I don’t like the movies all that much. Why couldn’t they stick to the text?
I have a book Joseph Pierce wrote about Tolkien, that I got at the homeschool store clearance sale. It was very interesting. He’s an engaging writer, although a discerning reader sometimes has to say, “And how do you know that?!?”
Forget the movies. Watch a travel show about New Zealand, and then read the books (or the other way around). Tolkien’s sentences are absolutely exquisite; it’s like being in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
They didn’t stick to the story so as to avoid some gals from frowning in displeasure at the lack of “strong female characters”, as far as I can tell. I think the movies were as good as could be expected, considering they cut Glorfindal and other parts. The worst is the added stuff, I think.
And yes, Tolkien could put together a sentence. I think Jack Vance has him beat, though.
Freegards
The documentary was about the Catholic symbolism in the book. It had nothing to do with the movie. If you missed it last night, you can watch the replay tomorrow, Friday, at 1 pm. In the introduction, Pearce described a conversation between Tolkien and CS Lewis who was a self-proclaimed atheist. That conversation so impacted Lewis that within a few weeks, he was calling himself a christian. The result, as we now know. were the Chronicles of Narnia.
I always saw more parallels to Norse mythology, myself. Pretty much all the characters relate back to some Scandinavian myth or other. The only possibly Christian idea I ever saw was the idea of dying for something greater than yourself, but even that isn’t specifically Catholic at all.