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Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy
This group of new critical essays offers multidisciplinary analysis of director Peter Jackson's spectacularly successful adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Part One of the collection, "Techniques of Structure and Story," compares and contrasts the organizational principles of the books and films. Part Two, "Techniques of Character and Culture," focuses on the methods used to transform the characters and settings of Tolkien's narrative into the personalities and places visualized on screen. Each of the sixteen essays includes extensive notes and a separate bibliography. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may .
302 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 17, 2023
[Read 17/11/23] Mostly very good! As with any discourse on the topic there are parts I agree with and parts I vehemently disagree with. Some essays made me look more kindly on facets I have a tendency to turn my nose up at while others made me lean towards being critical of things I previously turned a blind eye to. Nature of the beast, I suppose.
I particularly enjoyed “Into the West: Far Green Country or Shadow on the Waters” by Judy Ann Ford and Robin Anne Reid. One of the main points of contention I have with Jackson’s LotR is the tonal discrepancy between those movies and the original novel. Ford and Reid managed to articulate this beautifully, drawing in large part from the portrayal of the Grey Havens scene. Whenever I reread LotR, I am always struck by the deep grief at the core of the novel, and whenever I rewatch (less commonly!) the movies how that doesn’t translate. Indeed, it’s fair to say they are downright optimistic. I strongly recommend this particular essay.
As always, Verlyn Flieger’s work is also a highlight.
3.5/5
I particularly enjoyed “Into the West: Far Green Country or Shadow on the Waters” by Judy Ann Ford and Robin Anne Reid. One of the main points of contention I have with Jackson’s LotR is the tonal discrepancy between those movies and the original novel. Ford and Reid managed to articulate this beautifully, drawing in large part from the portrayal of the Grey Havens scene. Whenever I reread LotR, I am always struck by the deep grief at the core of the novel, and whenever I rewatch (less commonly!) the movies how that doesn’t translate. Indeed, it’s fair to say they are downright optimistic. I strongly recommend this particular essay.
As always, Verlyn Flieger’s work is also a highlight.
3.5/5
June 4, 2026
Mostly dour reading. The majority of essays are nothing more than complaints and nitpicks about the films, with a lobotomized take on adaptation of artistic works. There are a few essays I liked:
- Dmitra Fimi - Filming Folklore I liked a lot. Going into the romantic origins and not down on the movies.
- Kristin Thompson’s I also liked, which analyzes specific shots and scenes, though it’s a bit overly defensive of the choices.
- Schroeder’s comparison of the book and movie monsters to Shelley’s Frankenstein (along with the movies that it spawned) was fascinating, and very illuminating. I thought about the series from angles I hadn’t considered.
- Woosnam-Savage’s section on The Matériel of Middle-earth is a huge standout, going into detail about each stage of the movie’s arms and armor production. Thankfully this one has none of the sneering or talking down of many other essays, but instead is totally accepting of the films’ achievements at face value, and goes from there. I wish more of the book were like this.
- Walter’s long piece on how the filmmakers distributed Gandalf’s best moments across several characters to make the movies better as a whole was interesting, though probably over-explained.
- Croft’s exploration of Aragorn as the mythical American hero in the films is very interesting, though I think it’s a bit harsh in describing his character as ‘dumbed down’ from the original
Aside from these, most sections are cringe-worthy nitpicking sessions. In Ricke & Barnett’s essay, they make the case for Jackson failing to capture Lothlorien properly (highly dubious take) and amazingly attempt to claim that Blanchett’s performance is outright bad (does anyone on Earth agree with this?) At one point they complain that Galadriel laughs twice during a scene in the book, whereas she laughs zero times in the same scene of the film. Is that what’s important about making a movie adaptation? Most of the other negative ones make these kinds of “tallying Tolkien vs Jackson” arguments to prove why the movies failed, which is a totally worthless approach to film (or literary) criticism.
Overall this collection is highly uneven, and I didn’t think the insights offered by the better essays were worth the slog of the other, much more numerous, negatively-focused essays.
たまにこれがよかったけど多くの文章はただの映画の文句。後その文句は面白い論旨とかない。武器とアーマーの作り方の文章特に好きだった
- Dmitra Fimi - Filming Folklore I liked a lot. Going into the romantic origins and not down on the movies.
- Kristin Thompson’s I also liked, which analyzes specific shots and scenes, though it’s a bit overly defensive of the choices.
- Schroeder’s comparison of the book and movie monsters to Shelley’s Frankenstein (along with the movies that it spawned) was fascinating, and very illuminating. I thought about the series from angles I hadn’t considered.
- Woosnam-Savage’s section on The Matériel of Middle-earth is a huge standout, going into detail about each stage of the movie’s arms and armor production. Thankfully this one has none of the sneering or talking down of many other essays, but instead is totally accepting of the films’ achievements at face value, and goes from there. I wish more of the book were like this.
- Walter’s long piece on how the filmmakers distributed Gandalf’s best moments across several characters to make the movies better as a whole was interesting, though probably over-explained.
- Croft’s exploration of Aragorn as the mythical American hero in the films is very interesting, though I think it’s a bit harsh in describing his character as ‘dumbed down’ from the original
Aside from these, most sections are cringe-worthy nitpicking sessions. In Ricke & Barnett’s essay, they make the case for Jackson failing to capture Lothlorien properly (highly dubious take) and amazingly attempt to claim that Blanchett’s performance is outright bad (does anyone on Earth agree with this?) At one point they complain that Galadriel laughs twice during a scene in the book, whereas she laughs zero times in the same scene of the film. Is that what’s important about making a movie adaptation? Most of the other negative ones make these kinds of “tallying Tolkien vs Jackson” arguments to prove why the movies failed, which is a totally worthless approach to film (or literary) criticism.
Overall this collection is highly uneven, and I didn’t think the insights offered by the better essays were worth the slog of the other, much more numerous, negatively-focused essays.
たまにこれがよかったけど多くの文章はただの映画の文句。後その文句は面白い論旨とかない。武器とアーマーの作り方の文章特に好きだった
June 17, 2020
Perhaps uneven in its contents, but very enjoyable and frequently enlightening! McFarland Press often operates in that space between scholarship and fandom, so the essays are all accessible and some fairly hilarious with their snide commentary on the films. I especially recommend it for the usual Tolkien scholars - Flieger and Rateliff, Fimi and Drout. But A special shoutout for my favourite essays: Walter’s on Gandalf and Croft’s on Aragorn both place their respective subjects under an unfaltering lens and discuss how Jackson’s interpretation diminishes Tolkien’s vision - though both allow for this diminishing to have a purpose. And I especially enjoyed Ricke & Barnett’s piece in Lothlorien, which was a perfect blend of snarky side eyes on Galadriel’s film depiction and enlightening insights on the numinous and sublime ... and how impossible it can be for a filmmaker to achieve such an effect.
February 11, 2018
I use Goodreads to track books I honestly expect to read some day, so I try to keep my "to read" list under 100 books. Every now and then I look at the oldest books added to the list and weed some out based on closer review. And every now and then I read the oldest book.
Picturing Tolkien had been on my list since January 2014. I'm glad I finally read it. As with most compilations, there were essays I found fascinating and really enjoyed and essays I found dry and a bit dull. Some were too scholarly for my tastes and some too religious. I'm a huge fan of the books and the movies, and overall the writings in this book were quite thought-provoking.
Reading the whole book really made me want to (1) read the books again soon and (2) watch the extended versions of the movies again soon.
Picturing Tolkien had been on my list since January 2014. I'm glad I finally read it. As with most compilations, there were essays I found fascinating and really enjoyed and essays I found dry and a bit dull. Some were too scholarly for my tastes and some too religious. I'm a huge fan of the books and the movies, and overall the writings in this book were quite thought-provoking.
Reading the whole book really made me want to (1) read the books again soon and (2) watch the extended versions of the movies again soon.
