While at Cannes, a lot of questions were answered concerning a wide variety of subjects. One of the more interesting pieces of information that came to light was the Stuart Townsend drama.
Let me give a quick background. Stuart was cast in the role of Aragorn but departed the production a mere 3 days after filming started. Initial reports through our spies had suggested that Stuart was hard to work with and there was a lot of friction on the set.
So why was Stuart replaced?
Well, at the Press Conference last friday, Peter Jackson spoke a bit about the situation. As it turns out, Stuart is an extraordinary actor. Jackson and others were impressed with his abilities, however as time moved on, it became apparent that he was too young for the role. As Peter put it, even Stuart, a big fan of the books, insisted he was too young for the role.
When Viggo Mortensen was cast, both Peter Jackson and Barrie Osborne gave the news to Stuart. They parted on good terms and in agreement.
So basically, Stuart was too young. There was no tension or friction between Townsend and Jackson as was previously reported.
PJ did go on to say that the day Viggo joined the team must have been fate, because there could not have been a better person cast in the role. He is Aragorn.
NZ’s TV show “Holmes” showed a few minutes of interviews in Cannes, including one with Peter Jackson and some of the cast. There’s almost-clear shots of the Cannes party set-up with actors and musicians. Go here and look in the archive for May 14.
The sound kind of goes splah in the last minutes, but thanks to Ringer spy Nigel we have a transcript of the last part:
“Reporter: Its said you’ve made the biggest film project ever. How big is big?
Peter Jackson: Well it is the biggest ever. I mean really its 3 movies which is obviously one of the factors. But its 15 months of shooting continuously, nobody has ever shot a movie for 15 months before.
Reporter: This is a huge step, would you have ever dreamt when you were making all those splatter movies like Braindead that one day you would be producing something like this?
Peter Jackson: No. I’m just very lucky because I’m doing what I want to do. Everyday that I’m working on this project I just feel incredibly lucky.
Reporter: You’re a happy man?
Peter Jackson: Yeah. I love directing movies and I’m directing Lord of the Rings. Its the ultimate.
[Cut to Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom]
Reporter: Liv when they told you were gonna make a blockbuster right at the bottom of the world what was your reaction?
Liv Tyler: I think that more than even anything was my first kind of *high sigh* cause I was incredibly excited about the project and I didn’t have any concerns about being away from my career for a year. But personally being away from my family and stuff I just thought ‘oh my god can I handle that?’ you know. But it was great and I did and I just thought ‘you know what? It’s a year out of my life and I can handle it,’ and it was such a beautiful wonderful place and I tended to get home sick something the boys didn’t as much as me..
Orlando Bloom: We made the most of the surf and bungie, and skydiving.
Reporter: What was Peter like to work with Liv?
Liv Tyler: Peter’s amazing. He cares so much about this book and about this story. I think he’s a Hobbit but there is some part of each character inside of him and I could really see it come alive, his imagination is enormous and just full of so much passion for the project.
[Cut to Sean Aston] Peter Jackson is a great actor . He could do the hobbits to us and I could see him turn and do Aragorn, do the human hero and he changed! I learned a lot about acting just watching him direct.
[Cut to Sir Ian Holme] In a word genius. Forthright, patient, focussed ..a kiwi.
[Cut to Sir Ian McKellan and Christopher Lee]
Sir Ian McKellan: I’ve never worked with a director who has only one pair of shoes *laughter* and doesn’t wear them very often.
Christopher Lee: I’ve never worked with a director myself, for the first time 2 days ago wearing long trousers *more laughter*
[Cut to Dominic Monaghen] We’re all hoping that Peter will now be recognized as one of the greatest film makers alive today and that he will be given the opportunity to make the movies that he wants to make.”
I dreamt last night I was in Middle-earth. I visited Bilbo in Bag End and watched as hobbits celebrated his 111th birthday. I stood before the bar in the town of Bree. I saw riding Nazgul and Orcs in full armour. I saw Men of Gondor standing guard to the gates of Minas Tirith. I walked through the Golden Hall and knelt before the thrown of Theoden. I WAS in Middle-earth. Or so it seems. When I wake from these kinds of dreams, I can usually only remember bits and pieces. For your sake, I will try and relate the events, people, and atmosphere of this dream for all to understand.
