The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring is the most complete film of the trilogy and is the bedrock on which the final two volumes rest

I’ve always noticed in watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy that the death of any person at the hands of the army of Mordor hurts more than in any other film. Other movies show soldiers dying all the time and it has little effect on the audience (perhaps itself a damning fact concerning the de-sensitization of film-goers). But in LOTR, every bell tolls for thee. I think this is because Fellowship so beautifully shows us the world as it was before it fell under the threat of evil. The viewer sees the value of life and Middle Earth and knows that that goodness is worth fighting for, whatever the cost. In this way, Fellowship becomes one of the greatest symbols of life before and after World War I, the war to end all wars (or so they thought at the time). Our world lost its innocence in a futile struggle across lands made barren by bullet and shell. Still, we carried on, hoping for bigger and brighter days while remembering all that was lost, treasuring what remained all the more for it.

Fellowship creates a longing for simplicity, a desire that will sustain the viewer until the fellowship finally comes to its end on the shores of the west.