Books to Movies: The Arkenstone & Getting Characters from Point A to Point B

The Arkenstone

 

Smaug: "I am almost tempted to let you 

take it." Bilbo remembers Smaug's words.

In "Not At Home," Bilbo finds the Arkenstone. It is an interesting example of how books and movies differ. The book can mention the Arkenstone relatively late--it comes up in the Lonely Mountain chapters--but Jackson was absolutely right to start mentioning the Arkenstone far earlier. In the book, it is simply a treasure Thorin values and connects to the Mountain. In the movie, it is a signal of leadership. 

 

The politics of Thorin reclaiming his heritage dovetail with Saruman's dismissal of Gandalf's fears, Thranduil's cynical isolationism, and Bard's ancestry as well as, on the bad guy side, the Master's greed and Lake-Town's police state, Azog's desire for revenge and the Necromancer's call to the Nine. That is, there is a consistent issue (implied in the book and used directly by Jackson) of determining how the social order should function. Who is in charge? Why? How? For what reason? What will be the outcome? 

 

"A Thief in the Night"

 

The decision that Bilbo makes regarding the Arkenstone receives equal weight in movie and book. However, I wish the movie had spent more time on Bilbo's actual departure from the Mountain.

 

Bilbo scaling the wall.

There's a strange issue here--how much time a writer or director should spend moving people from point A to point B. Too much "then they walked down the street and turned the corner and waited at the light" smacks of letters my mom used to write about all the chores she completed and neighbors she spoke to and errands she ran, as if her letters were a diary. (Uh, Mom, who are these people?)

 

Too little "show," however, and it seems like characters just magically transported themselves from, say, Maine to New York. (Driving never takes as long as it should on shows like Bones.) House famously had its doctors walk around hospital corridors as they spouted off dialog: they're moving from points A to B and moving the plot forward!

 

Tolkien was very aware of distances and never makes mistakes in terms of how long a journey would actually take. In fact, during a recent rereading of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I noted how scrupulously he maintains points on the compass (without being overly and tediously committed to the equivalent of railway times tables). He details exactly how Bilbo gets away from the Mountain and how he is taken in by Elvish guards. 

 

In the movie, Bilbo shows up suddenly at Thranduil's tent.

 

He then produces one of my favorite moments in the trilogy--and another of those moments that highlight Freeman's everyman ability to respond in very human ways to dramatic moments.

 

After all, that particular scene is occupied by McKellen, Pace, and Evans effortlessly acting at the top of their game. And here is the amazing Martin Freeman, saying, "Er, yeees." 

 

I suppose by shortening how long it takes Bilbo to get to the tent, Jackson was leaving more time for the battle scenes and...he didn't need to. I find those scenes mostly tedious.

 

To be continued...