The Return of the King

What can I say? It was awesome!!! We went to watch yesterday morning and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The vistas were breathtaking.
The battles were huge!!!
The story was not tweaked too badly….

But first, why do we go and watch these films?
The real choice of Christmas...

This summarises brilliantly the dichotomy in our house.
Actually, Jacqui liked the story too but I have elf-envy at the moment.

Finally, a few thoughts for you on the Christian motifs in the series.
There are a few minor spoilers but nothing that will even remotely spoil your enjoyment.
And I’ll lay off the scripture quotes unless you really want them…

Strength in weakness has to be the most obvious theme that runs through the trilogy. It is the hobbits who appear to be the weakest characters who are the heroes.
The snares of the world Again, it is the hobbits who are fit to carry the ring since they have little desire for the world. Great heroes like Gandalf, Boromir, Aragorn, the Elf Queen are all tempted to take the ring at some point but none can wield it since their desires (even noble) would be corrupted.
Resurrection Tolkein gives us a resurrection motif in the return of Gandalf from his battle with the Balrog. He even appears in white glory.
The true prophet There is a marvellous scene where Gandalf speaks to the Steward of Gondor to persuade him to take action. Gandalf is interested in saving men, the Steward is only interested in his own position. The Director clearly understood what was going on in this scene and presents us with a picture very similar to that of the OT prophet berating his self-centred contemporaries. “They sit in the seat of Moses…
The Return of the King This has to be the best theme of the lot!!! The return of the true king of men to a people who do not want him – a throne that is empty and yet the very men who maintain the kingdom are threatened by him. Throughout the film we see converts to the cause. In “Fellowship” we see Boromir move from angrily shouting “Gondor has no King!” to, at his death, telling Aragorn, “I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my King”. For those of us who love the Lord it’s a wonderful moment of conversion. (2Cor 4:6 – alright, I couldn’t hold off the quotes!!).

I hope this enhances your enjoyment. Do post more if you notice them. Remember, this isn’t a straight allegory like CS Lewis. Tolkein weaves motifs into different characters. So, for example, more than one character portrays different aspects of Christ.

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  1. Anonymous

    when the courage of men fails…..

    hehe i love that line, somehow it speaks to me of the innate vulnerability of men, no matter how powerful, how strong, how noble, how seemingly invincible =)

    anyway YESSS it was fantasitc!!! i watched it last nite too!! where did u watch it??? my show was midnite at GV Grand!!!!!! i love love love it and i’m gonna watch it again!!!! =)

    and did you watch the “making of” on CNA too? hmm….otherwise how would u have come across the term “elf-envy”? haha…..well i LIKE aragorn and his dirty scrummy hair…but legolas rocks too! okay i shall stop drooling now =)

    am off to bangkok tomorrow so i’ll talk to u guys when i get back!

    1. David Ould

      Re: when the courage of men fails…..

      10am Thurs Morning Tiong Bahru.
      And yes, I nicked the elf-envy term from the flippin’ elf himself.

      and when will you let us have your new blog address?

      1. Anonymous

        Re: when the courage of men fails…..

        oops i forgot to leave my name but i guess you knew it was me ๐Ÿ™‚ anyways i haven’t found a good blog-host yet…so i’m still using upsaid for now! will have to surf around a bit more =)

      2. Anonymous

        Re: when the courage of men fails…..

        oops i forgot to leave my name but i guess you knew it was me ๐Ÿ™‚ anyways i haven’t found a good blog-host yet…so i’m still using upsaid for now! will have to surf around a bit more =)

        1. David Ould

          Re: when the courage of men fails…..

          come to Livejournal!!

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