National Geographic: Beyond the Movie - The Lord of the Rings (2001) (TV)

Director:

Lisa Kors

Writers:

Kathleen Phelan (writer)
J.R.R. Tolkien (characters)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A look at the background for Tolkien's mythology, hence the movie's mythology.

Plot Keywords:

Tolkien | Interview | Making Of | Middle Earth | New Zealand

Cast

Phil Crowley	...	Narrator
John Howe	...	Himself / Conceptual Designer of LOTR
Peter McHugh	...	Additional Voices
Oliver Muirhead	...	Additional Voices
Alan Lee	...	Himself / Conceptual Designer of LOTR
Billy Boyd	...	Himself / Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
Dominic Monaghan	...	Himself / Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck
Sean Astin	...	Himself / Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee
Christopher Lee	...	Himself / Saruman the White
John Garth	...	Himself / Tolkien Historian
Martin Carver	...	Himself (Archeologist) (as Martin Carver, PhD)
Richard Taylor	...	Himself (Director, Weta Workshop)
Orlando Bloom	...	Himself
Cate Blanchett	...	Herself / Galadriel, Lady of the Galadhrim
Pekka Huttu-Hiltunen	...	Himself (Music Instructor)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Sarehole, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK

Company:

Arden Entertainment

Movie Connections:

References The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Some suprises here

Like the books themselves, and then the film, this background to J.R.R.Tolkien's tale is a bit better than expected. There is a little bit more to the background of the trilogy than one might expect, as Mr Tolkien lived a somewhat unusual life.

Even though he repeatedly denied it, literary experts have found parallels to things he experienced in his life, and the tale of the Ring. He was involved in the Battle of the Somme in World War 1, where he lost many of his closest friends. He got trench fever. His sons fought in World War 11, and he disliked intensely the bleak industrialism which spread across the countryside he grew up in. He was much drawn to Finnish and Anglo-Saxon sagas, and wished to write about the forgotten Anglo-Saxon tales from before William the Conqueror's invasion of old England in 1066.

There was little doubt his sensitive soul was much affected by the horrible trench conditions of World War 1, the repeat of such in World War 11, and the industrial 'poisoning' of the beautiful countryside which he called home.

The documentary is delicately done, with the historical background a bit of an eye opener.