The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

I doubt anyone watching the Academy Awards telecast for 2003 was surprised that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received the Oscar for Best Picture. It had long been rumored that the members of the Academy planned to honor director Peter Jackson and his collaborators for their work on all three films by concentrating on the final film in the trilogy based upon the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The Return of the King received a total of eleven Oscars that night, winning in every category in which it was nominated and tying it with Ben-Hur and Titanic for most Oscars for a single film. I'd have to say that The Return of the King is the only one of those three that deserved that much recognition. It's a remarkable and remarkably satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

Oddly enough, I think that's why the Academy was so stingy with nominations for The Two Towers. Its members didn't nominate Jackson for his direction in 2002 or he and his co-writers for the script of the middle film. I suppose they figured that if the first two parts of the trilogy were this good, why not "save" the awards until the final part was complete. That's really too bad; each film should be able to stand on its own, regardless of its place in the series, and I think they all do. It's also a shame that the Oscar victories for The Return of the King didn't include any for the cast. Thankfully, the Screen Actors Guild has an award for Best Ensemble, and the large cast of Jackson's epic received that honor. The success of a film or even a trilogy of films rests, at least in part, upon how convincing the performers are. We have to believe that they are truly in this fantastical world that has been created. They have to make it seem realistic even though it's completely fictional, and many times the actors in fantasy or science fiction films don't receive the credit that they deserve.

The title of the film should suggest one of the outcomes of the narrative. After proving himself to be a worthy leader through battle, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) does, indeed, assume the throne of Gondor. You sense that Middle Earth has, at last, a man who is ready to be a good and just king, someone who will maintain alliances with the other populations of Middle Earth, the elves and dwarfs, for example, as well as the other kingdoms. Aragorn is just too noble and decent of a character not to be that kind of monarch. If you contrast him with the previous steward of Gondor, who had become greedy with the power his position has afforded him and was apparently on the verge of madness if not fully insane, it's tough not to read some sort of political allegory to our own world at work there.

The rest of the original Fellowship also reach the end of their adventures. Frodo (Elijah Wood at his most fragile and sympathetic) and Samwise (Sean Astin) finally reach Mount Doom, but they are almost thwarted in their attempt to destroy the ring by the last-ditch efforts of Gollum (Andy Serkis). And Frodo himself has a hard time giving up the ring which seems to have take over possession of his soul at times. It's thanks to the intervention of Sam that Frodo is able to see how his behavior has almost led to his own destruction. In fact, much of the storyline involving Frodo and Sam is about the strength of their friendship, their need for each other. It's quite touching and more than a little homoerotic, to be honest.

Speaking of the homoerotic, the reunion of Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), who are separated from each other for much of The Return of the King, is also more like the reunion of lovers than of mere friends. In fact, much of The Return of the King is about the bonds between men (or males, whichever is more appropriate for describing hobbits et al.). You can make of that what you will, but this film, more than the two earlier films, is about pairings of male characters: Samwise and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies)--figure out what you think it means if you don't agree with me. Even the one strong female character for much of the movie, Eowyn (Miranda Otto), assumes male armor so that she can participate in the battle over Minas Tirith. And then she tells Merry to stay with her; even in drag, you have two "male" characters together. Yes, I know you're going to suggest that it's about the bonds that men have with each other, and while I agree with you about that, I wonder what you might make of the professions of love between these male characters, especially the admission of "friendship" between the elf and the dwarf just before they go into battle. (I'm not the first one to note this tendency in the trilogy, by the way.)

Minas Tirith, by the way, is the site of the ultimate battle in the trilogy. It's the stronghold of the kings of Gondor, and if it falls, that could be the last dominion of man to fall under the control of Sauron, the Dark Lord. The battle scenes in The Return of the King are almost as spectacular as those in The Two Towers, with new creatures and weapons being used to break the defenses of the city carved out of a white mountain. It's during the battle scenes that Bloom's Legolas and Rhys-Davies' Gimli get to shine. Neither actor gets much to do throughout the trilogy except fight, but when a battle gets underway, they are kept quite busy. Legolas, in particular, seems never to miss with his bow and arrow. He can hit any object even when he's in motion. What Gimli lacks in stature, he makes up for in strength. He wields an ax like it's another arm, cutting a path through orcs or whatever other obstacle he faces. It's fun to watch the two of them keeping count of the numbers of enemies they've killed. You know it's all in jest anyway, this boyish competition between them.

Once again, I've left out too many details. I haven't talked about the thrill of watching green armies of the dead fighting under Aragorn's command in order to rid themselves of their guilt for being murderers and traitors under previous kings. I also haven't mentioned the scariest spider in the history of movies, the one that attacks Frodo--he does seem to have the worst luck--and that tries to attack Samwise. I hate spiders, and this one will give you nightmares. And I haven't described what I think is the most touching scene, the one where the newly crowned Aragorn bows down to the four brave hobbits after saying, "My friends, you bow to no one." It gets me every time.

I do wish the film had ended with Aragorn's coronation. The remainder of the movie feels a bit like an afterthought, but I know it's an attempt to tie up a few loose strands of the plot. If there is one good aspect to the last half hour or so, it's Frodo's wondering to himself, "How do you pick up the threads of an old life?" The truth is you can't. Once you've had an adventure like he's had, lasting thirteen months of his young life, there's no way to go back to a previous way of living without some unease. You've been changed too deeply and profoundly, and perhaps that's the final lesson we should take from the trilogy, most especially from The Return of the King. We are the product of our experiences, and we have to acknowledge them as a part of our growth and development. Perhaps that's why Frodo adds his own story to the book that Bilbo has written, "There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale." There's even room left for Samwise to contribute his version of events, and we have space as viewers to imagine what our own lives might be like had we ever encountered such a world as the one Jackson and his many, many collaborators--just watch how long it takes the credits to roll--have given us.