The dream begins…
Here I am walking up a cobblestone hill with three of my good friends, Amy, Leo, and Maurice. The sounds of music intermingle with the ear-piercing shrills of a Nazgul in the distance. Leo and Maurice run ahead to talk to some fellow Dutchman, as Amy and I continue up the hill lined with candles. In the haziness ahead, I can make out two giagantic horses with riders dressed in dark black robes. As we get closer, I realize that the Nazgul are approaching us. You haven’t really felt fear until you stare down the nose of a Nazgul’s black steed in full armour. Surpisingly, Amy reaches out and touches this foul beast. We continue on.
Ahead is a bluish light illuminating a gazebo, masterfully hand carved. Inside are two elves, dancing and singing merily to a haunting theme. The lights of the candles dance wildly with the movement of the elves.
Leo and Maurice catch up to us again as we near a gate. Nothing exceptionally special about this gate except the eight or ten strongmen surrounding it. Beyond the gate, we can see a horde of cameras and reporters that seem trapped behind a fence. As we pass through the gate, by benefit of our medallions, the magic really begins.
A red carpet, scattered with rose petals, is laid at our feet. On a hill to our left is a castle. At its gates are two Men of Gondor with pikes double their size. They are dressed in full armour with an emblem of a white tree on their chest. Their helms have plumes of white sprouting out from boths sides of their head. As we look closer, the same emblem seen on the warriors, adorns the castle wall.
To our right is a sea of reporters and tv crews. One by one they pull Samwise and Boromir and others into their web of questions. Behind the sea are a few hobbit holes with rather unique signs on the doors. One looks like a universal symbol for a man, the other, looks to be the universal symbol for woman. Indeed, these are the bathrooms!
As we walk over the carpet, we immediately are greeted by two hobbits inviting us into what looks to be Bag End. These hobbits, with rather realistic looking hairy feet and traditional old english dress, request we duck down as we enter this subterreanian home.
But right before we enter through the round door of the Baggin’s household, guess who comes out the front door! Gandalf himeself! Gandalf was very well dressed, not in his typical costume, and rather happy to be at a party. He was kind enough to talk a few minutes with us and compliment TheOneRing.net. I made doubly sure, that he knew, we ‘the fans’ loved what we saw of the screening.
We said our pleasant goodbyes and entered Bag End. As I look up and around, I see the same hobbit hole that I had seen days earlier in movie footage. Here is the chandelier where Gandalf bumps his head. Oh, look, there is the map from the Hobbit! And yes, of course there are pipes and presents and many other hobbit like things in this hole. This is definitely Bilbo Baggins’ home, but where is he? I was quite surprised when Aragorn walked down the hall with as much interest as I had for this place. We all followed him out the back entrance and were immediately greeted by…
A Troll! It was one of the Trolls that had been turned to stone by the sun so many years ago after attempting to eat Bilbo and company. This hideous creature had one arm resting while the other seemed to be reaching out towards us. Two more hobbits where camping in front of this aboinmation, as if they were tempting fate. It also could have been a result of the fully stocked bar that just so happened to be right next to them.
After escaping the view of the Troll, we walked through a small hobbit market with food and wares for all to enjoy. At the end of this market were stairs to what looked like a hazy pond. The blue glow and the haze made it hard to see what was below, so we decided to descend the staircase and have a look for ourselves.
Behold! Elves were singing and dancing around another gazebo. An arcade of simliar hand crafted construction was on one side of a pool that stretches the entire area. In this pool, you could see the Lady Galadriel’s swan ship floating softly on the water. While Galadriel was not there herself, the ten or so elves more then covered the required atmosphere. At the far end of the pool was a cookery where roast pig, salmon and fish were cooked for all to have. And of course, another bar.
As we climbed out, of what was Rivendell and Lothlorien at the same time, we ran smack into Saruman himself. The man was intimidating and had a large group of people around him. We tried to sneak into the conversation, but failed miserably, as the crowd was too big. The tone and demenor of this man was too attractive for anyone to resist. He managed to demand your gaze and attention with much ease, and we could see how a multi-colored wizard could cause some problems. Thanks to Amy, who wanted to look around more, we managed to pull away and continue on.
We walked passed a live band playing Frank Sinatra and proceeded to near the original entrance. We must have missed these fellows before, but now, standing directly on the side of the castle, were 3 fully garbed orcs. They were VERY ugly. The armour they wore looked extremely disorganized and disheveled, but definitely functional. I approached one and asked if I could touch his shirt. He obliged. I was happy to see that this armour was in fact rubbery to the touch and probably could not withstand a blow from a Gondorian pike.
