Fly, You Fools!

My Dear Fellows & Dear Elven Princess Haradeth,

The world is changed. I feel it in the air.

I saw a bit of "The Fellowship of the Ring" on telly the other day. It was in the hotel room before G-Man's birthday party in Nelson and it was hard to tear myself away. "Ahhh.... wish G-Man happy birthday from me..." I nearly told Caro.

But no, I went to the party. But the trilogy has been gnawing at me ever since. 

It's just one of those films that pull you in. Maybe it is because the release of the films was such an event. I remember who I went to the cinema with on all three occasions.

The first, I saw with Caro and Soozle. Me and Caro came out raving about it, but Soozle was all, "What the ACTUAL EFF did I just spent three hours of my life on??"

She did not care for it. 

I understand this. It is not a film for all tastes and you do have to get over the fact that:

- People talk in a weird stilted way all through the film. For example, no-one is killed, they are "slain" and whenever you meet someone you have to say, "You are Auslaender, son of Parsley of the Pride of Herb, I welcome thee to my realm of the Zealand that is New."

- Whenever people say a place name, they affect a silly Welsh accent.

- The last film takes fecking FOREVER to finish.

- Frodo makes a weird sex-face whenever he's thinking about putting on the ring.

But I find I can overlook all that. There's just so much else in these films that I love. I love the bit when Cate Blanchett nearly turns EVIL and the bit where Gollum debates with himself, the bit where Wormtongue gets his arse kicked, I love the big opening with the shattered sword, and watching Hugo Weaving over-pronouncing ever word in every line he is given, I love watching Sean Bean trying to resist temptation, and the fact that Christopher Lee gets to play the part he was always meant to play. 

We saw the second one in a big group and Feefs had just arrived in the UK. She asked Caro if she could sit next to me and I felt like her big brother. 

It is a big investment of time. But I don't mind that so much because they are clearly made with such care and love and attention to detail. Unlike "The Hobbit" trilogy which felt squeezed out like an after-dinner fart. 

And there's that sense of sadness to the whole thing too. It's all about things ending and the fact that things have to end. 

When we saw the last one, it was with our friends Dawn & Iain before they moved away and started a family. 

Some films are about more than the film; they're about the time and the place when you saw them. This trilogy is that for me. Just like "Deep Rising" and "Congo" and "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "The Way, Way Back" and "Logan" and "Sing Street".

And this is the first time I've seen it in New Zealand. Middle Earth itself!

I hadn't thought of that. I might need to check the kitchen for Orcs after I've finished.

S.