Re: Will a film of the Silmarion be made?

On 3 Dec 2003 19:16:05 GMT, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> For Beren and Luthien a lot of the backstory really is not that
> relevant.  There is a bad guy in the north, and he has a treasure
> that he stole from the Elves.  That is all you really need to
> know about Morgoth and the Silmarills.  Beren is human, Luthien
> is an elf, and Thingol is a jealous and protective father with an
> eye for nice jewelry.  That is all very straightforward.  Melian
> being a Maia is not really that important, and would not really
> need any explanation anyway.   Sauron is just one of the bad guys,
> the sons of Feanor are just some jerks (explaining their connection
> to the Silmarills may be more trouble than its worth), and Finrod
> is a good guy indebted to Beren's father.  Lots of action and
> magic, giant wolves, a central love story, prominent female characters,
> and an ultimately happy ending : Beren and Luthien are alive,
> they have the Silmaril, and everybody is happy.

I agree completely that Beren and Luthien is by far the most easily filmed,
and constitutes the most self-contained portion of the Silmarillion.

Still, I think one could do the Turin saga.  It doesn't rely much more
heavily on the backstory than does Beren and Luthien.  Turin is also a good
modern anti-hero.  The only big issue with the Turin saga is the incest,
which might make some audiences go "Woh!".  I don't know if modern audiences
could get past that, though it was really no fault of Hurin's children.

But the more I think about it, the more I think the Akkabeleth, or at least
the portion from Ar-Pharazon's rise to power to the Last Alliance, might
itself make a very good film.  Unlike LotR, the Akkabeleth is more of an
brief historical survey than an out-and-out narrative.  Thus, as long as the
script-writers and director didn't muck with the basic outline, they'd have
a lot more freedom.  Plus it would tie in very well with the LotR films,
filling out the backstory.

-- 
Aaron Clausen

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