The orcs were standing next to two sets of pillars. The first set had four sides, each with a vulture skeleton at the top, hideous claws in the middle, and deep gauges at the base. The second set was much more intimidating, with an evil creature’s foul face protruding from the front. The chin jutted out with an wicked gotee, and horns adorned its head. We quickly moved away from this area.
Now it was time to enter Minas Tirith and see what treasures were held inside. As we passed by the two Gondorian guards, I could swear one of them grunted something in French, but I wasn’t sure.
In the main hall were two large cases and a series of chairs, each with a framed image above. As it looked, everyone from Lord of the Rings was pictured above these chairs in beautifully photographed poses. The cases held treasures of middle-earth that anybody would love to get their hands on. There was a Wraith’s blade, Galadriel’s vial, Haldir’s sword, and Gandalf’s staff, just to name a few. Many people crowded around these cases staring at the craftmanship and detail these objects displayed.
Four very well armoured men guarded the next room. To our surprise, we were standing in the Golden Hall! You ask, How can we tell? Intricately designed and decorated horses adorned everything, from horse framed paintings to horse heads atop the room’s pillars. Even the armour of the men in this room had the horse image on it. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the front of the hall where shields and swords surrounded an imposing throne. While Theoden was not seated in the thrown himself, there were two long haired bearded men standing guard at its sides. This time, when I asked to feel the armour, it was real. The chain metal skirt that they wore undearneath the breastplate would be useful in battle. The orcs don’t have a chance.
We exited the great hall and found ourselves in a small courtyard. This area was also decorated with colorful banners and flags, but from what looked to be places all over middle-earth. We stopped at the bar here to get some wine, and moved on down a very unstable cobbelstone walkway that wrapped around the back of the castle. And voila, we were back near the band.
It was at this point, that we finally decided to get something to eat. The roast pig, fish, fresh side dishes, and drink were just too much to resist. To avoid the lines, we travelled back down to Rivendell and Lothlorien to join the shorter lines. I feasted on skewered lamb shesh-ka-bob , scalloped potatoes, and some bread, while Amy ate salmon shese-ka-bob. We both drank some fine wine. Leo and Maurice also shared in the food and we all sat near the arcade of Rivendell.
What happened next is unclear. All at once, I was overcome by a sense that something great was near us. Something that could control the vision and style of middle-earth with a stroke of his hand, and there he was, John Howe. Leo had interviewd Mr. Howe at a conference in the Netherlends, but nothing had prepared us for meeting one of the great Tolkien artists ever, here, in Middle-earth. Equipped with an ‘eye of sauron’ pin and his sketchpad, we politely called out his name and said Hello. John was a great person and very fun to talk to. He loved the footage we had seen as much as we did, and couldn’t wait to see the rest. I mentioned how the Balrog seemed to be similar to the one he drew for the recent board game, and he nodded. He expressed his honor in seeing his creations on paper come to life on the big screen. After talking with John, and finishing our meals, we decided to head back to the castle to look around more.
Just as we walked through the front gates of Minas Tirith again, guess who we saw! Bilbo Baggins and his daughter! Bilbo was much shorter then I had imagined, but seemed genuinely happy to be at this occasion. After all, there was a huge sign hanging on a wall outside wishing him Happy Birthday! He was very pleasant, but had never seen TheOneRing.net. His daughter had, however, and we talked briefly about how wonderful his work was in the footage, and how we can’t wait to see the final product.
We moved again into the courtyard…
——-
Thus ends part one of my Middle-earth dream. The next installment involves meeting a bunch of people from Middle-earth, the visionary behind the entire process, and a wonderful time with the dwarf that the whole movie is based on. Gimli of course. (Or so he likes to say!)
Calisuri
Calisuri called me a few times during the LOTR party, literally…I think he wanted to taunt me.
He called to tell us all about the experience of being there! He said that there was a full Hobbit hole set re-constructed! walk past that and there were Dark Riders! mounted! Actual horses and swords and everything! He also said there were massive pillars with bird-like skeletal features on them.
He mentioned that many many people were walking around in costune, hobbits and orcs and all types of men from different lands. He tried to make the Men of Gondor and a band of Orcs fight, but they weren’t into it (I do think the champagne was free and flowing quite a bit…if only you could hear his excitement).
He spoke with many LOTR cast and crew members, including Clair Raskind, Richard Taylor, PJ, and more. He said there were fireworks going off outside the castle and everyone was having a marvelous time!
He will have something up for you to read soon.
