Folks, Harry here... I got this e-mail yesterday:
Hey Harry,
Word in from Norway this evening... tomorrow the first press screening of LOTR:FOTR is set to happen, and I am pleased to inform you that I am attending.
Have not read the books, but have had the pleasure of seeing the progress of this film into something that may be..... well, i've never been so keen to see a movie as I am with this one.
Feels like my english is going crazy, but that is because I'm afraid I can't sleep tonight.
Anyway, what I was wondering was that if you were interested in an european review of LOTR:FOTR (from what I've seen, there is none yet) - I can write one for you. Earlier you have published a review of Tomb Raider that I did early this summer.
Love your site, and would be glad to contribute. Not often we get things as early as this up here in the north of europe.
Koola
Harry here again. Koola wrote that and all I could think was... Well let's see how this movie hits a foriegn journalist that has never read the books. I never anticipated a review so perfectly and evidently awe-struck. English is not this man's first language, but he has written what his mind has loosely translated into English as his train of thought upon seeing the film. The result is so infectiously energetic that I'm shaking.... He actually got me shaking. I'm dying here. I mean, I so feel like the average reader on the site when I was in New Zealand... I'm so jealous. I'm just shakingly tearfully envious. I want to see this movie NOW! NOW! NOW! It is completely and utterly unfair. I'm tired of foreplay.... I want to move on to main act. ARGH!!!!!! ANTICIPATION CRUSHING MY SKULL!!!!! HERE'S KOOLA, the coolest man in Norway....
Tomorrow is my birthday. Honestly, it is. It has been a beautiful week. Actually, it has been more than beautiful. The first snow has slowly covered our trees, the cool winterair has boldly taken over the days and nights in Norway. Beautiful. Well, actually, it has been more than beautiful. But what is “more than beautiful”? Today it was the point where a touch of evil was added to the beautiful. And with the evil and the beautiful comes… well, you know where I am getting at. A thrilling adventure, ancientic tale-greatness, monstrous experiences and totally – with no doubts whatsoever – the one film to rule them all. And in MY MIND, bind me… to this film, this book, forever. From heart of someone who has not read the book, nor have any interest in Tolkien, but loves cinema more than anything in the world… this is one of my, if not THE, all-time cinematic moments.
Norway is a small country. And for the small country – only one press screening of FOTR. A small bit about me. I love film, and work as a filmjournalist here in Oslo. Therefore I attended this press-screening. My relation to LOTR is quite simple. Have not read the book, but have been covering the developments of the films. And by that, I have grown a huge interest for the project. Enough now. I HAD AN URGE TO REVIEW THIS MOVIE. Because it is beyond anything I could expect, want, crave, imagine, desire, feel, anticipate. This is unimaginable. And when you see it… I found myself crying of nothing but admiration 2 minutes into the prologue (shiveringly spoken by Blanchett). It shows this dark lord, Sauron, and tells a the fascinating story of The One Ring. Now, excuse me for not being OBSESSIVELY AWARE of everything about this movie (or these books) before seeing or writing this. The prologue is nothing but a amazing sequence. Instead of going into each and every picture (frame) of this film (because I could, and there would be a lot to gaze at and analyse in every single one of them), I will say this: THERE IS SO MUCH. I was completely paralysed. I love every detail I could observe, from the complex battlescenes to the single face of mister Frodo Baggins bedazzling every single audience member. It was a fantastic experience. This review, as I can see, will turn into a not-cronologic piece, but forgive me – my thoughts are a bit hard to recollect. My mind is occupied with images that have burned hard to my iris, performances that I already love and quote. I walked out of the theater 7 hours ago.
I have not read the books, as you can see. Now I have seen the first film, and a big bouldering voice tells me that I might have had this very experience many years earlier, by way of the book. But people, and I feel this is important to say, I’ve just read the book. I think. A 3 hour movie – it felt like reading a book. Because the film felt so massive, it has layers upon layers – in character, in dialogue, in scenery (oh, my lord, the set pieces. I have fallen in love with Lothlorien, the Shire. Can I go to these places for vacation? Will I ever have enough money to go to New Zealand? This is so bloody fantastic in this film. It is so fantastic! I run out of words (especially in my English :-). We must go on!
