A comparison
Mar. 28th, 2007 08:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilEveryone's talking about the newly revealed cover art for Deathly Hallows now, and I have of course pored over the pictures and wondered what it all portends for the seventh book, but I figure it'll be more interesting post-read. July can't come too soon!
Anyway, I've been re-reading The Lord of the Rings - I figure it's long been overdue, since I've only read it twice before, and the last time was when the movies were coming out in the (failed) anticipation that it would make the films more enjoyable. I knew the movies didn't do the books justice, but during this read I'm really reminded - good grief the books are so much better. It occurred to me that my main peeve with the films isn't the very strange choices for adaptation (er...Arwen's life is somehow tied to the Ring?? Gimli is little better than a short, fat clown? Faramir tries to take the ring to Gondor?? and so on. Much as I disliked them, my main peeve is the heavy-handed style. Jackson uses close-ups and slow motion like bludgeons. Yech. It feels like he just doesn't give the audience enough credit to appreciate the inherent drama of a scene; he has to push it way over the top. No subtlety whatsoever. You really see his hokey horror movie roots in it. Legolas is ultra-cool, Aragorn is ultra-brooding, Arwen is ultra-breathy, Elrond is ultra-cranky....they're all shoved in your face as Xtreme! characters. And the scenes play out soooooo overdramatically.
For example: Gandalf's death in Moria. It's a pretty dramatic moment no matter how you do it. Being pulled into a chasm by a gigantic fire-creature wielding a whip - yeah, it's huge. But the film draws it out to the point of being ridiculous. Brain-beating music, lots of screams and close-ups of horrified faces, and afterwards, oh, the slow motion as they weep and cry and moan and wail. No wonder the movies go on so freaking long. Compare this to Obi-Wan's death. Different, yes. He's willingly sacrificing himself in a comparatively mild-mannered duel, and Vader is hardly the Balrog. However, they are both the wise mentor figures, and they are both killed at a crucial moment in the quest, much to the heroes' horror. But what a difference! Mournful music in the background, but much less heavy-handed. Obi-Wan has a wise, sad look, but there's no absurdly extreme close-up. It's enough. Luke shouts in dismay, and we feel his shock, but we don't need to dwell on it. We need to move into action. Just one quiet moment on the Falcon with Leia comforting Luke, and then it's on with the story. It's not like he doesn't feel the loss; he's still stinging from it later in the film when he says "I wish Ben were here," but we don't need to dwell on it. And thank goodness, no blasted slow motion.
Now, I'll freely admit that I cried the first time I saw the Gandalf death scene. And I was sniffly the next time. But by the third (I think that was the last time I saw it all the way through) it was becoming a bit eye-rollish. Obi-Wan's scene in ANH, however, never fails to touch me. I don't weep so much, but it's so quietly, subtly affecting. Lucas creates the story, presents it very simply and genuinely, and it works. No need for bludgeon-like gimmicks. Thank goodness for filmmakers like him.
Anyway, I've been re-reading The Lord of the Rings - I figure it's long been overdue, since I've only read it twice before, and the last time was when the movies were coming out in the (failed) anticipation that it would make the films more enjoyable. I knew the movies didn't do the books justice, but during this read I'm really reminded - good grief the books are so much better. It occurred to me that my main peeve with the films isn't the very strange choices for adaptation (er...Arwen's life is somehow tied to the Ring?? Gimli is little better than a short, fat clown? Faramir tries to take the ring to Gondor?? and so on. Much as I disliked them, my main peeve is the heavy-handed style. Jackson uses close-ups and slow motion like bludgeons. Yech. It feels like he just doesn't give the audience enough credit to appreciate the inherent drama of a scene; he has to push it way over the top. No subtlety whatsoever. You really see his hokey horror movie roots in it. Legolas is ultra-cool, Aragorn is ultra-brooding, Arwen is ultra-breathy, Elrond is ultra-cranky....they're all shoved in your face as Xtreme! characters. And the scenes play out soooooo overdramatically.
For example: Gandalf's death in Moria. It's a pretty dramatic moment no matter how you do it. Being pulled into a chasm by a gigantic fire-creature wielding a whip - yeah, it's huge. But the film draws it out to the point of being ridiculous. Brain-beating music, lots of screams and close-ups of horrified faces, and afterwards, oh, the slow motion as they weep and cry and moan and wail. No wonder the movies go on so freaking long. Compare this to Obi-Wan's death. Different, yes. He's willingly sacrificing himself in a comparatively mild-mannered duel, and Vader is hardly the Balrog. However, they are both the wise mentor figures, and they are both killed at a crucial moment in the quest, much to the heroes' horror. But what a difference! Mournful music in the background, but much less heavy-handed. Obi-Wan has a wise, sad look, but there's no absurdly extreme close-up. It's enough. Luke shouts in dismay, and we feel his shock, but we don't need to dwell on it. We need to move into action. Just one quiet moment on the Falcon with Leia comforting Luke, and then it's on with the story. It's not like he doesn't feel the loss; he's still stinging from it later in the film when he says "I wish Ben were here," but we don't need to dwell on it. And thank goodness, no blasted slow motion.
Now, I'll freely admit that I cried the first time I saw the Gandalf death scene. And I was sniffly the next time. But by the third (I think that was the last time I saw it all the way through) it was becoming a bit eye-rollish. Obi-Wan's scene in ANH, however, never fails to touch me. I don't weep so much, but it's so quietly, subtly affecting. Lucas creates the story, presents it very simply and genuinely, and it works. No need for bludgeon-like gimmicks. Thank goodness for filmmakers like him.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-29 09:51 pm (UTC)I haven't kept track of how many times I've read The Lord of the Rings myself... although it's been a good number of times. Still, I think the last time I read through them was also before the movies started coming out... and that's something I've got to address sooner or later. The very first time I read "The Fellowship of the Ring," I can remember being genuinely shocked at Gandalf's fall, and as I was reading an old Ballantine paperback I had picked up at a book sale, it was at least a little while before I went on to "The Two Towers..." As for the movie, though, I may have just thought "They're stretching this out a bit." (That feeling returned more strongly when the Ring was returned to the fires of Mount Doom.)
As you said, Obi-Wan's death is in different circumstances from Gandalf's, and yet where Gandalf seems the victim of one last bit of bad luck, there's a variety of interpretations I can find in Obi-Wan's last moments. I suppose at times I wonder why I'm interested in what I'm sure are the subtleties of the Star Wars movies where other noisy people don't see anything at all but just their usual smooth-worn complaints... and at other times, I even feel sorry for those people.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-29 10:52 pm (UTC)Watching Gollum's body slooowly disintegrate was downright laughable. For me, it made the moment far less dramatic, which was very frustrating.
other noisy people don't see anything at all but just their usual smooth-worn complaints
I suppose I'd be a bit hypocritical if I didn't admit to similarly complaining a bit too obsessively about the things I diske in the LOTR films...but then, they're adaptations, and most of what's good in them comes directly from the original creator. I have plenty of praise for Tolkien's work. As for Star Wars, I don't think I would have even given quibbles like Greedo shooting first more than a passing thought if not for all the angry complainers. Aren't there more important things going on in these movies?
no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 04:20 pm (UTC)