Campus Chronicle

Issue date: 2/13/04 Section: Arts & Leisure

"Well, I'm back."

The line, spoken by Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), ends the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It also ends Sam's own journey - essentially from a flowerbed outside of Bilbo Baggins' house back to his own over the course of several years. The journey aspect of the story is the central focus of the books, as Slate Magazine's David Edelstein, among others, has pointed out. Peter Jackson's challenge in making the Lord of the Rings movies - and The Return of the King in particular - was to make a movie out of the story while keeping true to Tolkien's vision.

In this last chapter of the story, Jackson accomplishes both goals.

It is difficult to argue that Jackson was successful in translating the story to film. Sure, battle scenes and action sequences were greatly expanded - one critic noted that the Battle of Helm's Deep from The Two Towers lasted an estimate of 500 words in the book. The scenes were well done with extreme specificity. Fighters in the battles acted according to individualized computer-created programs. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone who was bored or otherwise unimpressed by the Orcs, Nazgul, Fell Beasts, Trolls, Rohirrim, Mumakil and Army of the Dead that were part of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

More importantly, the action segments did not take away from anything else in the movie. Tolkein's story was not sacrificed to make room for these scenes. While The Two Towers may have been too long for some, its length allowed enough material to make the story complete. The action sequences instead served to add to the drama and epic nature of the story.

The Return of the King similarly succeeds in portraying the themes expressed in the novels. While some people contend that the Lord of the Rings is a fictional version of the Cold War, it's generally accepted two themes are journeys and friendship. Much of the books focused on the arduous journey toward Mordor undertook by Frodo and Sam. The final line of the story is symbolic of Tolkien's emphasis. Through the cinematography - mountains, fields, swamps, towers and, at the end, the slopes of Mount Doom overlooked by the Dark Tower - the movie captures the challenge, impending peril and deepening darkness of the journey.

Similarly, during the return home for the hobbits, the celebrations amongst each other and with their companions show a coming together after having been pulled apart by their travels and by the ring's power. They reinforce the Tolkienian theme of friendship. This bridges the two themes together.

To elaborate, the return home and final departure of Frodo and Gandalf reinforce the idea that their friendship enables the characters to overcome the obstacles that they face, therefore making their journeys bearable. This is a point that the movie effectively portrays throughout the trip. It does so particularly well in the scenes on the side of Mount Doom, where Frodo finds it difficult to go any further, and Sam carries Frodo part of the way. Scenes like this do not exist in the book, yet their inclusion in the movie brings forth the book's message.

Surely, there are various instances and moments within The Return of the King about which individuals can quibble and call imperfections. This is particularly true for avid Tolkien fans who know the book by heart. The Return of the King should be evaluated in comparison to the book, as any movie based on a novel should be. But moving past nitpicking, the movie convincingly conveys the overall message, themes, tone and spirit of the book. And like the book, The Return of the King is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

Related Links:
The Lord of the Rings - official site
The Return of the King - Yahoo! Movies

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