Tolkien (2019): A Review

This past Saturday I went to see the new Tolkien film directed by Dome Karukoski and produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Allow me to preface this by saying that I was obsessed with the Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films when I was in high school and college. Those films, while flawed, were my gateway to the majestic world of Middle Earth and all of its beautiful characters. Since then, I have grown to see the superiority of the books, and I count them among my top ten favorite literary works. And while I am hardly a Tolkien scholar, I hold him in high regard and admire him not only as a great writer and linguist but also as an ardent Roman Catholic. In sum, I went into this film expecting to be greatly disappointed.

I was wrong.

 I enjoyed many aspects of the film immensely. The cinematography was wonderful, and the incorporation of the many fantastical elements through phantom-like appearances of knights on horseback, dragons, and so forth, combined with a gorgeous soundtrack by Thomas Newman, transported me to the world of Faerie in a wonderful way.

Another one of the strengths of the film was the camaraderie amongst Tolkien and his classmates. During his time at Saint Edward's School, Tolkien and several classmates formed an unofficial society titled the "Tea Club, Barrovian Society," also known as the T.C.B.S. According to the film, the group would meet at the tea shoppe, Barrow Stores, and discuss art and literature and critique one another's work (a precursor of the future Inklings). Their friendship and their love of art bore a wonderful resemblance to the poetry club established in the well-known Robin Williams' film, Dead Poets' Society.

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Favorite moments? 1) One of the early scenes when the two Tolkien brothers are play-acting with their mother, Mabel; 2) the TCBS scenes when they are kids walking through the streets shouting their battle cry; 3) Edith dancing amongst the trees (this scene was far too short; I needed more of this magic in my life); 4) all the little scenes of Tolkien sketching his creatures from his imagination -- I love that the director pointed to the fact that Tolkien was an artist as well as an author; 5) the opera scene with Edith. These are just a few of the delightful moments and they exceeded my expectations in many respects!

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My chief criticism is the lack of attention to Tolkien's faith, which was heavily influential on his life, both circumstantially and personally, and on his literary works. For those who may not know, Tolkien's father died when Tolkien was about three. Five years later, his mother Mable Tolkien, raised Baptist, converted to Roman Catholicism, resulting in her family withholding all financial assistance. This left the Tolkien family completely destitute save for the charity of the Catholic Church. Tragically Tolkien's mother passed away from acute diabetes in 1904 (Tolkien was about 12). Before her death, Mabel entrusted the care and upbringing of her sons to her friend, Father Francis Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory.

These events left a deep impression on Tolkien as evidenced by the quote written about nine years after his mother's death: "My own dear mother was a martyr indeed, and it is not to everybody that God grants so easy a way to his great gifts as he did to Hilary and myself, giving us a mother who killed herself with labour and trouble to ensure us keeping the faith."

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There is a moment in the film where Father Morgan criticizes Tolkien's romantic pursuit of his childhood friend, Edith, because she is not a Catholic. This comment falls short because it has been poorly contextualized. What could have been a moment of heightened drama for Tolkien, both in regards to his relationship with the priest and in regards to his relationship with his faith as a practicing Catholic, falls flat.

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The director and writers chose to focus more on the friendships established in the TCBS; while there was plenty of material here as well, nevertheless, I think the lack of attention to his Catholic faith was a missed opportunity for a great subplot.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the film considerably. If I were to rate it in comparison to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit Trilogy, I would agree with the Prancing Pony Podcast hosts, Alan and Shawn, placing it slightly higher than An Unexpected Journey.  I heartily recommend going to see the film if you are a Tolkien fan!

In the meantime, I will be listening to this Thomas Newman soundtrack ad nauseum.

P.S. You don't have to take my word for it: best-selling author and die-hard Tolkien fan Neil Gaiman also recommends the film!

Darkest Hour 2017 and the Opposition of Evil

One of my new favorite pastimes post-graduate school is going to the movies. This year I went to see five of the nine films nominated for Best Picture this year: Darkest Hour, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Shape of Water, and The Post.

Of all of the films that were nominated for Best Picture that I saw this year, my personal favorite was Darkest Hour. I ended up going to see it on a whim with a friend on a Friday night this past winter. I remember listening to Oldman's delivery of Winston's famous speech, "We shall never surrender," my heart pounding in my chest, and feeling as though I was about to leap out of my seat and follow this bulldog of a man to the ends of the earth!

Gary Oldman's performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour was pure artistry, and Ben Mendelsohn's King George VI was the best portrayal of the most recent King of England that I have seen on film to date (which is saying a great deal as Colin Firth and Jared Harris each gave terrific performances of the role in The King's Speech and The Crown, respectively). While each actor had their own unique way of portraying the king's speech impediments and his strength of character, Ben has the advantage of very much looking the part. In fact, if one were to do a profile comparison of the two, the actor and the king himself are almost identical.

Left: Actor Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI in Darkest Hour 2017. Right: His Royal Highness, King George VI.

The movie unfolds over a matter of days, beginning with the appointment of Churchill as prime minister and following him into one of the most harrowing moments of the Second World War as the nation faces imminent invasion by Nazi Germany. Finding himself alone, Churchill must rally the  the nation to hold fast in its opposition to the Nazis rather than attempting to negotiate peace terms, even if it means the end of the British nation as they know it.

The film beautifully recreates the tension and desperation felt by many in those few days as the fate of Western civilization hung in the balance. As I watched the drama unfold, one couldn't help but wonder if one might have had Churchill's courage and clarity of mind if placed in his position. For it is a question worth considering: would it have been morally justifiable to submit to the Nazi regime, knowing about their obscene ideology, in exchange for the survival of what remained of the British nation, its culture, and its citizens? Was the evil of Nazism so profound that it had to be opposed at all costs?

Unlike many wars in the history of western civilization, the Second World War has the advantage of a clear delineation of good vs. evil, and in hindsight it is easy to say, "Of course, we must fight Nazism to the death," because we know what happened. But standing on the precipice of that defining moment in the history of the western world, not knowing the outcome, Churchill still had the courage to stand his ground and the foresight to realize that, in this case, there could be no compromise. In his own words:

"We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. ... We shall fight on the seas and oceans... We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" -- Winston Churchill, "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" Speech, delivered on 4 June 1940 to the House of Commons. 

Darkest Hour serves as a beautiful and poignant reminder that death is not the worst thing that can happen to you, and that the good in this world is worth fighting for, even if it means you may lose.