Now finding its place on the shelves of Netflix, the epic trilogy of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is being cherished once again by a new generation of audiences. But what is the director’s favourite scene from the nine hours of feature film he delivered?
There are many special film franchises, but none are as cherished as Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Kicking off with 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, it was only the second time that the expansive literary vision of J.R.R. Tolkien had been adapted for cinema, and what a triumph it was. Whilst the project took some notable liberties, even the most diehard fans of Tolkien could not fault how well Jackson had done at breathing life into Middle Earth.
The first instalment, whilst a slow burner, was to change the lives of everyone involved – and that of the millions who watched it. After the movie concluded, fans were hooked as the story unfolded in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
The chemistry shared between the cast and crew was so powerful that the magic of Tolkien’s work was augmented by a real-life relationship, with a deep bond between all who worked on the films. This is so true that the actors whose characters were in the fellowship, except John Rhys-Davies, have all got the word “nine” in Elvish tattooed, with the stunt double of Rhys-Davies getting one in his place.
The movies created so many iconic moments, from comedic to heartbreaking, that have stuck with its strongest followers for two decades. Whether it be the devastating death of Boromir at the end of The Fellowship, or more lighthearted scenes, such as when the aforementioned halflings get drunk and dance on a table, for reasons such as these, Jackson’s movies are deeply embedded in countless hearts around the globe.
Given that his The Lord of the Rings trilogy is brimming with highlights, fans have long wanted to know what Jackson’s favourite scenes are, and when speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2020, he made the big reveal. It transpires that his favourite centres around the influential antagonist, Gollum. Jackson explained: “I love the Mines of Moria sequence, from The Fellowship, you know, when they go in through the door and right the way through to the bridge and Gandalf’s death… I just like that sequence. But, a scene that I think captures a lot of the spirit, and it was a sort of a late scene, is that we were shooting Two Towers, and we were introducing Gollum. And the key thing with Gollum, as most people know, is that he’s Smeogal and he’s Gollum, and it’s like a split, but we hadn’t had got a scene where you really got the idea that this guy’s two people.”
He added: “So, we knew that we needed it, but we had no time to shoot it. So Fran wrote a scene, where Sam and Frodo are asleep – so they can be just lumps on the bed – we don’t even need to have Elijah and Sean, and a little set, and didn’t have anyone to direct it. So I said to Fran, ‘Well, you wrote it; you should go and shoot it’. So she went in for a day, and she wrote and directed a scene which has become pretty famous now”.
Watch The Lord of the Rings on Netflix now.
