We all knew as soon as production started for Fellowship of the Ring that Peter Jackson would take some liberties with certain characters to help Tolkien’s story become more like a cinematic piece; the expansion of Arwen’s role, the removal of Tom Bombadil, the reduction of Glorfindel’s role, and so on. This weekend, the Hall of Fire staff are discussing one such character who experienced some extra character development:
The expansion of Saruman the White
Though Sauron is shown to be the ultimate evil in Middle-Earth during the prologue at the beginning of the movie, at times it feels like Saruman, and not Sauron is the most tangeable evil during Fellowship of the Ring. Though Tolkien’s Saruman seemed to be an unwitting pawn under Sauron’s control, Peter Jackson’s portryal of the Istari is more powerful, less a tool of a greater evil but more a rival to that evil itself.
This seems more to do with Jackson’s expansion of the Saruman character than the acting of Christopher Lee; from the beginning we witness how Saruman turns Isengard and the earth around it into deep pits, dungeons and forges where the instruments of war are forged and tempered. Peter Jackson does well to hint towards the events of the Two Towers when Saruman coldly tells his orcs to ‘tear them [trees] down, all of them’, yet his re-writing of the creation of the Uruk-Hai in pods and the introduction of the Lurtz character seems to have angered some purist Tolkien fans.
The same can be said for the change to the Fellowship’s ascent of Caradhras: the fierce conditions that force them to leave the mountain is no longer due to nature and instead is a creation of Saruman. Though it portrays Saruman as a more fiercer and powerful opponent not to be trifled with, some have seen it as an unnescassary change to Tolkien’s magical tale.
Whatever you believe, we want to hear your thoughts on the subject this weekend! We want to hear your thoughts on Saruman’s character, the unfolding of events in the film and how you think things will play out in the Two Towers. From orc pods to blizzards and snow storms to the portrayal of Saruman by Christopher Lee himself, you get your say at one of our discussions which have a brand new time this week.
Upcoming Discussions:
Dec 19 & 20: Fellowship of the Ring Complain Session
Dec 26 & 27: The Friendliness Of FotR To Non-Fans
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 5:00 pm (17:00) AET [also 07:00 am (08:00) CET and 2:00 am (02:00) ET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian Eastern Time, Australia’s East Coast
Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
