OK, I'll admit, the blizzard had me worried. Would I go more than a week without seeing The Movie for the first time since Lausanne? Nah. Lucky I live in a city that can deal with snow!
Noon show, more kids than I'm used to. Fairly small crowd--I hope that's normal for the early show and a blizzard, and not a sign that the movie could end in Evanston before the Oscars. I think I need to start posting something other than movie notes, since I'm running out of new things to notice. Have to look up my post to the Lij list's thread of "10 favorite Frodo moments" and add a message board, so folks can argue with me.
OK, that *wasn't* Rose sitting with Sam. I still can't see her face, but the dress is the wrong color. Baggins or Gamgee relations, I assume.
Elijah's language as Frodo is just the least bit stilted upon occasion--I assume that's intentional, but maybe not. The "What are you doing?" when Gandalf throws the ring in the fire, for instance, doesn't sound entirely natural. But I'm still most taken with Frodo's relationship with Gandalf (quel surprise). In the Shire, he has this fantastic, quirky goduncle that everyone else can only look on with astonishment. But he's on fairly intimate terms with him. Gandalf takes a lot of care on his behalf. Then he goes missing, leaving Frodo in the lurch. But he reappears, still looking after him, and although it might seem that out in the wider world Frodo's relationship with the wizard would not be as unique, would have to be placed in a larger context, but somehow it remains the same. Gandalf is the first to volunteer to aid him in the council, and it is Frodo walking with Gandalf in most of the scenes we see. Of course, now Frodo is not just a young hobbit from the Shire--he is the ringbearer, and central to a lot of lives. But I think Frodo still loses some of his sense of being special in the way he was in the Shire, and is now special in a way he doesn't desire at all. Yet it remains bearable while he holds his special place with Gandalf (and has gained a similar standing with Aragorn).
Christopher Lee has talked about his vision of Saruman as the greatest intellect, and I can see that. Saruman is all brains, all intellect. Gandalf's logic and vision is always colored by his heart, which is both his weakness and his strength.
I really miss the excised line of Galadriel's to Frodo, "You will find your strength." I'd put that in place of "Even the smallest person...." I find that line demeaning to Frodo. Why do his doubts over his inability do accomplish his mission necessarily have anything to do with his size? Any of us would question our abilities under those conditions.
OK, I counted the Frodo "ring in hand" shots today:
- 1 offering the ring to Gandalf
2 After fleeing the black rider for the first time
3 "I *am* ready to go home" to Sam in Rivendell
4 offering the ring to Galadriel
5 "Would *you* destroy it?" to Aragorn
6 Screwing up his courage to take the boat and leave
So I was right--6 times
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