Life Imitating Art in The Lord of the Rings

All these observations mirror Tolkien's own takes on the theme which he expressed in many places. Good will overcome seemingly overpowering evil, not through strength in arms nor conventional wisdom, but through courage, love and hope and through a force greater than all of us. Great deeds are done by small hands because they must, while the hands of the great are elsewhere. Now consider how Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie series was made. Turner [4] describes the difficulty Jackson faced when trying to secure support for his project: "Jackson, determined to make two [movies], was turned down by "nearly every studio in town" before sealing a deal with New Line". However Big Business, in the form of AOL Time Warner, had gotten a firm hold of New Line, forcing massive downsizing, rationalising, staff cuts, centralisation, loss of vision, all the lovely hallmarks of modern business practice. Brown [5] wrote that "New Line Cinema's $300-million, three-film gamble on the Lord of the Rings may well be the film company's crowning achievement ... or its undoing" and that "Concerns earlier this year about cost overruns on Rings and general out-of-control spending at New Line led AOL Time Warner top brass to take away Shaye's ability to 'greenlight' another movie project of this magnitude". Brown also notes that "this project puts the spotlight on a company walking the razor's edge between an independent past and its current corporate reality". Turner [4] echoes this, writing "The success of The Fellowship of the Ring... could determine the fate of New Line Cinema". Yet, who of all people was given the task of accomplishing this massive quest to bring The Lord of the Rings to the screen? "The man in the hot seat -- in charge of 2,000 cast and crew with $270 million riding on his back -- was obscure New Zealander Peter Jackson" and "How on earth did Jackson ... get there?" asks Turner [4], who also notes "Jackson ... is the first to admit he was a very unlikely choice". Turner also quotes Jackson, writing "'If you were entrusting $270 million to someone making three movies, you wouldn't choose me' he [Jackson] says. Nor would you put a special effects-driven fantasy in the hands of a small New Zealand visual effects company (WETA). And you almost certainly wouldn't pick Philippa Boyens - who has never written a screenplay - to co-write the script". Notice the

Go To Page: 1 2 3

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic