I am the biggest Tolkien fan I know, but this film is pointless. - Tolkien (2019) Discussion

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Saw this today, it really was quite boring. It would be a basic romance movie if not for the writing and philology, and those fantastical elements in the war scenes. We never even saw his early life in South Africa, where he was terrorised by the large spider who gave inspiration to Shelob. And how come C.S. Lewis wasn't part of his close circle of friends? I thought he was?

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

Thank you for the input i am yet to see it. Yeah Lewis was one of the Inklings i guess his family didn’t give consent or something?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

would they have to?

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

maybe not, just speculating.

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[–] shbinak (18) 5 years ago

Good God, couldn't you see the incidents and the people he was were in his books? Not just ideas, but that real situations. Sheesh. I noticed the spiders...wondered if there were clips on the edit floor. The movie was mostly fellowship and horror of war.

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[–] stevewyzard (1260) 5 years ago

According to an article by Ethan Gilsdorf in literarytraveler.com, Tolkien and Lewis didn't meet until a faculty meeting in 1926.

99% of the Tolkien movie takes place in the years before 1926.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

So it's like any number of low-key Merchant Ivory productions. Such movies are quite the rage in certain circles.

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[–] shbinak (18) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

I do love a low-key Merchant Ivory type film full of proper British ladies and gentlemen drinking tea and wearing period-accurate clothing... but I've read biographies of Tolkien. The man lived a very dull life overall!

I'll watch it on TV some night, when I don't feel like going out and the cats need attention.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8309) 4 years ago

I just finished it and actually thought it was quite wonderful. There are no terrorists or secret codes that must be cracked or astounding plot twists, but as a period drama that is chiefly about Tolkien's years as a student at Oxford, I found it to be very effective.

The craftsmanship on display is off the charts.

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[–] Strazdas (2328) 4 years ago

Yes, this was not a adventure piece or a show like Rocketman was. This was a proper biography movie, for better or worse. Personally, i liked it. More than i expected to.

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8309) 4 years ago

Nice. Glad to hear it.

The film kind of came and went with little fanfare, so I doubt many people have even seen it, which is a shame.

My one criticism is that the writer(s) seemed to want to largely ignore Tolkien's deep Christian faith. They had his priest friend in the story, but you never got the impression that his faith was especially important to him, when in fact it was a major part of his life.

But overall, yeah, I liked it and thought it was well-made.

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[–] Sej (17) 4 years ago

Hi Otter,
Did you ever get around to watching this?

I only just watched it, and I personally was absolutely enchanted.
I would say it's one for the true fans, people who know Tolkiens life and work well enough to know the countless subtle references, like f.ex.that Edith actually did dance for him in the woods.
It's for those who love Tolkiens work so much that these references are absolutely entrancing in themselves, and no very exciting events are needed.
I imagine that it captured Tolkiens passions: languages, medieval literature, friends and Edith, perfectly, (admittedly, his faith was omitted) and I was moved and fascinated every second. One for the fans.

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[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

I did, and it was a lovely and pleasant way to waste two hours, but no more than that.

Face it, you can't put Tolkien's inner life on screen, and that was the most interesting thing about him!

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[–] liscarkat (16592) 5 years ago

Trailer makes the author of silly dwarf stories look like some kind of action hero.

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

We’ve got an edgelord here.

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[–] leader (1697) 5 years ago

Taylor_fanboy is that you?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly dwarf stories
But I look around and see it isn't so
Some people want to fill the world with silly dwarf stories
and what's wrong with that?
I'd like to know

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[–] shbinak (18) 5 years ago

JRR's llfe was up and down and interested; exciting, eh? How 'bout "arresting, intriguing, provocative' ?

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

Are you ok?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I wonder about most bio films. A lot of it they get wrong or leave out and isn't it just quicker to read their Wikipedia page or hunt down actual researched accounts?

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

True. We’ve got a Judy Garland one lined up next. Will they show her popping pills all the time or make up some fantasy that she was in Oz all the time.

(Not insulting Judy, the studio was horrible making her take them but will they dare show that).

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It might fit into a victim of the patriarchy agenda so they might show that. I find I am more interested in their off screen lives, if they are going to show a lot of Wizard of Oz reenactments then it could be another one for the "whats the point?" list.

In Australia they have done a few mini series on some of our celebs, Paul Hogan, Olivia Newton John to name two better known ones and when you see the trailers they are just full of Grease and Croc Dundee reenactments. Anyone who was alive in the 80's in Australia knows the Croc Dundee story, we don't need to see it again, done badly too.

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[–] JBran (1583) 5 years ago

I just had to google the Paul Hogan one and I saw they made a Crocodile Dundee 3!? In Los Angeles wow. I haven’t seen Grease but i hope the re-enactments are all in Aussie accents that would be amazing.

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[–] Satan2016 (23503) 5 years ago

Here's a proper review. The author has PhD in medieval studies.

Tolkein—A Review https://quillette.com/2019/05/24/tolkein-a-review/

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[–] Jes' Sayin' (5989) 5 years ago

So he was a writer and his best friends were a composer, a poet and a painter? Seems quite convenient. Was it really true?

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[–] PrimeMinisterX (8309) 4 years ago

The poet at least was true, as we are informed at the end that his poems were eventually published with a foreword by Tolkien.

Reading through Tolkien's biography on Wiki, it seems that the film is overall pretty true to facts, at least in the broad strokes.