Book

Movie:
Director: Peter Jackson
Screenplay: Fran Walsh
Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom
Release: 2001Rating: PG-13

It was only a matter of time before someone made a film of The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R. Tolkien’s first book of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The story is a masterpiece. The characters each have their own plight and rite of passage. The conflict and journey are epic. But it’s a slippery slope to try and adapt a timeless story such as this for the big screen. To quote a character from the story, “Stray but a little and you will fail.” Fortunately, Tolkien proves to be a wonderful guide in his wizardry and craft, and paved a clear path for director Peter Jackson and screen writer Fran Walsh. All they had to do was follow the map.

It should be noted that Tolkien did not completely render every nook and cranny of his saga. To detail every hillside or facial feature of characters or elven craftsmanship in their weapons would have taken a lifetime-and he had bills to pay. Rather, he used broad strokes for such things, letting the reader fill in the gaps. This is where the movie comes into play, and for the most part movie is a wonderful compliment to the book.

To go one step further, the screen writer did a wonderful job of creating little scenes here and there that reward the Tolkien fan club. For instance, we find the main character, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his companions sitting under what looks to be monsters carved into stone. These statues, however, are actually a trolls turned to stone in the saga’s prequel, The Hobbit. But, for every nuance added, there was one taken away.

Director’s Cuts
Tolkien had a wild imagination and a classic style. So, when the journey sets out, it passes through several common scenarios that we see in many stories, but with Tolkien’s fantastical flair. The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy sci-fi story at heart, but Tolkien at times may have gone too far for the average movie-goer.

For example, Frodo quickly finds that he is being chased along his journey, and flees to a dark, treacherous forest-which is a standard writer’s tool for confusion and/or evil (classic style). While traveling through the Old Forest, Frodo and his hobbit companions are entranced and Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) are engulfed by a carnivorous tree (enter Tolkien’s imagination). But a man-of-the-wood named Tom Bombadil beats the tree with the power of song.

The movie skips over the perils of the Old Forest entirely. But, I can see how the director might foresee the average audience finding a hobbit-eating tree bested by a singing, skipping woodlander a bit too much sci-fi. Instead Jackson simplified the formula: Sauron, Ringwraiths and orcs are the bad guys; hobbits, humans, elves, dwarfs are the good guys.

To expand on the concept of eliminating songs from the movie, there are many poems and songs excluded from the movie. In practically every chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring someone’s singing an old story or working on a new lyric. It’s not surprising that they were left out, though, as the movie has to keep its mainstream appeal, and people probably wouldn’t care much to hear the actors’ vocals. Unfortunately, stripping the movie of songs and rhymes leads to several scene changes, and some interesting lore. None of the “filler” for the missing songs damage the story, and they fit well enough with the journey’s flow.

Live By The Sword
The book is also far less violent and alludes to conflict much more than it embeds the audience in it. The wizard battle between Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Saruman (Christopher Lee) in the tower Isengard is an exaggerated version of Gandalf and Saruman’s quarrel and Gandalf’s capture. Also, how Gandalf escapes is twisted to eliminate the introduction of another character (a beast-master wizard named Radagast).

In the climax of the movie a final battle on the hillside of Amon Hen claims the life of Boromir (Sean Bean) in a valant effort to regain his honor in sacrificing his life for the sake of his hobbit companions. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam flee the fellowship to seek their fate alone. In the book Tolkien leaves us with only Frodo’s path, as Boromir’s final stand is not revealed yet.  The movie provides a rewarding climax, however, and it is not totally unfounded. The second book, The Two Towers, records the battle on Amon Hen.

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), a classic hero character, is a lost hero looking for strength within. Tolkien gives us a glimpse of Aragorn’s impotence and refusal to lead, but in the movie he is much quicker to grow into the leader. The biggest change for Aragorn, in my opinion, is Anduril, his sword and heirloom. In the book, he carries a broken hilt in his sheath. This is the heirloom that he seeks to remake one day upon the rise of the human race, and it is remade into Anduril, the blade that defeated the evil Sauron in the Battle for Middle-Earth. In the movie, the sword is found in the elven city Rivendell, where it lays broken in shards.

