Tuesday, October 19, 2004

"Last Debate" re-write

In anticipation of the December 14 release of the extended edition of Peter Jackson's The Return of the King, I have engaged in an exercise of futility, namely, I have re-written the screenplay for one of the crucial scenes in the movie. I confess I was really disappointed with how this scene was handled, though I understand their desire to keep it as brief as possible. (Personally, I could have saved time by cutting the stupid "Arwen is dying" plotline, and a few other things.) Anyway, in terms of dialogue this is one of Tolkien's very best efforts, and I was sorry to see the writers weren't a little more faithful. Here's my version:

SCENE: The throne room of Gondor. GANDALF, ARAGORN, EOMER, LEGOLAS, GIMLI and other MEN.

GANDALF
My lords. Though we have achieved victory on the fields of the Pelennor, a great and terrible choice remains before us. Our strength barely sufficed to beat off the first great assault; the next will be greater. This war, then, is without hope. Victory cannot be achieved by arms, whether you sit here and await another siege or march out to be overwhelmed beyond the river. You have only a choice of evils. Prudence would counsel you retire to such strong places as you have, and there await the onset. So shall your time before the end be made a little longer.

EOMER
Then you would have us retreat like children to Minas Tirith or Edoras, there to sit like sandcastles awaiting the tide?

GANDALF
No. I said that would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence. For we must still consider the fate of the One Ring. If Sauron regains it, his victory will be swift and complete, and all your valour would be in vain. If it is destroyed, he will fall, and his fall will be so low that he will never arise again.

GIMLI
But we have not the Ring; it has gone beyond our reach.

GANDALF
Sauron does not know that; he knows only that it has been found. He may suspect that we still possess it, for we have among us some with strength enough to wield it. He fears yet the heir of Isildur.

EOMER
But why would he not think it vain to assail us, if we possessed the Ring?

GANDALF
Doubt clouds his mind, and he will not risk waiting until his enemies have gathered strength. The powers of the Ring cannot be mastered in a single day, and it can only be used by one master alone. He would look for a time of strife among us, one when seizes the power.

LEGOLAS

So what is to be done?

GANDALF
We must call out Sauron’s hidden strength, force him to empty his lands. We must march out and meet him. We will make ourselves the bait, which he will take in hope and greed, for in such boldness he will think he sees the pride of the new Ringlord. He will concentrate all his power on our assault to crush us once and for all, and his eye will be blind to any other movement.

LEGOLAS
A diversion.

GANDALF
We must walk open-eyed into this trap. It may well prove that we shall perish utterly in a black battle, and yet I deem this our duty. Better to fall in valour at the very gates of Mordor than to perish here, as we surely shall, and know that no new age shall ever be.

ARAGORN
As I have begun, so will I go on. To waver is to fall. Let none reject the counsel of Gandalf.

GIMLI
Small chance of victory…certainty of death…what are we waiting for?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you're a special kind of crazy. smooch.
-jon