Of course, Jackson’s Faramir has little or no resemblence to Tolkien’s Faramir. And I think most of us agree that his character is a flaw in an otherwise great film.
But I think another change in ROTK can make Jackson’s Faramir acceptable, if we’re willing to look at the whole trilogy as one megafilm. If Faramir is not saved from Denethor’s pyre…
I would of course want to see all of the tension between Faramir and Denethor. This tension should reveal the crucial difference between Faramir and Boromir, which made Faramir repent in Osgiliath.
Denethor doesn’t execute him, but he does send Faramir on a mission where he’s not expected to return (pretty much as in the book). Faramir comes back with a morgul wound (IIRC, as in the book again). But when Faramir is placed on the pyre, his own death sentence comes to pass.
I’d have preferred that Faramir be more like the wise and just character from the book, but I’d find this approach acceptable too as moviemaking.
IMHO, just the fact that Faramir is able to perceive the truth and resist the temptation of the ring and let Frodo go, even if it’s not as JRRT wrote it, preserves his essential nature. I’ve no real problem at all with this part of the movie.
Why the tears for Haldir? Now he gets an express ticket to the Halls, and he doesn’t have to put up with the turbulence of those darn ships. Plus, he got a chance to kill some more orcs - always a big bonus.
Yeah, but he’ll just be hanging in Mandos, with all those other dead, depressing guys like Feanor and Eol. He’ll be on the waiting list to get reborn so he can roam around Valinor, but even if he gets reborn (the elven birthrate’s a lot lower than it used to be, even in the blessed realm), he’ll have to go thru the diaper stage, elven adolescence, the whole nine yards.
Oh, that depends on which version of Elven re-embodiement you decide to go with: Tolkien’s early conception where all Elves are reborn as children, or his later one where the Valar rebuild each Elf an exact replica of his/her old body. The latter allows for Haldir’s re-embodiement as an adult.
Well, just speaking of my 'druthers here, or what I’d say if I were brainstorming with PJ… I never thought the romance between Eowyn and Faramir added too much of anything. I wouldn’t be much bothered, either, if Eowyn ended up a spinster…
I’d rather they kept the scene with Pippin… maybe Aragorn gets back from the battle early enough to revive Merry, but not Faramir. Tough sell for a hero to fail in a movie, but I don’t think that’s out of keeping with Tolkien’s spirit.
Would be astonished if it plays out anything like that, tho.
A generalized agree with this Faramir thing. Frankly it did not serve the film in any way that I can see. Ditch that 10 minutes of Osgiliath nonsense and give us a bit more Treebeard/Merry/Pippin exchange or a bit more drama in the midst of Helm’s Deep carnage.
Faramir is supposed to remind us of Gandalf and/or Aragorn…the Numenorian part of his heritage is supposed to shine through. Now I don’t really see how that degree of ‘Nobility’ would in any way have been harmful to the story and would only help make the circumstances of the confrontation with Denethor that much more poignant and heartbreaking. Alas.
I’m with everyone else in general – when Faramir confronts Frodo in the waterfall-cave and says, “Now we shall see what Faramir is made of” (or whatever he says), he should have resisted the ring then. Pulling Frodo to Osgiliath (I assume) is annoying; having Sam blurt out “The ring drove Boromir mad!” in front of all the soldiers is fatal – the mission of the ring-bearer is supposed to be SECRET, for cryin’ out loud.
Having said that, I think I understand WHY Jackson wanted to do that. He wanted to show the depth of Faramir’s temptation, and make the resistance more visually dramatic. So, in theory, we see Faramir watch Frodo tempted by the ring, and Faramir understands the evil of the ring and thus changes his mind and sends Frodo off.
So, I think that’s the reason, but I think it fails in the execution.
Other than Faramir, my other nit witht he movie is the Ents, Fangorn was wise enough by far to know what was going to happen. It was more inertia than anything else that kept the other ents from doing anything, but they had already been roused somewhat by the time Fangorn met Merry and Pippin.
