Ian McKellen, October 2001
At Sardi's (Interview for South Bank Show)
Photo by Keith Stern
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What to tell you about The Fellowship of The Ring which I
have now seen in a private screening room in New York? Certainly a
great deal less than you would like, but then the audience of 40 who
were invited by Mark Ordesky (Executive Producer/New Line Cinema) were
sworn to secrecy about the movie’s content. After all it wouldn’t
do, would it, to give away any details of the plot of the most-read
book of the twentieth century!
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Over the months, I have leaked a few secrets, one of which now
turns out to have been misleading, so perhaps I should in all fairness
correct it. There is after all a prologue which sets the scene and
story of The Ring before the adventures proper begin. This is done so
expeditiously and excitingly that it is almost like a film of its own
with glimpses of the Dark Lord and the forging of The One Ring. It is
narrated by a female voice (guess whose) and leads one into the world
of Middle earth confidently as if Peter Jackson had taken you by the
hand and personally led you there. There you remain for about 2 hours
45 minutes, although I thought it was less than an hour, the journey
was so entrancing. It’s the film equivalent of “not being able to
put it down till I’d finished”. The promise of two more movies to
come completes one’s satisfaction rather than thwarts it.
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At Barnes and Noble Book-Signing
November, 2001
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Everything on screen honours Tolkien’s imagination and
cinematically matches it. The achievement of WETA’s special
effects is that they are not evident, seemingly as actual as the New
Zealand landscapes which double for Middle Earth. The designs of
make-up, costume and varying sizes (from hobbits to elves) do not draw
attention themselves – they simply belong within a world that never
existed which is yet fully alive.
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All this, with performances to match, allows the story to be the
star of the film and of that I couldn’t be more pleased.
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Now as the publicity intensifies I find it infectious, keen to
know how others will respond. I have never been so popular with
friends hoping to get into the London premiere or before that into a
preview screening for the press. But the real test will be when
filmgoers go and, as I intend to, go again, after the public release
on 19 December. My advice would be to see it at least once on a really
big screen – there is so much detail to look and wonder at. If you
don’t know the novels, don’t try now to read them in advance –
the film’s narrative is crystal clear and you have a year before The
Two Towers to slake your Tolkien thirst by reading the novel.
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