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Owlwise's Replies
I quite agree with you on all points. (And I would love to have seen that Elves-with-Native-American-aesthetics production, because I can imagine that aspect working very well, as it did with Bakshi's Aragorn.)
My biggest concern is the one you mention in an earlier post: "... they'll get nervous about how Christian/Catholic the thing's underpinnings are ..." That was missing to a large degree in Peter Jackson's films, as enjoyable as they were in many other ways. The spiritual aspect of LotR is at its foundations; everything is built on that. I may no longer be a churchgoer, or so much of a literal believer, but my childhood Catholicism shaped who I was & who I became as an adult. It belongs in the moral structure of Middle-Earth.
I'd feel the same way if the spiritual aspect of any literary work, regardless of the religion, were to be stripped out of it, just to make it more palatable to the general public. And I say this as someone whose worldview is definitely on the progressive side of things. But respect for the heart & soul of the work should be paramount in any book-to-film adaptation. I think of the deeply moving & powerful The Gospel According to St. Matthew, for example—Pasolini was a noted gay atheist Marxist, but he was an artist & faithful interpreter before all of that in this particular film. And because of that, his film remains one of the most beautiful & honest films about Jesus I've ever seen.
So, I'd like to see Tolkien's life work presented with as much respect. As you say, there are interesting aesthetic choices to be made that can work wonderfully, as long as they capture the essence of the work's spirit. I wouldn't mind that at all. But I don't want some version altered to suit the desires of someone who takes it upon himself to "improve" the original.
Not all middle-aged couples lack passion, just for the record.
How we react can often depend on when in our lives a movie is first seen, and what state of mind we're in then. I was at a point in my life when the movie really hit home for me; at another time, it might not have done so, or at least not as much.
This may well be a case of "When legend becomes fact, print the legend." A documentary-style film adhering to the somewhat bleaker facts of the story might well be worth seeing, if done well; but the original stands on its own as a rousing, gripping movie that deserves to be called a classic. A really good documentary would be fine ... but it's the legend that I want to see over & over again.
Oh, yes! :)
And there's the sad & tragic irony of it. The daughter had lived with her self-imposed burden for all those years, only to learn that it was all unnecessary, and that she had wasted much of her life because of that false idea that she'd believed & embraced. More deeply, that she thought she knew her father, but in fact, only knew her image of him, not the actual man himself. Lack of understanding, lack of communication, lack of trust & openness, all of which she couldn't (or wouldn't) see.
At least, that's how it struck me.
To each his own, of course. It worked beautifully for me.
I agree, he was always one of those actors you're happy to see appearing in any movie of any kind.
Superb in:
The Holly and the Ivy
Robin and Marion
Watership Down (voice)
Saint Jack
A Room With a View
A Child's Christmas in Wales
Bangkok Hilton
Oh, absolutely. Two fine actors bringing their intense best to their roles.
What made the original work was Edward Woodward, along with the distinctly 80s look & tone of the series—sometimes a little over the top, but always in a way that enhanced rather than detracted—a way in keeping with the stylized context. And Woodward just radiated such intense moral authority & outrage!
A fine actor indeed, but is there any need to remake yet another classic film?
That just adds to the paranoid tone of the movie, to my mind. It as if Ray Milland is trapped inside a waking, unending nightmare.
But that's the fun of it. :)
I recently saw an old forgotten film of his from the early 1970s, Steelyard Blues, and it is a lot of fun. He's at his loosely laidback anarchistic best in it. Not a great film, perhaps, but then every film doesn't have to be a masterpiece, if is accomplishes what it set out to do.
Definitely agree with all the other well-known films being listed here.
A wonderfully gifted actor, able to play any role with seemingly effortless skill, no matter what sort of character it was. We're losing too many of his quality these days.
Agree with both of your posts completely. The difference between Bakshi & Gilliam on the one hand, and so many CGI blockbusters today on the other hand, is that Bakshi & Gilliam are each the prime driving force & vision behind their respective movies. The current CGI blockbusters are made by committee & driven by demographics. Bakshi & Gilliam are driven by what they want & must make—even if it doesn't always work perfectly, it's their individual vision that's on the screen, and that carries a power of its own that no consensus by committee can ever deliver.
Your Robert Johnson analogy is spot-on. A little honest raggedness is far preferable to something so polished & smooth that it always slides away from you. Like you, I want something that has integrity & sticks with you!
Let me second your "Amen!"
For anyone who lived through those years, the current one-dimensional caricature of the 1960s makes me realize just how little history of the times is taught today. And that's a pity, because the spirit that motivated so many idealistic people then needs to be both honored & revived now.
Were you alive then? I was, and watched it all unfold live on TV. The official government investigation concluded that the violence was the result of a police riot.
Incidentally, Dave Dellinger of the Chicago 7 was a lifelong pacifist & never engaged in violence. And he wasn't the only one with similarly strong moral values, which impelled them to speak truth to power.
They were patriots opposing an illegal & immoral war, as well as the countless injustices embedded in American society.