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the lord of the rings:
the two towers
Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) are captured by Gondorians. |
The saviours of Rohan are Eowyn (Miranda Otto) and Eomer (Karl Urban). Eowyn provides the story with its first human heroine. “There are very few women in The Lord of the Rings,” says Otto. “Eowyn is the first real human female character. Galadriel [Cate Blanchett] and Arwen [Liv Tyler], who are both Elves, were introduced in the first film. But the second film takes you into the world of human beings.
“Eowyn in the book is described as the daughter of kings. It’s a very difficult time in Rohan and she has had to watch the whole house deteriorate, the whole lineage decline. She wants to spur Theoden into action, but she is powerless to do that to her king.
“Generally, in the myths and legends we hear as young girls, we’re given Sleeping Beauty, we’re given Cinderella. They’re all stories about women who are in difficult situations and are then saved by men. But Eowyn is a character who is in a difficult situation and must become empowered or lose everything. She knows she must find the strength within to save herself and her people.”
Treebeard and the Ents…
An ancient people who live in the Forest of Fangorn, the Ents - and their leader, Treebeard - are basically trees who can move slowly of their own volition, putting down and pulling up roots as they go. They are remnants from an earlier age where life - like them - moved at a slower pace, but their essential goodness is reawakened by the plight of Merry and Pippin.
Saruman (Christoper Lee) with Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). |
“The way that Treebeard affects Merry and Pippin, and the way Merry and Pippin affect Treebeard is very interesting,” says Rhys-Davies, who provides Treebeard’s voice as well as playing Gimli. “I don’t think that Treebeard would have done anything of great value if he hadn’t met them: he needed that connection. And I also don’t think Merry and Pippin would have grown into these people that could see a wider scope of the world if it wasn’t for Treebeard saying to them, ‘At the moment, evil will rule the world. But then, at some point, good will come back and rule the world.’ And that’s a good thing for the Hobbits to hear.”
And finally… Gollum
Gollum is the great creation of The Two Towers - a tragic character who has been destroyed by the power of the Ring which he once possessed and which he refers to as ‘My Precious’. In those days, 500 years ago, he was a Stoor Hobbit called Smeagol, but his greed and his obsession have warped him into a spineless, worm-like creature who is like a mirror image to Frodo - and a frightening warning of what Frodo might become if he allows the Ring to work its magic.
Readers of the books may forget some of the other characters, but they never forgot Gollum. It is Gollum who guides Frodo and Sam towards Mordor - but he knows and they know that his real motive is to regain the Ring.
A computer-generated character, Gollum’s movements are nonetheless modelled on those of British actor Andy Serkis, who does not merely provide the voice: he effectively plays the role. “The character of Gollum is a completely digital creature, but I was determined to have an actor to actually create the character,” says Jackson. “Obviously, Andy creates the character through the voice, but we’re also doing a lot of Gollum as motion-capture, which is when Andy wears a suit covered in these little dots. He says the dialogue, he plays the scenes out just as he would, and the computer is able to capture his movement and translate that to the digital version of Gollum.”
And then there is the voice, a sibilant sound which is at once plaintive and sinister, capturing everything that Gollum has suffered, and hinting at everything he will do to get his Precious back.
“I had an emotional root to that sound,” says Serkis. “For me, it is where his pain is trapped. That emotional memory is trapped in that part of his body, his throat. In just doing the voice, I immediately got into the physicality of Gollum, and embodied the part as I would if I were playing it for real…”
EXIT THE KING: Theoden (Bernard Hill) and the Fellowship ride into battle. |
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THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE TWO TOWERS
New Line Cinema presents
a Wingnut Films production
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Prod: Barrie M Osborne, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh; Exec prod: Robert Shaye, Michael Lynne, Mark Ordesky; Co-prod: Rick Porras, Jamie Selkirk; Dir: Peter Jackson; Scr: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson, based on the trilogy by JRR Tolkien; Ph: Andrew Lesnie; Prod des: Grant Major; Cost des: Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor; Spvr m-up, creatures, armour and miniatures: Richard Taylor; Vis fx spvr: Jim Rygiel; Ed: Mike Horton; Casting: John Hubbard, Amy MacLean (UK), Victoria Burrows (US), Liz Mullane (New Zealand), Ann Robinson (Australia); Mus: Howard Shore.
With Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn, aka Strider), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee, aka Sam), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli/Voice of Treebeard), Billy Boyd (Peregrin Took, aka Pippin), Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck, aka Merry), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Miranda Otto (Eowyn of Rohan), Bernard Hill (King Theoden of Rohan), Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue), Andy Serkis (Gollum, formerly Smeagol), David Wenham (Faramir), Karl Urban (Eomer), Bruce Hopkins (Gamling).
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