September 15, 2021
Thought Provoking would be an understatement
Ironically for a teacher, I always thought academic literary critiques were hot air. Not after encountering this book wherein my mind was exponentially expanded to encompass a deeper understanding of the most personally influential book of my lifetime, The Lord of the Rings. Brilliant.
Ironically for a teacher, I always thought academic literary critiques were hot air. Not after encountering this book wherein my mind was exponentially expanded to encompass a deeper understanding of the most personally influential book of my lifetime, The Lord of the Rings. Brilliant.
December 22, 2013
Picturing Tolkien is a collection of essays by Tolkien scholars on the Peter Jackson films. These essays cover a wide range of subjects, from an exploration of Lothlórien and its numinous nature, Aragorn's journey as the hero in an American superhero monomyth, just how Anglo-Saxon are the Rohirrim and many, many more.
On the whole, I found the essays easy to get into, the subject matter fascinating and at times echoing my own criticisms of the films, other times illuminating just what I had felt was missing. There were two essays, however, that seemed too airy-fairy or just really over-the-top. I felt as though I gained valuable insight not only into the films but also into Tolkien's work and if I quoted all the paragraphs I highlighted, we would be here all day.
Picturing Tolkien is not for anyone that fervently believes that the movies are perfect, flawless creations that only improve on the books (or make right the things Tolkien did Wrong). However, for anyone who wants to engage more critically with the Lord of the Rings films, Picturing Tolkien could be a great place to begin.
On the whole, I found the essays easy to get into, the subject matter fascinating and at times echoing my own criticisms of the films, other times illuminating just what I had felt was missing. There were two essays, however, that seemed too airy-fairy or just really over-the-top. I felt as though I gained valuable insight not only into the films but also into Tolkien's work and if I quoted all the paragraphs I highlighted, we would be here all day.
Picturing Tolkien is not for anyone that fervently believes that the movies are perfect, flawless creations that only improve on the books (or make right the things Tolkien did Wrong). However, for anyone who wants to engage more critically with the Lord of the Rings films, Picturing Tolkien could be a great place to begin.
February 24, 2013
Picturing Tolkien is a collection of essays from various authors on Peter Jackson's film versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Written by authors in many fields, the essays present a wide range of viewpoints from many different angles, from the challenges of filming Tolkien's non-linear narrative, the treatment of the character of Gandalf, Gollum as ultimate redeemer, the weaponry of Middle Earth, the changes made in Aragorn's character (and his relationship with Arwen) to better fit the American "hero monomyth," to Jackson's use of horses and his portrayal of Lothlorien. Some of the entries I found most interesting were "Gollum Talks to Himself," "Filming Folklore," "The Grey Pilgrim,""Neither the Shadow Nor the Twilight," and "The Rohirrim, the Anglo Saxons and the Problem of Appendix F."
May 1, 2016
I enjoyed reading this book. It is a very nice contribution, from start to finish, to the conversation that is Tolkien scholarship. The essays provide an informative and balanced exploration of the similarities and differences between the print and movie versions of The Lord of the Rings. The authors' comments about the movies are mostly positive, though there are some criticisms.
Each essay presents different ideas and information about an aspect of The Lord of the Rings as presented in the books and films. The various authors' range of specialties pretty much guarantee the reader to discover new facts or ideas about the internationally beloved story.
I consider this to be a top-shelf production that I would enthusiastically recommend to both academic and general readers.
Each essay presents different ideas and information about an aspect of The Lord of the Rings as presented in the books and films. The various authors' range of specialties pretty much guarantee the reader to discover new facts or ideas about the internationally beloved story.
I consider this to be a top-shelf production that I would enthusiastically recommend to both academic and general readers.
October 20, 2011
A must read for lovers of the works of Tolkien and the films of Peter Jackson. From Fimi, Flieger to Croft and Drout these are some of the best articles on Tolkien.I have ever read. Highly recommend and thanks to this book I am a fan of Fingwit now!!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews