I have a few interesting topics to bring up, regarding Arwen's role in FOTR.
Remember in FOTR when Arwen finds wounded Frodo, Strider, Sam, Merry, and Pippen in the woods at night...The nazgul are chasing them, and she arives, and tells Strider that she's been searching for TWO days????? but no explanation is given, as to why she had been searching, and why she even set out in the first place...We KNOW in the book that Glorfindell is supposed to find them, and hang out with them for a while, and then help them. But why has Arwen been looking for Strider and Frodo for two days? How did she know they needed help??(plot hole, or elven instinctand WHY is it HER in the films, instead of Glorfindel? why is glorfindel overlooked completly??
how about some Logical reasons they replaced Glorfy with Arwen???
I understand they wanted arwen to be in the film more, but it still leaves some more questions...unanswered....
Elven instinct or a plot hole are the only explanations I can conjure up.
Arwen replaces Glorfindel for three reasons, as far as I can tell.
First of all, this is a movie. You can't have a zillion characters running around, and expect people to remember each and every one of them. There are time-constraints as well. If Jackson were to stick in Glorfindel, and then proceed to setting up the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen, that would have taken ages.
Second of all, you can't catch a single glimpse of Arwen in Rivendell in the first film, and then, two years later, suddenly have the same chick marrying Aragorn out of the blue. Neither does the sort of narrative subtlety that characterizes Aragorn's longing for Arwen in the book exactly work in a cinematic medium. All these questions of pacing come up. And frankly, I can't picture modern audiences getting particularly excited over a relationship that was to be developed in the exact manner that it is in the book. It wouldn't come across as exciting, or tender, or even meaningful. It would mostly be like, "Um, what? Why is he going for the boring Elf chick when Eowyn is such hot stuff?" Once again, because cinema works differently.
Third of all, Liv Tyler looks hot on a horse. Just being honest with that. Period.
I was actually pretty satisfied with the way Arwen was portrayed in the first film. Seeing her being chased by the Nazgul was something. And I thought the kissing scene on the bridge worked. I thought it had just the right amount of melodrama and mystic. Not to mention the great background music.
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Last edited by shadowy_blue on Nov 28th, 2004 at 05:51 AM
due to my lack of interest in Arwen I cant answer this question very good. SB is right about the audiences going "what the....". If you ask for Glorfindel in it you might as well ask all the other people who wasnt in the movies but were quite neccessary in the book
Discos - and we sure aint going into that again.
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"In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom."
Yes, I think your right, Many other characters were not included in the movies. I do like, however when characters say other character's lines...e.g. Treebeard saying Tom's lines...ect...
Introducing Glorfindell...may be unneccesary, and may help build arwen up a little...(as s-b said)...and I'm fine with how it came out...but I do miss glorfindell...in the movie.
ok guys thia is turning into a column out of one of my favourite "adult education" magazines.
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"In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom."
Yes, that could be it. I can really see it in my mind now...Arwen, after hearing that the nazgul are after Strider, Begs her father to go search for him, but elrond resists her saying it's to dangerous, I will not risk my daughter, do you not also have MY love, ect...But she leaves anyway, and saves the day.
but wait, that kinda sounds like eowyn
Don't forget her words to Strider:"I'm the better rider"
she's probably very experienced with riding and tracking(haning out with Strider so long...) and she knows her father will protect her....So her father could have let her go, but It still seems unlikely that her father would let her go, after seeing the two towers.
Another thing I would like to point out...is that Sam says, they were six(I think) days from Rivendell, they'll never make it. But Arwen rides with Frodo to Rivendell in just one night...At least it appears to be just one night...She must be a very good rider.
mmm....very very good points their Smodden, you are bafflin me with these questions lol.
right heres my 2 cent worth. I say Arwen's horse (who really did have a bigger party in the books i think) must of been really really fast and since she is a good rider ect. PLUS she was being chased by the Nazgul, that causes for some extra "nos" into the horse power
second, I have no idea why Arwen went searching for them, I wouldnt think anyone in Rivendell knew they were "out there"? I havnt checked up on the book in quite a while, gwaihir may have reported in or something else?
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"In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom."
From my limited understanding of LOTR Arwen was but prize for Aragorn to be given by Elrond once he'd returned as king, liberated Gondor and defeated the armies of Mordor leaving the Dark Lord all but overthrown (no where near as cool as Luthien).
Their love I feel was more than adequately symbolized in the movie what with the 'gift' that Aragorn bore and the denial of Eowyn etc... so showing up unexpectedly, replacing an elf lord and robbing Frodo of his power in his defiance of the will of the nine riders at the ford seems totally unnecessary.
But then again, who knows...perhaps the movie would have been even better if Arwen had done even more..? Slayed the balrog instead of Gandalf, why not? Taken the ring into mordor? It could happen.. I mean if you're going to make ridiculous changes that can be justified with speculation...why stop there?
I do understand changing subject matter to suit the medium, but this change just seemed totally worthless and has annoyed me for a long time.
I'm just glad there is a place where finally I can vent my frustration.
Not here...I mean when I torch PJ's (and possibly Fran Walsh's) house/s for tampering with a masterpiece. mwhuhahaha