Without having the slightest intention of doing any such thing, Tolkien actually created a mythology out of pure imagination and fantasy, consisting of all kinds of weird and improbable creatures, but a fact is that it works. The films and sequels created to Tolkien's ideas are multiplying, and they are always good, it seems, as if it was impossible to bring something mediocre or cheap out of the material, as it also was impossible to do so on Homer or the stories of Dickens. Tolkien was not a great author, but there was definitely nothing wrong with his imagination and creative spirit, and his stories do especially well in films. Kate Madison has improvised on the vague story of Aragorn's father and created a very realistic story on his imagined struggle to protect his family and people from the aggression of the monstrous orcs, they are always worse than any Frankenstein monsters in every film, but here there are also beautiful pastoral sequences of rural life with the gorgeous wedding sequence at the centre. This is indeed a successful treatment of the Tolkien myths, actually very Celtic in character, which adds to the general convincing credibility, so it is a film to enjoy and to relish the memory of together with all the Jackson films.
Review of Born of Hope
Born of Hope
(2009)
Tolkien would certainly have approved of this very likeable paraphrase
10 July 2023