Le Seigneur des anneaux : La communauté de l'anneau

Pilgrims in the twilight land, do not despair, for the sun will eventually shine through the forests. Every forest ends, that is certain. And the sun shines over the plains, whether it rises or sets. The key moment for my perspective on the world is connected precisely with this text. When Frodo sang it in the book, I felt a resonance with the character like never before or since. Tolkien has gradually become my brightest literary icon and The Lord of the Rings my favorite book. The film continues this trend and the complete ensemble cast, led by the charismatic Mortensen, the enchanting Wood, and Sean Astin as my beloved Sam, created the most radiant team. The most magical film in history can be fully appreciated in the extended version - only there will you feel the fate of the elves on your own skin, just like in the original. A milestone film for the history of cinema and for my life. (23/12/2004)

The spirit of the original didn’t exactly remain intact. But things like the drastic truncation, changes of character characteristics etc. can’t be criticized much… They are completely understandable. Especially when Peter Jackson’s presented his vision on the screen where, even though it isn’t flawless, the positives heavily overweighed the negatives. The Special Edition is even slightly better, but, unlike with the other episodes, it doesn’t change either the overall character or tone of the movie. It just adds some new scenes for fans and so it doesn’t really matter if you don’t get to see it. Which is the complete opposite of The Two Towers. (20/11/2003)

The most epic part of the trilogy... A scenic ride to see the beauties of Middle-earth, breakfast with hobbits, lunch with elves, tea at five with a bunch of goblins, and an evening flambé with the venerable Mr. Balrog in the best fellowship ever gathered on screen. Jackson has succeeded in the impossible - it is not an orthodox rewrite of Tolkien, but it is a wonderful film that, unlike the other two films, has no deaf spots and presents a lot of "small" heroic acts instead of great battle pathos. And, of course, in the extended version there is the most beautiful scene of the film – Gimli's courtship of Galadriel. Why didn't Jackson just put it in the cinema version? The master dwarf deserves to keep this part in the film, because it's... otherworldly beautiful. Like the whole of Fellowship of the Ring! (25/01/2004)

One of the few films where I literally fell in love with the main characters and experienced everything good and bad with them. The relaxed performances of everyone involved make me believe that the shooting must have taken place in a perfect atmosphere and the love for the source material oozes out of the film, that is something that is reflected in the final result. Writing how visually stunning this film is, is like bringing wood to the forest. From an acting point of view, I particularly enjoyed Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, and I was very pleasantly surprised by Sean Bean as Boromir. His performance at the end, when he wants the ring from Frodo, is one of my favourites. (28/06/2002)

If due to some obscure coincidence of fantastical circumstances I found myself in the mid 90s as one of the most powerful Hollywood producers, and I was approached by Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg telling me they want to adapt “Lord of the Rings”, I would throw them out of the office and immediately call Peter Jackson and would tell him to drop everything so he can shoot it “again”… Because I don’t think there’s anyone in film history who would be able to suck the viewer so flawlessly into their own world and make them experience an epic but leisurely built stor, with characters with whom we would immediately go till the end of the world. LOTR is a cinematic gem and The Fellowship of the Ring in particular is the most beautiful heroic ballad that has ever been materialised in front of the camera. PS: I didn’t read the book. (07/11/2019)