The White Council

Re: HEY

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: snip

: : I agree with you, except that the mere fact that the author tells us the thoughts of certain characters but leaves out those of others is indicative of what the author thinks is important to the reader (and hence anyone who adapts the piece). Authors do have reasons for not revealing other characters' thoughts, of course, but these are easily translated to the screen. Either the other characters' thoughts are unimportant, can be gleaned from the thoughts or actions of another character, or, for plot reasons, the author has chosen to hide those thoughts. This latter can happen if, for instance, thwe author is trying to be mysterious.

: : -Olorin

: Perhaps I am just dense, but I can't understand how any character's thoughts can be "easily translated to the screen". Within the body of any fiction peice are three elements of action (characters doing) dialogue (characters talking about doing or what was done) and thought (characters thinking about doing or what was done). A great deal of rationalization and understanding that then lends to the dialogue and the action is carried out through the thought aspect of any given character. More often then not, there is more thought text then there is dialogue or action text. Without doing a constant voice over narration (which is tedious and has never been done well at all) then how does one convey these thoughts. I agree that the author choses to focus on a particular character and his/her/its thoughts for reasons of plot, and that some character's thoughts may be for the most part unimportant. But the director/screenwriter does have a difficult job if the movie's focus is being adapted to a different audience (e.g. LOTR). The new focus is centered on Aragorn. So now, what was Aragorn thinking while the Fellowship moved through Khazad Dum? It is not even easy to interpret what Gimli was thinking, or Legolas, and who would dare to try to figure out what Gandalf thought. Perhaps Gimli was excited, amazed and also sad. But was he apprehensive as well? Was he concerned about Durin's Bain, or did he believe it to be more of a myth? And what about Legolas? He was probably apprehensive, but was he also amazed at the incredible depth of the work? It is just too difficult to know, and with the focus being more on Aragorn, what did he think? Was he only concerned with Gandalf's well-being, since he warned Gandalf that if they entered Khazad Dum he might not walk out. Was he afraid at all? Concerned about the hobbits? What were his thoughts? Very difficult to tell, and even more difficult to convey with accuracy from text to screen. With text, Tolkien could focus on each character and tell us what they might be thinking with descriptions of them either through thought text, action text, or dialogue text. But on the the screen I would imagine the entire Khazad Dum scene may only take five or ten minutes maximum. The camera will can focus on each character and show some emotions, but the majority of what Tolkien conveyed to his readers is going to be lost. It is simply too (IMHO) difficult to make all the text transfer.

: -RR

The easiest thing to do is to give an example, I think. So, here's the quote:

"The Company were footsore and tired; but they trudged doggedly along the rough and winding track for many miles. The sun turned from the noon and began to go west. After a brief halt and a hasty meal they went on again." This is a simple piece describing the journey to the gates of Moria. A director can gather several things from this narration. First, the company is footsore and tired; in fact, they trudged. So, the pace of the company would be plodding. The actors must appear to be weary and slightly miserable. The road is rough and winding. There needs to be rocks and lumps in the road, and it needs to twist and turn. JRRT describes the halt and the meal as brief and hasty. It was not luxurious, but hurried. So, the actors need to eat quickly. These are explicitly stated, and thus very easy to translate to the screen.

Now, to address thoughts, from The Mirror of Galadriel: "But suddenly the mirror went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had opened in the world of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black abyss there appeared a single Eye that slowly grew, until it filled nearly all the Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry out or to withdraw his gaze." If this description of Frodo's terror is left out, then we could presumably misinterpret his stillness as concentration or resolve. In this case, Elijah Wood would have a look of focus or determination on his face. But, since we know Frodo's thoughts and feelings, Elijah would know that he needs to grimace or tense up in fear. His eyes need to open wider in terror rather than squinting in focus.

Now, both of these are rather inconsequential passages. They're both just to serve as an example.

In regards to Aragorn being the new focus of the story I can only say a few things. First, the potential for accuracy is greatly diminished. So, if PJ's concern is to be true to the novels concretely and thematically, he should not change the focus, precisely because we know less of Aragorn's thoughts. Obviously, PJ will take whatever the heck artistic license he wants to, then, if he truly is changing the focus of the book. In this sense, when an adaptation changes a fictional account so fundamentally, accuracy just sort of flies out of the window. The work becomes even more of an interpretative work than a more faithful adaptation would be.

Changing something so fundamental as the main point of view does not seem to be a move that speaks well of the director's intention to remain reasonably faithful to the novel. In this case, accuracy is irrelevant anyway.

-Olorin