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Tolkien Film to Run Rings Round Harry PotterHotter than Potter, the next Star Wars, a landmark in cinema... the British press found no praise too high for the screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien's baroque fantasy, The Lord of the Rings.A ritzy premiere Monday of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of three films from the book, drew the usual array of filmstars and British celebrities, providing splashy copy for British newspapers, few of which could find fault with the three-hour epic. It mattered not that the film is short on laughs and long on hair, nor that the Tolkien original has become somewhat devalued by copycat fantasy novels and computer games since it was first published in 1954. Critics were in raptures at the effort by director Peter Jackson to remain faithful to the original doorstep novel without becoming enslaved to it. Special effects, a few truly nightmarish moments and an ambitious cliffhanger ending designed to tease fans to come back and watch the second and third parts of the trilogy when they are released, also impressed. "It's Hotter than Potter," trumpeted the Mirror, with one 10-year-old reviewer saying that he preferred the film to box-office smash "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." "Sorry Harry, but I've just seen a movie that runs Rings round you," added the Sun. Adapting Tolkien for the screen has been a huge gamble for Jackson and the New Line Cinema production company. All three films were shot in one long 15-month marathon costing around 300 million dollars (340 million euros), with parts two and three set for release at the end of 2002 and 2003. The risk is that if the first film flops, the studio will find it hard to recoup the enormous outlay on the sequels. Most critics felt it was a risk worth taking. "The biggest gamble in cinema is about to pay off," the Daily Mail critic wrote, calling "The Fellowship of the Ring" "a landmark in cinema, an awesome feat of imagination and daring." Broadsheet critics took a more measured view, commending the film for conveying the book's overarching message of mortality and memory, power and corruption, but noting mistakes in the production and spotting references and borrowings everywhere. Wizard Gandalf has more than a touch of Obi-Wan-Kenobi about him, while the cosy world of Hobbiton owes something to the Teletubbies. Mordor is an ubergothic Transylvania, while the whole odyssey could be compared to "The Wizard of Oz," "Alien" or even "The Poseidon Adventure." And occasionally the viewer can be forgiven for feeling he is on a Playstation, zapping orcs before they zap him, and crossing the bridge before it crumbles into the ravine. "As fable though, it's likely to satisfy only those who are easily satisfied," scoffed the Independent's reviewer. "You cannot help feeling that Hitler would have adored this film, with its hideous Untermenschen, its homeland-loving hobbits and its Aryan beauties." But in general, critics were full of admiration for Jackson's efforts in filming what many thought was the unfilmable. "Jackson has given himself a mountain to climb in tackling Tolkien's obsessively multi-layered fantasy... On the whole he copes beautifully. The film honors the text without being enslaved by it," wrote the reviewer from The Guardian -- AFP Films on Palestinian Camps Screened in DamascusUnder the title “Salute to Jenin Camp”, the Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Forum in Damascus screened last week three films depict the Palestinian refugee camps.Tolkien Film to Run Rings Round Harry PotterHotter than Potter, the next Star Wars, a landmark in cinema... the British press found no praise too high for the screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien's baroque fantasy, The Lord of the Rings.Syrian Film Tells Talented Blind Man’s StoryThe Syrian director Nizar Darawesh is currently shooting a new TV film entitled Hikayet Bassir (The Story of a Foresight).‘Thieves in KG2’: Pure Youth FilmThe film Haramiyya KG2 (Thieves in KG2) shot by a group of young men, managed to compete with films of prominent stars at the Egyptian box offices during Eid al Adha holiday.Third of Egyptian TV Series Rejected for ‘Contradiction with Traditions’The series “Awan Al Ward” which was screened in Ramadan blew a big storm and was rejected by more than 10 satellite channels.‘Blossom and Despot’: Syrian Cartoon Film on Sharon’s CrimesSyria has entered the industry of cartoon films with a political purposeful film that depicts the crimes and atrocities of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. |
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