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The following online journal entries are from December 2001. |
FRIDAY. 12:43 PM. Happy birthday to my sister, Alenda!
SUNDAY. 2:56 PM. Have you stepped outside, walked the streets, ridden the bus, driven downtown? The holiday anxiety is in full swing -- perhaps the greatest of capitalist irony -- the most sacred, most cherished, most loving time of the year is polluted by anger, frustration, dysfunction, and debt. But I don't want to be labeled a Scrooge. It's actually been quiet. Thank god. People have migrated away, and though I am spending another holiday season pretty much on my own, I will not squander the silence. I am trying not to give in to the melancholy of this time of year. For me, the end of the year is always full of self-reflection, which translates to self-criticism. What have I done this year? What have I accomplished? What still needs doing? A verse from "Journey to the East Bay" by Rancid seems apropos:
Matty came from far away It's not as bad as that... but it seems like the timbre of San Francisco is still recoiling, resonating dissonantly. I came half-expecting mecca... and half of it is. The other half is fucked up. But I have done a great deal in 2001. Year Three of the Great Plan. It's been a good year, I think. It's been a proactive year. I have taken care of myself. I have made good decisions. I left my job in search of something better (that search continues). I have written more this year than I have in the past. I completed National Novel Writing Month (in fact, I'm mentioned in an article about NaNoWriMo in the East Bay Express... at the top of page 6). I set my sights on graduate school and finished my applications ahead of schedule. I have tried to nurture the friendships that nurture me in return and leave behind the relationships that only serve to knock me down. What's in store for Year Four? It's a peculiar feeling to come to the end of something; it's like feeling the hard edge of a piece of metal or stone -- press too hard and you can cut yourself. I can feel the edge, the edge of the year, the edge of this chapter of my life, the edge of the future. And I am afraid it's the edge of the world and I'll tumble over it into oblivion. Sometime during this week I had a moment where I realized that there is so much in this world that is finite, that I myself am a finite creature. It was flash of the existentialist sublime. It was terrifying and amazing at the same time. Fear is a curious feeling, too. I can't help feeling like a hobbit carrying a small but vital task into the burning mouth of the Enemy. Last night, I went with Dustin (and the clan) to see Lord of the Rings again. This time we went to a 10:55 PM showing. It's still a little late to start a three hour movie, but I wasn't too tired and could really take in more of the detail. (Spoilers ahead... so don't read the rest of today's entry if you haven't seen the film and don't want to know about it.) To reiterate, I think this adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is amazing and perhaps the best fantasy film to date. The technology has finally caught up with the vision, the scope, and the magic of the story. I hope the success of LOTR will signal a renaissance in the genre. The mise en scene of the film is astounding. Actors, accoutrements, armor, clothing, setting, special effects, sound, and speech are all one neat package. (Though I grew quicky tired of the screaming horses of the Nazgul, the Black Riders.) I cannot imagine the horde of equipment and garb that hides away in some studio vault somewhere; it is a fantasy wargamer's dream. |
The choice to make the presence of Sauron, the Enemy, ever-present, looming, and almost tangible was brilliant. The power of the Ring -- its ability to corrupt those around it -- made the journey dark and perilous. The switch to the wraith-like, ethereal realm of invisibility while Frodo wore the ring is well-imagined; scary, windy, shadowy, and ultimately inhuman. The corruption of poor Bilbo is also a nice touch; he has been too long with the Ring and would go the way of Gollum if not for the intervention of Gandalf. It is details like the world of the Ring or the articulation of the armor or the different styles of fighting each race preferred or the use of Elvish that makes the film a joy. I am a formalist at heart and these little pinions are what the rest of the movie's successes hang upon. Perhaps my favorite detail is when the Fellowship is attempting to cross Caradhras. The humans, dwarf, and hobbits are trudging through the deep snow. However, the light-footed Legolas walks gently across the top of the drifts leaving little trace. It made me smile. The fights, the combats, the armies are wonderful. One of the great weaknesses of most fantasy films is in the fighting. Proficiency in a sword or bow or staff is not a skill readily found. However, with some training and clever photography, fights can be exhilarating and seamless. I was impressed. I was pleased. And finally Legolas proves that an archer can be useful, deadly, and elegant. The last fight with the Uruk-Hai is deeply satisfying (though I'm not too thrilled about the Uruk-Hai themselves). Of course, I love wizards. Ian McKellan is fantastic as Gandalf. And Christopher Lee makes a wicked Saruman. (I would've liked to have met Radagast the Brown, though.) The magic of the film is subtle and befits the spirit of the book. There are very few bells and whistles but you know the power that the wizards or the elves wield is deep and ancient. Cate Blanchett's Galadriel is amazing (just like what I thought elves would be like). I wonder what the director's cut of the film will be like. I know there will be one when the DVD is triumphantly released. I guess that there is probably an hour or an hour and a half of film cut out. The film is a little rushed. Some of the conversations seem too short, too glancing. Characterization is a little hurried, too. For example, the rivalry between Legolas and Gimli and their eventual deep friendship is not developed. Furthermore, in the book, much of the traveling and lingering that the hobbits experience on their journey from the Shire to the golden trees of Lothlorien takes months. However, the film compresses everything. You are never quite sure how long they stay in any one place. It seems they are simply moving to stay just out of reach of the Ringwraiths. Finally, the various choices that must be made as the Fellowship travels is never really explained; it is just assumed they are all heading to Mordor even though there is a great deal of struggle whether to head to Minas Tirith and Gondor or to go to Mount Doom. I am sad that Tom Bombadil did not make it into the film. Though, there is a part of me that thinks that those scenes were in fact made to be released in the director's cut. It would be a wonderful treat. But I understand the need for some brevity. However, Tom Bombadil does bring up one of the main themes of the books -- the Land as character, as a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, and oftimes angry presence. I think it was a subtlety of Middle Earth that isn't in the film. I am not too concerned about the changes they made to the telling of the story. Arwen is made more important (granted Liv Tyler is a big name) and becomes the champion of Frodo and of course the love between her and Aragorn is made slightly more evident. Even the death of Boromir and the capture of Merry and Pippin at the end of the film seems appropriate; it sets up the next film and rounds off the breaking up of the Fellowship. (The deaths of Gandalf and Boromir are both deeply tragic and traumatic... so sad.) All in all, I am impressed and happy at the end product. I cannot wait till The Two Towers is released next year. I was hoping for a preview of the next film. Though, it is speculated that in the current climate after the September 11 attacks, mentioning anything about "two towers" is in poor taste (whatever... I think we carry this erasure of "things" that make us feel "bad" too far... like the editing out of the World Trade Center from the upcoming Spider-man film next year). Go see Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. Don't be afraid of magic. Don't be afraid of balrogs. Don't be afraid of the possibilities. |
journal
© 2001 Edmond Y. Chang. All original material. All rights reserved.
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