The movie couldn’t afford to have Aragorn not fighting, so he needed to have some sword, if not the mythical Anduril-but in the book he has no need for a sword as of yet. The battle with the Nine Ringwraiths on Weathertop is one of the few instances where he fights for his companions, he used torches-but in the movie he used torch and blade.

Love Conquers Author
The movie makes way for a strong female character and love interest, in yet another attempt to create a blockbuster event out of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga. Arwen (Liv Tyler) saves Frodo from certain doom on the way to Rivendell. With her aid the Ringwraiths are washed away in a flood she commanded with her elf craft, and Frodo is healed by the elf elder, Elrond (Hugo Weaving). While Frodo heals, Aragorn and Arwen share moments of forsaken love between human and elf, but in the book they hardly speak. Rather an elf named Glorfindel saves Frodo and his horse rides Frodo across to safety where Elrond and Gandalf create the flood. But, there’s always room for romance, even if a little re-writing is in order.

In a funny way, you could say that Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) and Frodo are also a couple. Sam is bound to Frodo as his servant. In the book their relationship is much like this: Sam calls Frodo master regularly and follows him with the loyalty of a dog. In the movie they make sure to not use the word master, and replace the servant-master relationship with one of love and commitment.

Whether or not all the little changes add up and destroy the book’s foundation, or if you believe that taking something old and making something new is the best way to treat Tolkien’s classic, the movie does do most of the book justice. Gandalf’s final battle, the temptation of Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), personification of the One Ring, Bilbo’s (Ian Holm) corruption, and countless other parts of the book are represented with outstanding accuracy. Unfortunately, a lot of back story and references to the prequel, The Hobbit are lost, but as a whole it is a testament to the book.

Movie
Director, Screenplay: Frank Miller
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendez, Scarlett Johansson
Released: December, 2008
Rated: PG-13

Taking a classic and celebrated body of work such as The Spirit is a touchy thing. Its formula is simple yet so hard to duplicate because of the medium William Eisner chose. Placed in a Sunday newspaper, Spirit’s do-gooder deeds were recounted in a mere handful of pages. Foregoing back stories, monologues, or an assembly of other tools used to deliver sound, compelling drama, each new tale of The Spirit seems to start in what would be the climax of the story if Eisner had more pages to build up to it. The anecdotes range from hot under the collar romances to cat and mouse games with hoboes in Central City’s cavernous sewer system. But, one theme rules every page I’ve read, and that’s irony. Eisner’s short and sweet style and laden irony made for a lethal one-two combo. Frank Miller’s screen adaptation of The Spirit, though, strongly deviates from the original series’ simple essence, its spirit.

Adaptation Lottery

How do you select the “right” stories when creating a screenplay out of a comic? Do you go to the main character’s genesis? Arch-nemesis? Death? Most popular series? Most recent series? It’s like throwing darts at a wall of balloons at the carnival: You try to hit one but soon start wasting darts away at any and every balloon, hoping to pop just one. Miller’s flick resembles this chaotic flail. Granted, Eisner’s The Spirit is a romance in one issue and an international mystery the next (or both at the same time), but the movie never resembled the personality of Spirit’s era or the type of “real” crime he was chasing. For instance, the movie incorporates mythological artifacts such as the Golden Fleece and the Blood of Herecles (Hercules) to the story. The comic is more or less about fighting everyday criminals: bank robbers, swindlers, murderers, etc. Stopping thugs trying to get a free piece of the pie is a far cry from thwarting a villain chasing immortality via the blood of Hercules.

Miller selected antagonist Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) for the movie. He is a feared villain in both the comic and movie, dubbed the Kind of Crime (read Eisner’s “The Postage Stamp“). His face and figure is never discovered in print, but we see quiet a bit of him in the movie. It’s forgivable, even exciting to see what Octopus may look like-but dressing him as a Wild West ruffian, nazi, and samurai were probably a little outside the realm of Eisner’s vision. The thugs and crime lords of the comic were usually in suits or scraps-which resembles the age the comic was written in. Besides, I believe Eisner was more about the message than the wardrobe.

