NOVEMBER 2001
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 3
Lord of the Rings 'Brilliantly Cast and Directed'
NE OF THE MOST eagerly anticipated films about to be released is the first segment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, based on the fantasy works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring opens on December 19, to be followed in sequence by The Two Towers in December 2002 and The Return of the King in December 2003.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specializing in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955).
The author created an imaginary world, rich in its own history with extreme attention to detail, including entire races of people with their own languages. His astounding books are set in a mythological world, which he called the Middle-Earth and are peopled by men and women, elves, dwarves, trolls, ores (or goblins) and, of course, hobbits.
All three movies were filmed simultaneously in New Zealand and the US$278 million project is considered one of the most ambitious ever undertaken in the history of cinema.
More than a few careers rest on the success of the project. Computer effects, which took a year to develop, will be used to make actors look half their size to match Middle Earth dimensions in Tolkien's books.
In the first installment, The Fellowship of The Ring, the actors get a chance to introduce their characters and their individual quests. At the center of it all is the story's three foot-six inch hero - Frodo Baggins, the shy but forthright hobbit who assumes the responsibility for destroying The Ring.
Despite the help of the Fellowship, it is Frodo who must bear the burden of The Ring and resist its constant temptations of evil. For the actor to play Frodo, the filmmakers chose 20-year-old Elijah Wood for his energy, innocence and charisma.
One of Frodo's closest allies in his plight to destroy The Ring is the old and powerful wizard Gandalf, who begins to demonstrate his full powers and purpose in The Fellowship of The Ring. Gandalf is played by renowned screen and stage star Ian McKellen, who was thrilled to take on such a magical role.
"I see Gandalf as the archetypal wizard," says McKellen. "I think in the creation of Gandalf, Tolkien was playing with ideas about wizards from stories and fairy talcs throughout time. Gandalf is related "to Merlin, and maybe even Prospcro, but he also is very much his own man."
"There's no doubt about it, this is
going to be bigger than Star
Wars.....Every
single aspect of this film is of a standard that you could only dream about."
Frodo's quest to destroy The Ring begins with his cousin, Bilbo Baggins, an aged hobbit with a history of bravery played by Ian Holm.
Holm says that "Bilbo is not unlike me. He's quite grumpy on the outside but basically he has a heart of gold. He is a little fellow whom things seem to happen to -but when he's put to the test, he comes up trumps more than most people."
The entire cast underwent intensive training in ancient arts and languages for their roles. This included studying sword fighting with veteran sword master Bob Anderson; learning horsemanship with head wrangler Dave Johnson; and practising the Elvish language with dialect and creative language coaches Andrew Jack and Rofsin Carty. Jack and Carty developed a unique accent and cadence for Elvish, based in part on Celtic, yet entirely unique.
In addition to the technical training, every actor involved in The Lord of The Rings had to be in top physical condition - not just because the Fellowship" scales mountains, fords streams and fights physically intense battles throughout the trilogy, but because they had to withstand the 274-day shooting schedule.
Co-star John Rhys-Davies, the burly Welshman who starred as Indiana Jones sidekick Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark, is transformed into the four-foot-tall dwarf, Gimli.
Speaking recently in Toronto, he said, "There's no doubt about it, this is going to be bigger than Star Wars. It really is quite a substantial piece of literature and it is brilliantly east - present company excluded - brilliantly directed. Every single aspect ol this film is of a standard that you could only dream about."
HARRY POTTER MOVIE OPENS IN LONDON
LONDON - The hotly-anticipated world premiere of the Harry Potter movie opened to rave reviews in London on November 4. Based on the first novel by JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it is widely expected to break box office records.
The screening, at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square attracted a host of celebrities as well as the stars of the £86 million blockbuster. The film will go on public release in the UK and North America on November 16.
Daniel Radcliffe, aged 12, plays the young magician who discovers his parents were wizards, and that he possesses magical powers. The film also stars John Cleese as ghost Nearly Headless Nick, Robbie Coltrane as the school groundskeeper, and Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw as Harry's uncle and aunt. Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, John Hurt, Rik Mayall and Julie Walters also star.
Director Chris Columbus, who also worked on the Home Alone films, recently said he has not changed the book's winning formula. Rowling only agreed to let her adventures be adapted for the big screen after assurances that "characters won't be led off in any inappropriate directions."
DANIEL RADCLIFFE, aged 12, plays the young magician in the new Harry Potter movie which opens on November 16.
The film comes on the back of worldwide success for the four Harry Potter books, which have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.
Amazingly, three publishers had turned down Rowling's first book, before it was snapped up by Bloomsburv for a reported £10,000. It was finally published in June 1997, and by November that year it had been exported to eight countries.
Rowling is one of the highest UK female earners and was made an OBE by the Queen earlier this year after famously writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone while sheltering from the elements in an Edinburgh cafe.
A fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is expected to be released in the middle of 2002. Work on a film sequel has alreadv started.
In Stores Now.
Mouth Music
c^o Seafaring Man
Mouth Music combines the ancient puirt-a-beul vocal tradition of Gaelic Scotland with the powerful rhythms of Africa and electronic gadgetry of modern man. The Edinburgh-based group's haunting and sensual creations seamlessly join the spirited rawness of voice and acoustic Instrumentation with the polish of synthesized sound.
Be Good Tanyas V
Blue Horse
"Ragged, acoustic and dustbowl plain, their backporch music is a mix of originals such as the beautifully harmonized 'Only in the Past' and obscure traditional songs such as 'Rain and Snow,' a killer." - John P. McLaughlin, The Province
