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Pierre Vinet/New Line Cinema

Elijah Wood as Frodo in "TheLord of the Rings: TheFellowship of the Ring," directedby Peter Jackson.

Pierre Vinet/New Line Cinema

Ian McKellan as Gandalf in "TheLord of the Rings."

December 20, 2001

A Heroic Quest Through Middle-Earth

By ELVIS MITCHELL

There are two groups probably sharing thesame dread about the film adaptation of J.R. R. Tolkien's ornate and busy "Lord ofthe Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" —its most loving adherents and those whohave spent their lives avoiding the books.But neither side is likely to be disappointedby the director Peter Jackson's altogetherheroic job in tackling perhaps the mostintimidating nerd/academic fantasy classicever.

Given that huge portions of the movie aredevoted to exposition (there's a crushingamount of explanation required), Mr.Jackson has simmered the novel down tothe most compact action-epic that could bemade of it. As director and co-scriptwriter(he wrote the adaptation along withPhilippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) heunderstood that what propels the storyforward are the battles between the forcesof good and evil — a word from whichBritish stage actors can extract at least threesyllables.

One of those British actors, Ian McKellen, plays Gandalf, the wizardand friend to the Baggins family. Gandalf drops in on the Shire to visithis hobbit friend Bilbo (Ian Holm) on his 111th birthday. (It's good tosee Mr. Holm and Sir Ian together, even though the special effectrequired to make the hobbit diminutive and Gandalf lanky and majesticinterferes with their ease.)

During the celebration, Bilbo passes a ring on to his nephew, Frodo(Elijah Wood), and this ring places Frodo in the center of a struggle forthe future of the world. The ring, which contains an evil wizard's

"cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life," must be destroyedin the fire Pits of Mordor, where it was created. Even the toweringGandalf is afraid of this master ring.

"Fellowship" then slips into a series of chases and pitched battles, eachwith a bit more at stake because the ring's power to tempt those whocome in contact with it becomes a bigger factor. Mr. Jackson hasexploited the anecdotal nature by turning "Fellowship" into an escalatinggroup of cliffhangers. This is the craftiest way to deal with the essenceof "Fellowship," shrinking the border between seduction and greed.When the ring corrupts each side, what's the difference between thosewho want it to do what's right and those who want it for less selflessreasons?

Tolkien's books were written and passed around from zealot to zealotlong before fantasy became the order of the day in contemporarypopular culture, which is why so much of "Fellowship" will seemfamiliar to those who know nothing about them. (Tolkien devotees areprobably still wiping the bad taste of Ralph Bakshi's poky 1978animated adaptation from their mouths.)

Rather than emphasize the similarities to George Lucas's mythology, Mr.Jackson gallops straight through them, trimming away as many of thecomplications as possible. "Fellowship" may still feel like "Star Wars"and just about every other otherworldly battle epic of the last 30 years— a whopping composite of Christian allegory, Norse mythology and aboys' book of adventure. There's not much of a place for women on theloamy, rich dream scapes of Middle Earth; they enter the action brieflyas if they were dream figures, part of the film's subconscious, like theglorious Elf queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and the magical Arwen (LivTyler).

"Fellowship" centers on a band composed of the hobbits Frodo and hisbest friend, Sam (Sean Astin); the wizard Gandalf; and a pack of warriorsthat include the humans Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (SeanBean), the angry dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the elf archerLegolas (Armando Bloom).

Mr. Jackson apparently feels that the way to keep each of the fightinggroups separate in the audience's minds is to provide them withhairstyles reminiscent of 1970's bands. The hobbits all have heads oftossled curls — they're like members of Peter Frampton's group.Aragorn and Boromir have the long, unwashed bushes of Aerosmith, andthe flaxen-maned Legolas has the fallen-angel look of one of the AllmanBrothers. (The tubby, bilious and bearded Gimli could be a roadie forany of them.) "Fellowship" plays like a sword-and-sorcery epicproduced by VH-1. Together, they rock against the forces of Sauron —the evil wizard who created the Ring that Frodo holds. They have topass through a cavernous passageway to fight through the assortment ofnightmare creatures that Sauron sends to stop them.

In Tolkien's book, each obstacle represents what is by now a kitschylevel of enlightenment; once it's surmounted, you can never go back.Though this sadder-but-wiser educational experience is integral to thestory, rather than snip it away, the director lingers on the mournfulness.When Frodo's band of brothers has to endure its sacrifices, the movie hasa sense of loss. Mr. Jackson gets more feeling into "Fellowship" than hedid with his previous films, like "Heavenly Creatures" and the bracingshock comedy "Dead Alive" and "The Frighteners" (which containedmilder elements from "Dead Alive"). He's better at this stuff than thehappy shenanigans at Bilbo's birthday bash in the Shire; it's an entirevillage of comic relief. Mr. Jackson is a deft filmmaker, though,combining humor and horror in the same scene — so that the actors'takes of disbelief when yet another menace materializes are so expressivethey seem like part of the storytelling.

The movie gets going once the quest begins and the adventurers hit theroad. Since the actors serve a plot need rather than filling outcharacterization, the movie succeeds when the performers quicklycommunicate their functions. Mr. Wood's light, tremulous voice forFrodo and earnest, pointed face offer decency. He sometimes seems topossess the visage that Michael Jackson has spent a lot of money havingsculptured by man-made means.

Sir Ian's good-humored courtliness goes a long way, especially in hisscenes with his former mentor-turned-nemesis, the wizard Saruman; he'splayed by Christopher Lee as if he were still Dracula rising from thegrave. Mr. Mortensen's tendency to withhold as an actor informsAragorn's nobility, and he moves well with a sword; it gives him anaction hero's passion, which contrasts with Bean's conflicted Boromir.

If the actors had more to do, the picture might run longer than its current180 minutes. At that length some may find the movie exhausting, sincethose not caught up in the story — which will seem reiterative becauseTolkien's prose has been pillaged so often — may find themselvesindifferent to "Fellowship." The playful spookiness of Mr. Jackson'sdirection provides a lively, light touch, a gesture that doesn't normallycome to mind when Tolkien's name is mentioned.

"Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is rated PG-13 Parentsstrongly cautioned) for the plethora of menacing creatures who eventuallyhave to be encountered and slaughtered.

THE LORD OF THE RINGSThe Fellowship of the Ring

Directed by Peter Jackson; written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens andMr. Jackson, based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien; director ofphotography, Andrew Lesnie; edited by John Gilbert; music by HowardShore with songs by Enya; production designer, Grant Major; special

makeup, creatures, armor and miniatures by Richard Taylor; producedby Barrie M. Osborne, Mr. Jackson, Ms. Walsh and Tim Sanders;released by New Line Cinema. Running time: 180 minutes. This film israted PG-13.

WITH: Elijah Wood (Frodo), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Liv Tyler(Arwen), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Sean Astin (Sam), Cate Blanchett(Galadriel), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Billy Boyd (Pippin), DominicMonaghan (Merry), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Christopher Lee(Saruman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Sean Bean (Boromir), Ian Holm(Bilbo) and Andy Serkis (Gollum).

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