Respond to these rapid questions in our Tolkien quiz and we will tell you which Tolkien character you are. Play it now.
While it may seem strange, things that are pleasant to have and days that are pleasant to spend are quickly told about and not much to listen to; things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even horrifying make for good stories and require a great deal of telling nonetheless.” — J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, chapter three
When it comes to biopics, this is something that they frequently struggle with as well: how to portray the “fun” days of their subject while also gravitating towards the “gruesome.” With a script by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, “Tolkien” is directed by Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski (“Tom of Finland”) and sets up the various influences and inspirations working on John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, a linguistic prodigy who would go on to write some of the best-selling fantasy novels of all time. “Tolkien,” which alternates between Tolkien’s orphaned childhood and schooling years and a lengthy imagining of his experience during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, approaches its subject with perhaps a little too much reverence, but demonstrates an interest in the development of Tolkien’s ideas, his passion for philology (which is not the most cinematic of subjects), and his love of myths and legends, among other things. The Tolkien estate has taken a strong stance against the film “Tolkien,” despite the fact that they have not seen it. Despite the fact that some things are completely absent (Catholicism, for example), there isn’t much to be critical of here. Although it is primarily an origin story, “Tolkien” contains moments of clarity and emotion. Some of it is oversimplified, and some of it is even incorrect. The film, on the other hand, is concerned with its subject and is concerned with finding ways to portray “things that are good and days that are good to spend.”
During his idyllic childhood in Sarehole village, young Ronald (Harry Gilby) is first seen playing with swords, which is when the film begins. It is his mother Mabel (Laura Donnelly), who instils in her two sons a love of myths by telling tales of dragons, knights, and gold, that he inherited. In the wake of Mabel’s death, Ronald and his brother become wards of Father Francis Morgan (Colm Meaney), who places them in a boarding house for children who are in a similar situation to themselves. A rough start at school leads Ronald to find himself with three best friends: Christopher Wiseman (Ty Tennant), Robert Gilson (Albie Marber), and Geoffrey Bach Smith (Geoffrey Bache Smith) (Adam Bregman). They meet at Barrows after school to talk about their artistic endeavors, and they refer to themselves as the T.C.B.S. (The Creative Boys Society) (Tea Club, Barrovian Society). This is the story of the formation of Tolkien’s cherished “fellowship,” which is underscored by sweeping music in case you missed the significance of the connection. The young actors form a convincing bond, as does the group of older actors who portray them once they have graduated from high school (Nicholas Hoult, with intense blue eyes and sharp cheekbones, as Tolkien, Anthony Boyle as Geoffrey, Tom Glynn-Carney as Christopher, and Patrick Gibson as Robert).
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The fact that these sequences are intercut with Tolkien a couple of years later, staggering through the trenches of France in search of Geoffrey amid mounds of dead bodies, lends a sense of “the doomed” to the developing friendship of the two young gentlemen. Tolkien wrote the following in the preface to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings: “It is true that one must personally experience war in order to fully comprehend its oppression; however, as the years pass, it appears that it is becoming increasingly forgotten that being caught up in the war in 1914 was no less horrifying an experience than being caught up in the war in 1939 and the following years. By 1918, all of my close friends had died, with the exception of one.” “Tolkien” does an excellent job of capturing this.
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Tolkien’s romance with Edith Bratt (Lily Collins), another orphan living at the boarding house, leads to one of the film’s most memorable scenes, a lengthy conversation in which the two discuss language, debating the importance of meaning versus the sound of words. This scene incorporates the well-known “cellar door” concept, which was beloved by Tolkien (“cellar door” is beautiful to say and hear, separated entirely from what it means). The script delves deeply into the concept of “cellar door,” giving Edith’s character some “oomph” in the process. It also manages to be a coiled-up late-Victorian-era love scene, the passionate meeting of two minds, at the same time. The scene does not have the feel of a box being checked off on the way to a predetermined outcome. There’s a real stake in this game. Edith introduces Tolkien to Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” in an extremely unconventional manner later on in the film, providing some context to another of Tolkien’s influences. As Joseph Wright, the eccentric philology professor at Oxford who takes Tolkien under his wing, Derek Jacobi appears on the screen, delivering a lengthy monologue about the word “oak.” “Tolkien” is a film about people who have strong opinions about things. You make the purchase.
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On the other hand, the framing device of the Somme battle, which drags on interminably, is where “Tolkien” goes horribly wrong time and time again. It is through Tolkien’s determination to track down Geoffrey, with the assistance of a soldier named Sam, that he descends into hallucinatory scenes in which he literally “sees” dragons, as well as the forms that would eventually become the Eye of Sauron and the Nazgûl, as they spread across the hellscape of No-Land. Man’s This is a very reductive approach to literature (as well as Tolkien’s artistic imagination), and it leads to a number of unfavorable outcomes. First and foremost, any visual representation of these things will unavoidably elicit comparisons to Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of Tolkien’s books, which have become legendary. Even worse, presenting the Battle of the Somme as explicit “inspiration” for Tolkien’s magical world has the unintended consequence of devaluing both the battle and the books.
About the quiz
If you’re a fan of Tolkien, you’re well aware of the depths of his appeal. He himself became bogged down in the projects that established his reputation. When his publisher inquired about the progress of the sequel to The Hobbit in 1938, Tolkien responded that the work was “flowing,” but that it was also “getting quite out of hand.” Tolkien’s publisher later expressed concern that the work was “getting quite out of hand.” His creation had gotten out of hand! Until the end of his life, he maintained a correspondence with fans from all over the world, answering their questions about orcs, free will, and the Elvish language, sometimes going on for more than 20 pages at a time in response. A large number of these letters were never delivered. They sat in desk drawers, unfinished drafts piled on top of each other. When you read the correspondence, you get the impression that he is not the real creator of Middle-Earth. As if he were the lead excavator in an ongoing archaeological dig, that’s more like it. That’s one of the things that fascinates me about him: how deeply ingrained his creation was in him. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it’s possible to photograph something like that.Also, you must try to play this Tolkien quiz.
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