There has been a few hours as I said to dwell on this movie now, buit it’s coming to me. It’s coming to me as a grandiose wave of river-water lifted by the spellbinding of Arwen (Liv Tyler looks so stylish, such a timeless beauty. Eventhough (some stupid, boneheaded) people are going to scream ARMAGEDDON when they see her the first time, they will be silent when this elf is riding away from the black riders – bravely coming the halfling to rescue.) to eliminate ringwraiths(?). IT IS SO VERY, VERY GOOD. (Oh, I love this film. I have to see it again. I need my mother to see this film, I need to pick up a total stranger on the street, offer her a ticket just to see her face when she’s leaving the theatre. I may have given her a lifetime of… well, an experience for a lifetime. Do you hear that Peter Jackson? You may very well, with this masterpiece (I have been dying to call it that), been responsible for thousands of people suffering through this year.) I NEED TO SEE TWO TOWERS NOW!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!?? READ THE BOOK? I have to know whats happens. That thing happening to Gandalf… I can’t believe it. He must return. Tell me he returns. Ian McKellen is superior. He is great. He acts like if… well, I couldn’t see him act. There is Gandalf in him. For sure. Well, anyway, I am off track.
FOTR is very big. A big tale. But very small. I mean, big it is, but small is he – Frodo. Oh my gracious lord of modern cinema, the very man who gave Mr. And Mrs. The liberty to create the god given actor named Elijah. Nothing crazy about these sentences, but it is a holy great performance. He is feeling. He is a feeling. My back was cold throughout the entire movie. Feeling Frodo, being Frodo, hurting Frodo, bearing with Frodo. A class-act, truly enchanting, spectacular, it-is-no-good-words-to-compliment-enough Frodo. I am, as you just read, trying to verbalize my experience of Frodo Baggins. But this turns away from reviewing. You want to read about the content of the film. What I saw. Because most of you probably know the whole story, and all the characters. Well, let’s go to what there is to see.
I saw the Shrine. It is a very richly realistic built, sunny, green place. I loved it. But no surprises. The home of Bilbo, cornfields… and then the city of Bir? Bie? Forgot the name. All the way, amazing scenery. The fact that there is a big difference in height among the characters, but not among the actors, well that is, how do I put it, flawless. Don’t know how they could pull it off, but I am impressed. As I said before, this is so throughoutly worked on and polished – every picture and frame has something more than what you see, and every character blows my mind. What can I say? I’m never this singlemindledly positive about a film, but this may very well be THAT ONE where everything seems to strike my mind and in, again, the cinematic darkness bind me. Every generation has a movie. Every saga has a… hehe, enough filmrelated quotings.
Don’t have to say much about this, but so that you know it: Howard Shore’s score is in my cd-player, and this music is… next to my heart.
Bilbo. Just what did I actually know about this Bilbo. Oh, yes he was that hobbit-guy that picked up the Ring from the creature Gollum. I have read the forewords of LOTR. But oh my god. Complexity lies hidden, it seems, in each and every character. Bilbo freaked my out. Scared me more than Gollum (“my precious” shivers still in my bones). What exactly did that ring do to him? The fil hadn’t played for long, but I began to realise… what’s next for Frodo. He is now the ringebearer. Look at Bilbo. Again it strikes me…. I HAVE TO SEE THE NEXT TO FILMS NOW!!! Because there is no end to this film. Actually I couldn’t believe it ended when it did. I needed more. It felt like one hour tops, but I had been nailed to my seat for 3 hours already. Amazing experience. The film have no ending, and there’s evil there, that does not sleep .
Now you get the picture; I love this film! I love LORD OF THE RINGS. This is just remarkable. My imagination… oh, I have no imagination. I did not, could not, imagine this. Imagine there’s no people. Imagine if this film had not been made. I may have lived my life without knowing this story. All of you who read the book and hate them for turning this into a movie… Think of all of us who now have been rescued from living our lives without it. Thank you, everyone behind this film, for making it.
Koola from Norway
A small PS: The fellowship. It was beautifully casted. Flawless. Gimli – unforgettable John Rhys-Davies. The hobbits – just charming to their hairy feet, and they touched me deep. Aragorn and Boromir – more than anything, believable. They are men, they have no effects or make-up to characterize them. But they are massive. They suffer, and it hurts. Viggo Mortensen is my hero. (And did you all know he is related to Denmark, my neighbourcountry?). Legolas though…. He was my favourite. Feels weird to write the least about the character I loved the most, but it’s just… not much to say. Could not stand seeing Legolas leave the screen, he had an remarkable impact on me with his… elvish magic.
Oh, and one last thing. This is a chaos. My mind is a chaos. FOTR is so much, much more. I haven’t said a thing about Galladriel, and a lot more. But there has to be a limit. If I were you now, I would look forward to every second of this film, so then… it does not matter.
I will bring this experience with me for the rest of my life. It is that good.
