 |
Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers
Director: Peter Jackson (2002)
Distributor: New Line Cinema. Certificate: 12A
It is hard to believe that a year has past since Peter Jackson’s trilogy began. Yet here we are with The Two Towers clocking up the box office receipts. And what a sequel it is! The film quickly picks up the threads of Fellowship of the Ring: Frodo and Sam (Elijah Woods and Sean Astin) continue their quest to cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doom, shadowed by the creature Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis); Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and John Rhys-Davies) are in pursuit of the band of urukai and orcs who have kidnapped Merry and Pippin (Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd). These are the remaining seven of the fellowship of nine, having lost Boromir (Sean Bean) in battle, and Gandalf (Ian McKellan) to the Balrog.
As the dark forces of the Two Towers ~ Sauron at Barad-dur and Saruman (Christopher Lee) at Orthanc ~ mass to wage the war that ‘will cover all the world in shadow’ and rid the world of men, the destruction of the ring becomes increasingly urgent. Frodo and Sam manage to capture Gollum and use him as a guide through Mordor. A creature corrupted by the power of the ring, Gollum was not always the way he is. Once, he was Smeagol and the struggle between these two aspects of his personality is a fascinating strand of the story. The unlikely threesome make their way towards Mount Doom, overcoming various challenges on the way.
|
|
Merry and Pippin manage to escape from their captors and encounter Treebeard and the ancient race of Ents, eventually convincing them of the need to join the battle for Middle-Earth. |
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet up with Gandalf ~ restored after defeating the Balrog ~ who then releases King Theoden of Rohan (Bernard Hill) from the influence of Saruman’s spy Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Gandalf departs to seek reinforcements and Theoden leads his people to the fortress at Helm’s Deep where they make their stand against Saruman’s hordes. Despite having been reinforced by a company of elves this alliance is at the point of being overwhelmed when Gandalf and the Riders of Rohan join the battle and turn the tide. Meanwhile the Ents, enraged by the destruction of the forests by Saruman’s orcs, attack and destroy his stronghold at Isengard, leaving Saruman trapped in the Orthanc Tower.
The battle is won, but the war is far from over as The Two Towers draws to a close. Gandalf warns that the vengeance of Sauron will be terrible, and the fate of the ring is uncertain as Gollum plots to lead Frodo and Sam into a trap and to their deaths.
The Two Towers is another breathtaking spectacle. The scenery is awesome and the special effects are amazing. The battle at Helm’s Deep cannot really be described ~ it has to be seen; and the computer-generated character Gollum is a triumph. There were just a few irritating things in the film. Gimli’s one-liner quips became a little wearing towards the end, and just why Peter Jackson decided to give a broad cockney accent to the orc that tried to kill Merry and Pippin is a complete mystery (unless the orc was Phil Mitchell in disguise). That said, the film is a worthy second instalment. Just a year to go to find out how it all ends.
THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Some key themes: The struggle of conscience; the corrupting nature of power.
One thing that particularly struck me in The Two Towers was the character Gollum and the internal struggle that is going on inside him. On the surface, Gollum is revolting in appearance and behaviour. All that matters to him is recovering the ring that he once found and owned for a while. Even though it was the ring that corrupted and ruined who he once was ~ Smeagol ~ its attraction has not diminished and Gollum is willing to go to any lengths to retrieve it.
However, when Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, slowly another side of Gollum begins to emerge as a result of the compassion that Frodo shows to him. We glimpse something of whom Gollum was before he was snared by the power of the ring. This is portrayed in the series of internal conversations that take place within the Smeagol/Gollum character. He is a tormented soul, with good and evil pulling him in different directions. For a while Smeagol gains the upper hand and his help to Frodo and Sam is genuine. But then, believing that he has been betrayed by his master (Frodo), the Gollum side of his nature returns and banishes Smeagol.
This struggle between good and evil is something with which we can all identify. There are times in life when we are confronted with choices and sometimes we will, even knowingly, make the wrong choice. It is a strange tendency that is part of the human condition. Often, the determining factor is self-interest and self-gain or the opportunity to ‘get one over’ on someone and perhaps a continuing awareness of this is the key to overcoming the attraction of the things that are life-diminishing ~ for ourselves as well as for others.
In his letter to the Romans (chapter 7, verses 7-25), Paul highlights the internal struggle that goes on in each and every one of us. The temptation to do one thing even when knowing that another course of action should be taken is summed up as follows:
“The good which I want to do, I fail to do; buy what I do is the wrong which is against my will; and if what I do is against my will, clearly it is no longer I who am the agent, but sin that is dwelling in me . . . Wretched creature that I am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death? Who but God? Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (Revised English Bible).
The tendency to do evil will not automatically triumph if we remain open to the power of God at work in us. By keeping our focus on the person of Jesus and our hearts and minds attuned to the presence of his risen life we can find the strength to choose what is right. In living Christ-centred lives we will also be a power for good, influencing the lives of others towards life-enhancing rather than life-diminishing choices. It was interesting to see how in The Two Towers it was Smeagol’s experience of betrayal that resulted in his evil side (Gollum) coming out on top. Prior to that, Frodo’s compassion had been making a real impact for good. What lesson might there be in that particular strand of The Two Towers story, both in our personal lives and in our dealings with others?
To discuss this further why not leave a message of the discussion forum.
