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Re: Beef with the Movies...

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  Posted by John D. on December 15, 1999 at 19:39:40
In Reply to: Beef with the Movies... posted by Fangorn the Wizard on December 14, 1999 at 11:46:43:



Turning a book into a movie presents a number of very practical problems that require basic/simple solutions. For example, the reason PJ's elves have to have pointy ears is so that the viewer can tell easily who's an elf and who's a human (all of whom, obviously, will be played by human actors). It's not like the book, where Tolkien just tells you. Same with the hobbits and the Ronald McDonald feet. In movies, complexity = confusion.

Just by way of example, if I were directing the movie, I would never allow the two female leads to be called "Arwen" and "Eowyn." On print the names are distinct, but in a film they will sound confusingly similar.

To me, the movie will be a success or a failure depending not on how faithfully it recreates all the details, but on whether it tells the story in acompelling manner. I remember when I first read the Lord of the Rings, I literally could do nothing else until I had finished. Even subsequent reads have kept me spellbound. If the movies can do the same (a very big if), then I will be happy even if I would have done it differently.


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