November
14, 2003
Director Peter Jackson decides to cut out Saruman out of final Tolkien film
If one decides to read through
my entire diatribe listed on my front page, it is rather obvious that I am
an old J.R.R. Tolkien fan. As such, I, along with scores of thousands of
other Tolkien fans, was deeply distressed at the news that New Zealand film
director Peter Jackson decided recently to cut 7 minutes out of the final
film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy,
The Return of the King. In fact,
I cannot recall being this distressed about the films since the days of
1998 - 2001, when I, like all Tolkien fans, sat and worried about what the
films were going to turn out like.
For those of you who are not familiar with the controversy, the source
of the issue is as follows. The film footage that is to be cut involves
the character Saruman and his human follower Grima Wormtongue. Saruman is
a wizard (in fact, a minor deity known as a Maiar) who was sent to Middle Earth to
contest the will of the Dark Lord Sauron (who also, in fact was a deity of
the same order). As the ages roll by, Saruman slowly looses faith his purpose
and in due time decides that he wants to rule Middle Earth instead of opposing
the will of Sauron. Part of the corruption of Saruman's will involves his
use of a device known as a palantir,
a crystal ball / seeing stone type device that allows knowledge and sight
of far away places and events. In using this device, he is eventually caught
by the Dark Lord Sauron, who also happens to be in possession of a palantir (as can be discerned via watching
the films). Saruman is subsequently bullied and domineered by the will of
Sauron. From there, Saruman begins something of a subservient relationship
with Sauron, while at the same time there remains a part of him who in fact
wants to gain Sauron's lost One Ring of power so that he can in fact supplant
Sauron as a new ruler of Middle Earth. As seen in the films, Saruman begins
gathering a force of Men and Orcs as well as despoiling the surrounding
environment in his efforts to gain mastery.
Grima Wormtongue, for his part, happens to be a human who is recruited
by Saruman as a spy and agent. Grima gains access to the House of Theoden,
ruler of the land of Rohan. Saruman has designs on conquering Rohan during
the wars which happen to be engulfing Middle Earth at the time of the quest
to destroy the One Ring of power.
In the books, what happens is that Saruman's forces are defeated in battle,
via the valor of the men of Rohan and with the help of the Hurons / Ents.
The Ents also destroy Saruman's citadel of Isengard, leaving Saruman and
Grima trapped in the tower of Orthanc. King Theoden, along with Saruman's
fellow wizard, Gandalf, and the several other members of the Fellowship of
the Ring ride to Isengard to have words with Saruman. Gandalf gives Saruman
an offer to repent and to help aid the Free Peoples of Middle Earth in their
ongoing wars against Sauron. However, Saruman turns down the offer and in
a dramatic scene, Gandalf destroys Saruman's staff and casts him out of the
order of Wizards. At the same moment, Grima hurls the palantir which Saruman has been using
all these years at the party, but nobody suffers any harm... yet.
Skipping a few scenes, what happens is that Gandalf decides to give the
stone to Aragorn, the one surviving heir to the human Kings of Gondor and
Arnor. It was Aragorn's ancestor from eons past, Isuldur, who cut the One
Ring from Sauron's hand in war. The palantir
also happen to be an heirloom of Aragorn's, since they were in fact created
and given to Aragorn's people (the Numenoreans) in ages past by the Elves.
Getting to the meat of the issue, in the final book Aragorn decides to
use the palantir! Aragorn decides
in taking such a breath taking gamble because he knows that the hobbits Frodo
Baggins and his servant Sam Gamgee are probably nearing Sauron's land of
Mordor in the hope of destorying the One Ring in the volcanic fires of Mount
Doom. By using the stone, Aragorn hopes to draw Sauron's attention away from
his own land and keep the Dark Lord off balance long enough for Frodo to
complete his mission. Aragorn ends up winning the contest of wills with
Sauron over the stone and soon learns of a massive invasion that threatens
Gondor, which he goes on to counter. Aragorn's strategy ultimately works
and in the end, the Ring is destroyed and everyone lives happily ever after
- except for Frodo Baggins but that's another strand of this vast story...
The ensuing controversy over the deleted scenes of the upcoming film involve
the fact that the parley at Isengard with Saruman is going to be cut out
of the final film. I understand that the deleted scenes will in fact be put
back into the final extended edition of The Return of the King. That however,
does not resolve the real issue that if the scenes at Orthanc / Isengard are
not included, then how is the stone to get into Aragorn's hands? The events that happen at Isengard are absolute
crucial in their nature and in fact drive the rest of the story! If these
scenes are cut, then some explanation of how the stone gets into Aragorn's
hands must be made or some other plot line must be invented to get the rest
of the story to work! Hence the outcry of Tolkien fans everywhere!
Many Tolkien fans have been looking forward to the film scenes at Isengard
for other, lesser reasons. Viewing the wreckage of Isengard is going to be
a sight to see! Also, there's supposed to be (in the film) a final "wizard's
battle" between Saruman and Gandalf. If this is true, then this would be
repeating the pattern that has been reoccuring in the films (vis - a - vis
the books) where tension has been heightened in certain scenes in an effort
to make the film more dramatic.
To me, the drama and "wizard's battles" are really a non - issues. Why?
Because I've already been asked too many questions by friends and co - workers
about what is going on in certain scenes due to the fact that Jackson's films
have not explained enough background. This is one time where not including
a scene is going to be a blunder of significant proportions.
Other pages located here with J.R.R. Tolkien content:
Book Review which
has a bit of Tolkien commentary
My Tolkien In My World
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