Adapting your Book: The Fellowship of the Ring

In my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring there are almost 400 pages to describe the first step to Frodo’s epic journey. For the most part there is no way that a 2+ hour movie can fully describe a 400 page book. Filmmakers would have a difficult time adapting this into a movie due to the mountains of detail, inner thoughts, and subplots they would have to sift through to decide what they want to incorporate or throw out.

I have almost made it to chapter five and already I have begun to notice something’s that would have to be cut down or cut out completely in order to keep the movie exciting and fast paced. First and for most, the years Frodo spends in the Shire after Bilbo leaves will have to be either removed or cut out. It would take up too much time and bore the audience. I personally wouldn’t mind that change, that entire part of the novel was hard to read and extremely boring with little or no importance to the rest of the novel.

Next, the time Frodo spends traveling from the Shire to his new home in Bucklebury would have to be cut down to more than half of the actual time. This would exclude the breaks they took and some of the side characters they meet on the way. This is slightly upsetting to me because for the first time in the book things are finally starting to pick up. Things are getting interesting and exciting! But when you are watching the movie you wouldn’t feel this because you didn’t have to work your way through 30+ pages to get there.

Some scenes that are essential to keep based on what I have read so far would be all three scenes with the Black Riders. It is the first time as readers that we experience how dangerous Frodo’s journey actually is, it instills fear in him and his companions and gives them a reason to look over their shoulders. These encounters speed up the novel and make you want to keep turning the page. In the movie this should be one the first times you’re actually weary of something and it should have you biting your nails as you watch Frodo and the others hide in the bushes. It is necessary that you have all the times the Black Riders catch up to them because it not only shows how close to danger they are but how incredibly LUCKY the hobbits are to keep evading them. A theme that is present in both the prequel and the rest of this trilogy.