Through the comic there are many characters that symbolize the attitudes and inner struggles of people, from down-and-outers to the affluent on fifth avenue. Of course there were the bad apples that just led a life without morals, but Eisner seemed to love a character that defies the status quo of his or her respective disposition, and how criminal acts serve as a means to break out of the shackles they were inevitably constrained by. There’s also redemption, which the movie does touch on via femme fatale Sand Serif’s (Eva Mendez) redeeming acts. But, the movie isn’t about the oppressed, repressed, or depressed; it’s about a madman seeking immortality and a hero stepping in between the bad guy and world domination.

The movie also has back story between Sand Serif and Spirit. They were kids that grew up on the same block, and they loved each other, etcetera, etcetera. We never see Spirit as a child in print, which is part of his mystery, and highlights his presence as a heroic symbol, but maybe back story slightly resuscitates a flatlining story.

The comic also celebrates the art of suggestive sexuality, which was as far as published sex went in the 40s. The movie does this, but dips into more contemporary traditions, visa vi Eva Mendez’s hindquarters. The rules on skin and sex were different in Eisner’s day, and my preference would be to see a film reflect a more flirty tone, especially a PG-13 rated film. It would be very interesting to see a modern depiction of what sexuality was like then, rather than thrusting the characters into modern day rules (or lack thereof). But, in the comic Spirit flirts with and kisses the girl—in fact it’s a big part of the series. And since it is such a big part of Spirit’s character, it’s hard to swallow a depiction of him carelessly flirting with every lady that passes him by. It becomes a running joke by the end of the film, and his debased ethics take away from his symbol as a pure good guy.

Miller’s genesis of Spirit was also out-of-the-blue, which in my opinion is a big mistake. In the comic Denny Colt, respected detective and wisenheimer, sought Dr. Cobra in his underground lair. Colt was presumed dead after suffering a chemically induced coma after shooting a vat of toxic liquid in Cobra’s stronghold. Pronounced dead, Colt was buried-but he rose that night and became the Spirit. In the movie Colt was shot to death, but Octopus, who was then a mortician looking for a test subject for his invulnerability serum, injected Colt with a strain of immortal juice and Colt became the un-killable Spirit of justice. Nice symbolism, but why mess with a good genesis? I did notice in my reference that Eisner has a trademark on Denny Colt. Perhaps this is why the movie spins the origins of the character. It is certainly the easiest reason to swallow.

Character Flaw

The characters are hit or miss. Miller got the secondary characters down pretty well. The femme fatales were spot on. Sand Serif was a fiery, ambitious seductress that resembles Eisner’s lusty go-getters very well, while Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) was a puzzling oddball and a cool breeze to compliment her boss, Octopus, and his zany outbursts. Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson) was Denny Colt’s wife or girlfriend (it was never made clear), and though her character had zero relevance to the comic, she was the only character that had a soft side. It’s nice to have a grounded character bring us back to reality when the rest of the movie resembles 90 minutes of Elmer Fudd (played by the Spirit) chasing Daffy Duck (Octopus).

Spirit (Gabriel Macht) was well casted, but the character was misdirected. Spirit and Octopus were all-but immortal in the flick, and they stood toe-to-toe bashing each other’s brains in (to no effect) on more than one occasion. Spirit was impaled, shot, and smashed throughout the movie, but in the comic he couldn’t take a bullet any better than you or I could. In fact, he is often saved by women or Commissioner Dolan. His allure for women is overdone but entertaining in the flick, and it serves up a few chuckles.

Octopus, I don’t know what to say-probably the most confusing character I’ve ever seen on a screen. He is intended to be a crafty crime boss in the comic, but a scientist and absolute loon in the movie. Commissioner Dolan (Dan Lauria) seems to love tearing Spirit a new one, but in the comic there is much more camaraderie and benevolence. Dolan in the movie seems more like the angry commissioner archetype than a softy.

And last but not least, Lorelei Rox (Jaime King) is an aquatic rhinestone-studded seductress bent on bringing Spirit back to death every time he passes out. What? Unfounded in the comic, they’re relationship is trumped up, as we only see her in flashes swimming and seducing Spirit. Who she is; how she can breathe under water; and why she’s trying to keep Spirit dead, no one will ever know.

Note: I should mention that I did not have access to a complete body of Eisner’s original work. Rather, I based my body of knowledge on a compilation, “The Best Of The Spirit” which I recommend to all comic readers and students of storytelling method. Any insight from The Spirit fans is welcomed and appreciated.