★★★
The formative years of the orphaned author J.R.R. Tolkien as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school.
Classification: 12A
A biopic that focuses more on the man rather than his most famous achievements, Tolkien doesn’t indulge in the Lord of the Rings mythos too much and allows Nicholas Hoult to deliver an engaging performance as the eponymous writer. Strong visuals, performances and an incredible score from Thomas Newman make for a fascinating film even if the Tolkien estate has disavowed its historical accuracy. Dome Karukoski’s direction of the connections within the film, the love of friendship and the unexplainable love people can have for one another elevates the film from just being a series of Middle Earth references and easter eggs.
The script’s structure has less than subtle allusions to Tolkien’s literary work but it is in these performances that make this film stand apart. A group of four friends may seem like an allegory for the four hobbits but through the charisma of the actors, their fears and hopes and challenges that drive them are their own. Tolkien’s love for Edith Bratt (Lily Collins) can clearly be seen as the inspiration for Aragorn and Arwen from Lord of the Rings, the foreknowledge of what these moments will lead to makes their most private moments even more magical. Collins’s performance is endearing with her humanity is laid bare, her chemistry with Hoult being so captivating that you can easily believe Tolkien regarded her as an elven princess.
The weakest element of Tolkien is when it goes full fantasy, with the majority of the story creating realistic moments within his life that could serve as inspiration it is jarring when a fevered Tolkien witnesses a dragon breathing fire across the trenches of the Somme. The narrative arc across the majority of the film is Tolkien travelling through the trenches during World War I, funnily enough with a companion named Sam. Tolkien’s trench fever has him hallucinate various imagery that would become famous in his fantasy novels and this is when the film falters with its storytelling. Tolkien, for the most part, teases its references, like a soldier named Sam, a hint of a drawing or a name in a notebook. My personal favourite being when Tolkien takes Edith Bratt to an opera about a magic ring, these moments are sparse and offers an extra treat for the audience. With the trench sequences, it feels that the film really needed to make sure you knew where Tolkien got some of his ideas basically screaming “LOOK THERE’S SMAUG” “LOOK THERE’S SAURON!” “HE WROTE LORD OF THE RINGS!”.
That’s not to say those sequences aren’t powerful and capture the horror of World War I, the image of Tolkien laying in a pool of blood surrounded by dead soldiers was a chilling standout. These fantastical moments just seemed to distract from Tolkien’s goals in those scenes which were searching for his childhood friend. Mentioned before but should be mentioned many more times, the score of Tolkien is incredible, capturing a sense of adventure and love that feels almost timeless. It enhances the moments between Hoult and Collins and makes the camaraderie between Tolkien’s friends so much more bittersweet. Tolkien boasts an impressive production design as well, with the juxtaposition of academia and warfare highlighted with impressive visuals from cinematographer Lasse Frank Johannessen.
Derek Jacobi’s professor character utters a line “Language never steals, it borrows, it influences” and that notion carries over into Tolkien. How much of this film is accurate I do not know, but it tells, for the most part, a strong coming of age story filled with both love and tragedy. You can believe that the journey Tolkien takes in this film will lead him to write one of the greatest journeys of all time, the issue lies in the execution of the film's climax and aftermath. In the end, Tolkien doesn’t balance out these influence as well as it could with the personal and fantastical allegories never reaching narrative harmony. These negative shouldn’t outweigh the positives however as Tolkien is still an enjoyable glimpse into the life of the acclaimed author.
Director: #DomeKarukoski
Release Date: May 3rd 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
Comments