To sum up, the movie Tolkien had some good moments but was overall a disappointment. The biggest problem with it is, I think, that it tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing well. The film also makes very weird choices about what to cut out and what to include- for instance, all but ignoring Tolkien's very real faith yet jamming in an entirely speculative gay friend plot point. Ludicrous. There were, in my opinion, several interesting movies which could have been made from this material- for instance, one about Tolkien's Catholicism, how it influenced his outlook and writings, how it came full circle with first his mother being estranged from her family for converting and then his wife, for the same reason. We could have had more of Colm Meaney's Father Francis... heck, we could've maybe even seen how Tolkien helped turn his pal CS Lewis away from atheism. Or they could have made a movie about Tolkien's war experiences without the bizarre fantasy scenes overlaying them: his initial reluctance to join up, his training and assignment to the Lancashire Fusiliers as a signals officer, his growing admiration and respect for the men of the "lower classes" under his command. This could also have shown Edith at home in England, dreading every knock on the door which might be someone bringing news of her husband's death, keeping track of his battalion on a map she kept of the eastern front (Tolkien the language expert developed a code comprised of dots to let Edith know his location in his letters without alerting the censors). It could have shown the horrors of the trenches, the utter destruction of man and nature, and shown how this later influenced not only Tolkien's writings but also his environmentalism and his distaste for rampant industrialization. Alternatively, they could have made a movie about Tolkien the language scholar. Some of the most interesting scenes in the existing film- at the restaurant with Edith, or in discussion with Professor Wright- center around this, and it would have been nice to flesh this out further. This would have been an ideal way to work in his relationship with his three school friends, and how they inspired each others' creativity and scholarship until this was brutally- and, for two of them, fatally- cut short by WW I. This relationship could even be compared/contrasted with Tolkien's later one with the members of the Inklings. Any of these topics could have supported a movie on its own but unfortunately, the filmmakers of Tolkien jammed in pieces of each one, mixed in some utterly fictitious and silly bits, and tried to make it all fit together in a cohesive and interesting way. They did not succeed, and somehow the movie ends up being lesser than the sum of its parts.
The relationship between Tolkien and his love interest/ future wife Edith- as portrayed in the film- works fairly well. This is no doubt partly because time is actually spent developing it, unlike the relationship he has with his friends. There's one scene in particular which works quite well: the one where John and Edith are sitting in a restaurant and Tolkien is describing how he develops an entirely new language. Unfortunately, this scene is also highlighted in every trailer so you kind of know where it's going right from the start. The film strays away from fact in that it has the two still unmarried when Tolkien goes off to war when in fact they were married in 1916, before he was sent to the front. I suppose this was done to increase romantic suspense or something but to my mind, having one's husband gone to war would be far more dramatic than one's intended. Especially a war as brutal and deadly as WW I; certainly Tolkien had no illusions about his probable fate: "Junior officers were being killed off, a dozen a minute. Parting from my wife then... it was like a death." But this is a minor quibble about the movie's accuracy. There is a much larger problem with it... The film all but ignores Tolkien's Catholic faith, which in fact defined his life and influenced every part of it. One reason why Tolkien's mother struggled financially after her husband died was because she converted to Catholicism and her Protestant family withdrew its financial support because of this. Then, after her death, the two Tolkien brothers were put under the guardianship of Catholic priest Father Francis Xavier Morgan, whom Tolkien respected greatly: "He was an upper-class Welsh-Spaniard Tory, and seemed to some just a pottering old gossip. He was—and he was not. I first learned charity and forgiveness from him..." Father Francis does appear periodically in the film- played by Colm Meaney!- but really only to tut-tut disapprovingly about Tolkien not concentrating on his studies and about his relationship with Edith. This is yet another underdeveloped character; we see nothing of Father Francis as the spiritual advisor of young JRR, and Meaney is criminally underused. In addition, Edith was a Protestant and this also was the cause of quite a bit of trouble. As a practicing Catholic, Tolkien couldn't marry Edith unless she converted- which she did, albeit somewhat reluctantly by all accounts. Unfortunately, her guardian was pretty anti-catholic and ordered Edith to find somewhere else to live when she became engaged to Tolkien. None of this is in the movie. We get a tantalizing glimpse of Tolkien's tutelage by Joseph Wright, Professor of Philology at Oxford whose book Primer of Gothic Language had been read by a young JRR and helped inspire his fascination with languages. