As part of this year’s New York Tolkien Conference, attendees got the chance to watch an early screening of the upcoming Tolkien biopic entitled, well, Tolkien. Before I dive into my thoughts on the film, let me first talk about the energy in the movie theater. Since this was part of the NY Tolkien Conference, I was surrounded by fellow nerds (that is said with nothing but love!). On my right sat Marcel Aubron-Bülles the Tolkienist, to my left was John Garth the author of Tolkien and the Great War, and in the row in front of me was the Cory Olsen the Tolkien Professor . This was definitely a crowd of scholars and fans, and I knew we were going to be a tough crowd to please.
Okay, let’s get back to the film.
Regarding the movie, I went into the viewing feeling pretty optimistic. I liked what I had seen so far in promo photos and trailers (except for one thing, but I’ll get to that later) so I was ready to enjoy my time. It had been over a year since I read Humphrey Carpenter’s biography and months since Garth’s book, so I wouldn’t say Tolkien’s life was 100% fresh in my mind but I figured I knew enough.
The movie poster for the film has the tagline: “A Life of Love, Courage & Fellowship,” and I do think that the film encompassed all three of those things. Courage was shown when John and his brother Hilary to navigate life after their mother, Mabel died, as well as when they moved to a new place surrounded by new people. Courage was also shown in World War I. Love was shown between John and his wife Edith, and a close fellowship formed between the members of the T.C.B.S. (Tea Club, Barrovian Society).
The film jumps around a little bit between Tolkien’s younger years with his mother, to moving in with Mrs. Faulkner, his years in academics, and included his time in WWI. Father Francis, a Catholic priest who became John and Hilary’s guardian after Mabel passed, wasn’t in it as much as I thought he’d be. He’s around when John and Hilary move in with Mrs. Faulkner and of course after John and Edith are found out to have been spending a lot of time together. Religion was a big part of Tolkien’s life but it was barely touched upon. I know some people were concerned that Tolkien’s deep Catholic faith would be overlooked in the film.
I found myself rooting for John and Edith’s relationship throughout the film. I obviously knew how everything was going to play out but they were so cute! I’m so happy they found each other. I have to mention the Luthien vibes Edith was giving off! You see a little of that scene in the trailer where Tolkien is laying down while Edith is dancing among trees. The casual viewer wouldn’t know the significance of her dancing but for people familiar with the story of Luthien in The Silmarillion, it’s a nice touch. After all, Edith is the Luthien to John’s Beren.
I did enjoy seeing Tolkien’s friendships evolve into the close bond they all had with each other. In the film, the T.C.B.S. consisted of John Tolkien, Robert Gilson, Geoffrey Bache Smith, and Christopher Wiseman. G.B. Smith quickly became my favorite (Anthony Boyle is an amazing actor!), so I knew I’d feel a lot of pain before the film ended.
There was one thing I wasn’t a big fan of which were all the fantasy hallucinations (I have no idea how else to describe them) that Tolkien “saw” during WWI. Everything from men fighting on horseback, to an actual dragon; it was a lot. And, we can’t forget the Balrog figure that was included in the trailers.
The pacing of the film was a little quick; I’d have loved to see more of Tolkien and Edith after they got married and started a family. However, I really liked the ending of the film. Tolkien is at his desk working, pauses, grabs one of his students’ essays (I think you know where I’m going with this), and turns the page over to write the iconic first sentence of The Hobbit. It doesn’t end there, though. Text appears on screen detailing key moments in Tolkien’s life.
So, all in all, do I recommend this film? Yes. I can see it appealing to people not already familiar with his life and works. Will every Tolkien fan love it? Well, that’s up to the individual person. I can at least say that I think Tolkien will be some people’s gateway into his legendarium, and anything that brings people into this community of ours is a good thing!
