the only book I read with undoubted enthusiasm; coming back from school & whisking off to the bedroom to read the rest. J.R. Tolikens book was like a movie itself; it provoked me to imagine this other fantasy world; with Hobbits, dragons, wizards, magic; I could see everything happening while reading the book; it was sheer enchantment.
The story & images that played in my minds eye, were nothing like Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Lord Of The Rings. The world I had imagined was real as our own world, but Peter Jackson’s world is artificial; the story I had seen played, was a beautiful enchanting tale of epic dimensions. But Peter Jackson’s story-telling is a world of cliches, commercial innuendos, actors & actresses & contrived special effects. J.R Toliken’s Lord Of the Rings is an epic; Peter Jackson’s adaptation is a stage play, albeit, with a budget.
Ironically, despite having read J.R Tolikens Lord of the rings trilogy religiously, this was completely alien to me. Right from the opening scene to the concluding credits. I was left absolutely bewildered, as to what it was all about. Everything was just a blur.
Peter Jackson is entitled to his own interpretation of the novel, just like Sanjay Leela Bhansali is entitled to his own interpretation of Devdas. I have no qualms with him for his interpretation. Only his story telling leaves a lot to be desired.
James Cameron adapted the tragic titanic as an entertaining fantasy potboiler. Bhansali adapts Devdas as a surrealist operatic Shakespearean tragedy. Both do justice to those intentions with an appropriate form of story telling. Peter Jackson however, blatantly commercialises the story & uses it as a vehicle to display exhilarating battle sequences, sweeping locations & the latest computer wizardry.
A finished screenplay must have a central character, a protagonist, conventionally known as the hero, whose trials & tribulations we are actively involved in. LOTR: TTT does not. This is rather an amalgamation of many stories & many characters:
Frodo & his friend being guided to Maldor by Golum; a story of two Hobbits being carried around by a talking tree; a drama of a kingdom; a story of the white wizard, Gandalf; a story of a black wizard; a series of flashbacks & action & CGI sequences, some which are secondary to the plot. With so much being told in a running time of 3 hours; whose story can be deemed central?
There is a reason, why screen writing conventions stress the importance of a hero, because in the parameters of a movie, 3-4 hours being the maximum one could tolerate & considering the limited attention span of the average audience(Lagaan raise the bar to 4) we can only be expected to follow the adventure of one main character. This one character sets the inner & outer motivations & underlying philosophies of the movie are conveyed via this character. All others characters; the antagonist ; the love interest; the comic characters are secondary &/or interrelated with the protagonist. As soon as a screen-writer attempts to introduce several stories, it alienates the viewer.
That is exactly what Peter Jackson has done; he has alienated me with the several stories being played out. Worse still, he has only surfaced each story, leaving each story underdeveloped(which is generally what a screenwriter does if he tries to do much) Like a show reel of several shorts. So many sequences in LOTR can be disassociated from the movie & be played stand alone. It is missing the joints, that connects a series of images to form a movie. The average attention span currently stands at 2 min. True enough, my patience was exhausted after 2 min. With virtually no joins to connect the other 178 min, the rest was simply a prolonged & monotonous visual torture.
More still. The movie’s overall feel is overdone & corny & artificial & much of this is the fault of the technique. With an unlimited budget; a choice of the best technicians & the latest in digital wizardry, Lord Of The rings: The Two towers, ultimately disappoints. Simply because it is too self-indulgent for it’s own good & too faux. Can the cinematography compare to the cinematography of Anil Mehta in Lagaan? No. Can it compare to the gritty & docu-drama look of Saving Private Ryan. No. Despite every type of aerial manoeuvre in LOTR; despite the luscious locations in the visual feel just disappoints. The locations are not nearly as epic & breathtaking, as they were lensed in Lagaan.
Much of the flying shots in LOTR were unnecessary. Much of the panoramic shots only detracted from the film. The computer generated backgrounds looked tacky; like paintings, just making everything look artificial. I was quite baffled, that in a film where some special effects are so mind-blowing, has many tacky special effects in other places. More bad special effects can be observed with the talking tree walking around holding the two hobbits. In wide shots, the hobbits seem to shimmer. The dragons also looked badly textured & more unconvincing was their flight.
Moving onto the good special effects. These are simply incredible; like never seen before. The final battle sequence is absolutely a visual ravishment; excellently rendered. The CGI rendered Golum is the best CGI character created to date. Amazingly textured & amazingly realistic. A technological wonder no doubt.
Background scores are especially irritating; there are very few places where a background score is not used & the abuse of having an instrumental piece playing every single scene just makes it even more the artificial & aggravating.
Acting is very rigid. Expressions are forced. Characters are flat.Performances borderline on melodramatic.
To conclude, a message to Peter Jackson: No Peter Jackson, I don’t want visual effects; I don’t want sweeping locations; I want a story that engages me & allows me to depart from my present reality into the realty of the story. Please don’t make me pay money to watch something that ultimately alienates me like this & makes me feel like a mere spectator watching your show-reel vehicle to display the latest in digital technology.