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, Wright only pops up late in the movie, and for a very short time. Yet again, too little, too late. To sum up, the movie Tolkien had some good moments but was overall a disappointment. The biggest problem with it is, I think, that it tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing well. The film also makes very weird choices about what to cut out and what to include- for instance, all but ignoring Tolkien's very real faith yet jamming in an entirely speculative gay friend plot point. Ludicrous. There were, in my opinion, several interesting movies which could have been made from this material- for instance, one about Tolkien's Catholicism, how it influenced his outlook and writings, how it came full circle with first his mother being estranged from her family for converting and then his wife, for the same reason. We could have had more of Colm Meaney's Father Francis... heck, we could've maybe even seen how Tolkien helped turn his pal CS Lewis away from atheism. Or they could have made a movie about Tolkien's war experiences without the bizarre fantasy scenes overlaying them: his initial reluctance to join up, his training and assignment to the Lancashire Fusiliers as a signals officer, his growing admiration and respect for the men of the "lower classes" under his command. This could also have shown Edith at home in England, dreading every knock on the door which might be someone bringing news of her husband's death, keeping track of his battalion on a map she kept of the eastern front (Tolkien the language expert developed a code comprised of dots to let Edith know his location in his letters without alerting the censors). It could have shown the horrors of the trenches, the utter destruction of man and nature, and shown how this later influenced not only Tolkien's writings but also his environmentalism and his distaste for rampant industrialization. Alternatively, they could have made a movie about Tolkien the language scholar. Some of the most interesting scenes in the existing film- at the restaurant with Edith, or in discussion with Professor Wright- center around this, and it would have been nice to flesh this out further. This would have been an ideal way to work in his relationship with his three school friends, and how they inspired each others' creativity and scholarship until this was brutally- and, for two of them, fatally- cut short by WW I. This relationship could even be compared/contrasted with Tolkien's later one with the members of the Inklings. Any of these topics could have supported a movie on its own but unfortunately, the filmmakers of Tolkien jammed in pieces of each one, mixed in some utterly fictitious and silly bits, and tried to make it all fit together in a cohesive and interesting way. They did not succeed, and somehow the movie ends up being lesser than the sum of its parts.
Comments
“He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea.” – Thomas Fuller One thing about living in a Maritime province is that, while we love the beauty and benefits which the Atlantic affords us, we also understand the dangers that it poses. And if we ever needed reminders, they can be found in almost every coastal town. The picture below is one I took in Lunenburg last year: it's a memorial for local fishermen lost at sea, from 1890 to present day. The pillars are set on the points of a compass and are inscribed with the names of the lost- there are hundreds of them. The center pillar bears this inscription: “Dedicated to the memory of those who have gone down to the sea in ships and who have never returned and as a tribute to those who continue to occupy their business in the great waters.” This of course references the verses in Psalm 107: "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." Below is a picture of the Cross of Sacrifice which I took in Point Pleasant Park a couple of weeks ago when we were there. It's inscribed with the names of 3267 Canadian sailors who lost their lives in the First & Second World Wars. The dedication plaque reads: IN THE HONOUR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE NAVY, ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY OF CANADA WHOSE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED HERE THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN BUT THEIR MEMORY SHALL ENDURE The memorial is positioned near the mouth of Halifax Harbour so that any ships leaving port must pass by it. Any naval vessels leaving Halifax salute as they sail past the cross. The memorial below is also found in Point Pleasant Park and is dedicated to RCN sailors who died during peacetime. It's inscribed with 85 names and incorporates an anchor from the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure. The anchor is about 12 feet tall and weighs about 9 tons. I was thinking about the hazards of the ocean recently- while looking at my photos from Point Pleasant Park- and realised that I personally know three people who have lost a member of their family to drowning- two in fishing/boating accidents and one swimming. I don't think that this is unusual for anyone who lives on the sea; Nova Scotia is called "Canada's Ocean Playground" but it can also be a deadly serious business. I suppose that's why songs like the one below tend to resonate with me. Heartland (Phil Coulter) When the storm is raging, And thunder rolls, Deliver us from the ocean Save our souls. A thiarna dean tracaire (Lord have Mercy) A chriost dean trocaire (Christ have Mercy) A thiarna dean trocaire A chriost dean trocaire When the winds are howling Vigil keep Shelter us and save us from the deep A thiarna dean tracaire A chriost dean trocaire A thiarna dean trocaire A chriost dean trocaire Thank you Lord you have brought is safe to shore Be our strength and protection evermore. A thiarna dean tracaire A chriost dean trocaire A thiarna dean trocaire A chriost dean trocaire Dean Trocaire Dean trocaire A thiarna A thiarna dean tracaire A chriost dean trocaire A thiarna dean trocaire A chriost dean trocaire A thiarna dean tracaire A chriost dean trocaire A thiarna dean trocaire A chriost dean trocaire
|
About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
Fun SitesOdds & Ends |