THE Pickaquoy Centre, Orkney’s very own leisure centre, is five years old this month. To celebrate this milestone a series of special events are being held over the next few weeks. Amongst them is a mini film festival showing the five most popular films during this period. They include Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Perfect Storm. This last weekend there were free showings of the final film in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Naturally I just had to take the opportunity to go along and see what all the fuss has been about.
‘Spectacular’, if just one word was needed to describe The Return of the King. I am sure the previous two films are equally impressive to have amassed as many accolades as they have. I may not be J.J.R. Tolkien’s keenest fan, having struggled terribly with at least two of his books during my teens, but I am still able to appreciate the dedication that has gone into making these films. As far as I can tell, at least, the film is pretty close to the book. Perhaps most amazingly to me is the fact that the settings are uncannily close to what my imagination had conjured up for me when I read the story. So either Tolkien’s descriptions are that vivid or Peter Jackson’s imagination works along similar lines to my own. He must, of course, be Tolkien’s No.1 fan of all time to have devoted eight years of his life realising this magnificent cinematic feat.
As the book is too, the storyline is complex, many layers deep and multi-faceted. Jackson cleverly uses all methods of cinematography to bring it to life perfectly. Beautiful scenery to use as the ideal backdrop, glorious sets, inspired use of computer technology to generate characters and battle scenes and a fantastic cast of actors, all playing their best to make an awesome whole, no one out shining anyone else. There are many outstanding performances here, not only that of Ian McKellern as Gandalf, which has deservedly been recognised. The Hobbits are all excellently portrayed and as someone in a review somewhere else has already said, Sean Astin playing Sam Wiseman, Frodo’s gardener and best friend should rightfully have been awarded an Oscar for best supporting role.
A superb blend of tension, suspense, several emotionally moving moments (notably Frodo taking his farewell from the Hobbits) and even the occasional spot of humour makes this three hour long epic seem only half its length even to the most uninitiated exponent of this genre. Howard Shore’s exemplary musical score giving colour and mood to the whole viewing experience is just one more aspect which deserves to be mentioned. This film and the LOTR Trilogy as a whole must go down in cinematic history as the greatest achievement to date in every facet of its accomplishment. May it continue to astound, fascinate and entertain audiences the world for many generations to come. It will be named as a classic of its time in the same breath as movies like Ivanhoe, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Jaws, and Jurassic Park.
22/03/04
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