Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
A documentary about the influences on Tolkien, covering in brief his childhood and how he detested the onslaught of industry through the idyllic countryside, moving on to describe his fighting experience from WWI, and closing with a look at the Finnish inspiration for the scholar's self-invented languages of Elfish. In between are interviews with the cast of the films and some clips, by far the most from "The Fellowship of the Ring", but a few glimpses of Rohan riders (from "The Two Towers") are provided. Also, there are interviews with a range of the filmmakers.
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Reviews
Good concept, poorly executed.
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Like the books themselves, and then the film, this background to J.R.R.Tolkien's tale is a bit better than expected. There is a little bit more to the background of the trilogy than one might expect, as Mr Tolkien lived a somewhat unusual life.Even though he repeatedly denied it, literary experts have found parallels to things he experienced in his life, and the tale of the Ring. He was involved in the Battle of the Somme in World War 1, where he lost many of his closest friends. He got trench fever. His sons fought in World War 11, and he disliked intensely the bleak industrialism which spread across the countryside he grew up in. He was much drawn to Finnish and Anglo-Saxon sagas, and wished to write about the forgotten Anglo-Saxon tales from before William the Conqueror's invasion of old England in 1066.There was little doubt his sensitive soul was much affected by the horrible trench conditions of World War 1, the repeat of such in World War 11, and the industrial 'poisoning' of the beautiful countryside which he called home.The documentary is delicately done, with the historical background a bit of an eye opener.