In 1999, just before I graduated from high school, I went to Barnes and
Noble and was shocked by the sight of a display inviting me to enter a
sweepstakes for which the prize would be a trip to New Zealand to get a
behind-the-scenes peek at the filming of The Lord of the Rings. "They're filming Lord of the Rings?"
I gasped before putting in my entry and hoping for the best. Alas, the
dream vacation went to someone else, but I spent the next two years in
eager anticipation of what I hoped would be a cinematic masterpiece
worthy of my favorite book. As I perused the Internet for news, I
discovered just how vast the fandom was. I may have felt rather isolated
as a Tolkien enthusiast growing up, but the movies brought millions of
fans out of the woodwork. And as much as I adore the good Professor and
the fantastical realms he created, I quickly learned I was not his most
ardent admirer. Not by a long shot.
Ringers: Lord of the Fans,
written by Cliff Broadway and Carlene Cordova and produced in
association with TheOneRing.net, taps into the frenzy Tolkien has
inspired for seven decades. It's narrated by Dom Monaghan, who was
catapulted from relative obscurity to superstardom with 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring,
in which he portrayed the endearing hobbit Merry, constant companion of
the mischievous Pippin, played by Billy Boyd. While Monaghan has the
largest role in the documentary, Boyd, Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin
(Samwise), Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Orlando
Bloom (Legolas), Andy Serkis (Gollum), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) and John
Noble (Denethor) all offer commentary, as do director Peter Jackson,
screenwriter Philippa Boyens and producer Barrie Osborne. Moreover, the
film cuts periodically to a theater where fans in elaborate costumes are
waiting five days to see the first showing of The Two Towers, and most of the fan testimonials focus on the movies.
Nonetheless, the movie works it way gradually to the present, so while
we never forget about Jackson's epic, Tolkien's is still the primary
focus. Monaghan recounts the publication of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings,
accompanied by a series of trippy Monty Python-esque illustrations. I'm
especially amused by the trio of nay-saying critics - among whom is
Harold Bloom, with whom I became intimately acquainted through several
college English courses - who are silenced by the arrival of a winged C.
S. Lewis and W. H. Auden singing Tolkien's praises.
Perhaps my favorite segment is entitled Of Hippies and Hobbits, which chronicles the profound influence Lord of the Rings
had on the American counter-culture. Here we are treated to lots of
video clips of sixties teens sitting around reading Tolkien and engaging
in protests against Ace Books, which published unauthorized editions of
the books, much to their author's consternation.
Tolkien
societies, a gathering place for those caught up in what one observer
called "intellectual hooliganism," began to form in this decade, and
musicians incorporated Middle-earth themes and motifs into their
recordings. Some, like many of Led Zeppelin's compositions, were
impressive, while others - most notably Leonard Nimoy's ultra-campy The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins
- were just silly. The marriage of music and Middle-earth has continued
over the years, as demonstrated in a special feature that mostly
includes footage scattered throughout the documentary itself. Among the
contributors to these segments are Lemmy Kilmister of the band Motorhead
and Geddy Lee of Rush.
Ringers makes note of the animated attempts at Tolkien - Rankin and Bass's The Hobbit and The Return of the King and Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
- but the tone is somewhat derisive. While I find Bakshi's vision a
little too weird for my liking, he certainly gave it his best shot, and
the documentary implies that he was denied the proper resources to do
his project real justice. It's less kind to Rankin and Bass, as Monaghan
and other commentators make cracks about Bilbo looking like a frog and
ridiculous songs being forced upon people at the most inopportune
moments. However, it also shows us some fans who cite The Hobbit
as their all-time favorite movie, and we hear three different covers of
songs from those films, including a haunting version of Leave Tomorrow 'Til It Comes that plays over the credits. I was interested to find out that this was not the first attempt at a film version of Lord of the Rings.
One screenwriter got Tolkien's reluctant permission to give it a shot
but couldn't find any interested parties, and in the sixties the Beatles
put considerable effort into putting Lord of the Rings on the big screen, but their attempts were similarly fruitless. What a combination that would have been!
While Ringers is loaded with experts associated with Lord of the Rings
is one way or another, many of the most interesting observations come
from ordinary fans. Interviewer Cliff Broadway talks to fans in various
locations, while a confessional booth records the ramblings of Comic-Con
2005 attendees, most of whom are garbed as various characters from Lord of the Rings,
though there is the occasional Klingon or Jedi. The costumes are truly
impressive, especially when we hear all the effort that went into them.
My favorite was a Treebeard costume, which looked extremely realistic
but difficult to walk and talk in. It's worth a look in the special
features at a few of the more memorable Tolkien testimonials. These are
undoubtedly some very passionate fans.
Some of them have
stories to tell about brushes with Tolkien or folks involved with
Jackson's film; others have unusual collections or have put their
creativity to use in such famed works of fan fiction as Lord of the Peeps and The Original Pervy Hobbit Fancier's Journal. And then there's the woman in California who created Hobbiton, U.S.A., a walk through The Hobbit
settled in an old stand of redwoods and featuring wooden
representations of various locations in the book. It has a very
homegrown look to it, nothing too fancy, but my eyes about popped out
when I saw it, and it's definitely been added to my list of desired
destinations.
If you've ever dreamed of moving to
Middle-earth, spent a hundred dollars to look like an elf, rhapsodized
for pages about your favorite hobbits or read Tolkien's masterpiece
repeatedly, give Ringers a look and rest assured you are not alone.
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