The relationship between film and fantasy novels has always been strained. However, the Lord of the Rings has managed to break a trend in which films based off fantasy novels flop in the box office. However, just because the Lord of the Rings was successful does not guarantee that The Hobbit will do just as well. A portion of this difficulty comes from the fact that the two are so patently different from one another. The Hobbit is so different from Lord of the Rings in tone and focus, as to suggest two completely different authors. As Kocher points out, many make the mistake of believing that they should read the two in tandem, when it would be best to consider The Hobbit to be the quarry from which came the stones of the Lord of the Rings would be built from – similar material different end result.
However, this different relationship between the two could work favorably for The Hobbit in newer film versions. As Shippey points out, the difficult in transforming the Lord of the Rings from text to screen was immense. The plot delineation, breaking of the party interaction, and tangled webs made the film much more difficult to create according to Shippey. On the other hand, the ease of plot and storyline should make The Hobbit’s transition to film much smoother.
In the past, The Hobbit was anything but serious. Displaying the general feelings towards fantasy, the film was a cartoon version that seemed to be a combination of a Disney film and an attempt at reality. An abomination which only reduced the general appeal of the story to the public at large, making it more difficult for serious scholars to take it, well, seriously. With luck, however, the new film should break that streak.-E
0 comments:
Post a Comment