Tolkien (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Tolkien |
| Original title | Tolkien |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dome Karukoski |
| script |
David Gleeson , Stephen Beresford |
| production |
Peter Chernin , David Ready , Kris Thykier , Jenno Topping |
| music | Thomas Newman |
| camera | Let Frank Johannessen |
| cut | Harri Ylönen |
| occupation | |
| |
Tolkien is a film directed by Dome Karukoski and released in UK theaters on May 3, 2019 and in US theaters on May 10, 2019. The biography shows the writer JRR Tolkien as a student and in other formative times in his life.
action
The orphan boy JRR Tolkien is part of a group of outcasts at school, but here he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration. However, the outbreak of World War I threatens to tear this community apart.
Biographical
Despite possible parallels, it is generally known that JRR Tolkien did not want his main work The Lord of the Rings to be understood as an allegory of the Second World War , which he experienced as a professor at Oxford and the father of a son who fought in the war. Johannes Hahn from Robots & Dragons comments on the filming of his life that it is therefore not surprising when Tolkien makes two allusions at the beginning with warriors riding through a wasteland: “On the one hand, of course, to the fantasy world created by the author, and, on the other hand, to the First World War, which Tolkien witnessed as an officer and which forms the framework for the film. In the trenches of the Battle of the Somme , Tolkien and a private named Sam (what a coincidence ...) are looking for a friend from school. ”This search leads Tolkien through the trenches and apocalyptic sites of the First World War, which the film is visually stunning can represent.
production
Directed by Dome Karukoski. The script was written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. The Finnish director focuses primarily on Tolkien's early years, from his childhood with his brother Hilary in an orphanage in Birmingham to his student days at Oxford University. This narrative explores three interrelated themes, friendship, love, and Tolkien's creative awakening.
Nicholas Hoult plays the title role of JRR Tolkien in the film. As a child this is played by Harry Gilby. Lily Collins took on the role of his future wife Edith Bratt .
Filming took place in Liverpool and Manchester. They started in October 2017 and ended on December 14, 2017.
The score was composed by Thomas Newman . The soundtrack, which comprises a total of 25 pieces of music, was released by Sony Classical in May 2019, and also on CD in June 2019.
The film premiered in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2019 in London. A screening of the film at the Montclair Film Festival is planned for the beginning of May 2019. The film was released in the UK on May 3, 2019 and in US theaters on May 10, 2019. A theatrical release in Germany is planned for June 20, 2019, in Austria the following day.
An official trailer for Tolkien was released on February 12, 2019. Another followed in early March 2019.
Director Dome Karukoski
Nicholas Hoult plays JRR Tolkien
Lily Collins plays Edith Bratt
Tom Glynn-Carney plays Christopher Wiseman
Patrick Gibson plays RQ Gilson
Anthony Boyle plays GB Smith
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reception
Age rating
In Germany, the film was released from the age of 12, but is allowed from the age of 6 if accompanied by parents. The statement of reasons for the release states that the scenes from the First World War are in no way glorifying, violence is not played out excessively, and that identifying characters in the film die in the war is only conveyed through language, not shown in pictures.
Reviews
Overall, the film received mixed feedback from the critics.
Johannes Hahn from Robots & Dragons writes that Tolkien works a lot with visual allusions, which friends of the Lord of the Rings films in particular should be pleased with. The film tries to clearly show the contrast between the almost idyllic childhood in the English countryside and growing up in industrial Birmingham, using settings and colors that are already known from the Warner Bros. trilogy. If you then still know a little about Tolkien's life, you will rediscover a lot of familiar things in this film biography . So Tolkien manages on the one hand to stage the life of the young man and at the same time to show where he later got his inspiration and motivation to write the myths, legends and stories that established his world fame. The two main actors Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins did a good job, Hahn continued, even if Hoult's shoulders are a little too broad for a British scholar. Only towards the end did Tolkien fall away a little and make great narrative leaps that could perhaps have been portrayed more elegantly.
Peter Osteried from the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kino thinks that biopics could be very interesting if the life that went with them also had something extraordinary, and the most extraordinary thing about Tolkien is that he wrote two classics and designed the whole world that goes with them, but that is not necessarily the material , of which great cinema dramas are made. One notices this very quickly to Tolkien , because the real drama is only whether he will get the love of his life or not. From a purely visual point of view, however, the film turned out to be beautiful, said Osteried: “The equipment, the costumes, the hairstyles, all of this looks very authentic and transports the viewer back to the early 20th century. In addition, there is a committed ensemble, but that too cannot change the fact that Tolkien ended up being a bit boring. "
Use in school lessons
The online portal kinofenster.de recommends the film for the subjects German , English, history and art and offers materials for the film for the classroom. Philipp Bühler writes there that the film offers an interesting insight into the world of the Gothic and Celtic languages, into the Nordic myths and philological research from which Tolkien put his work together. As one learns in the film, Tolkien's name is allegedly derived from the German “foolhardy”, which could stimulate one to grapple with the origin and meaning of one's own name. In terms of film analysis , the biopic genre, which always has fictional elements, is an option.
Cast and dubbing
The German synchronization was based on a dialogue book and the dialogue direction by Manuel Straube on behalf of Interopa Film GmbH, Berlin.
| actor | role | Voice actor | Role info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Hoult | JRR Tolkien | Ozan Unal | Internationally known author through his saga The Lord of the Rings |
| Harry Gilby | JRR Tolkien (young) | Marco Eßer | |
| Tom Glynn-Carney | Christopher Wiseman | Henning Nöhren | Class clown, at the same time more socially adept than most of his age; he recognizes Tolkien's potential and includes him in his circle of acquaintances |
| Ty Tennant | Christopher Wiseman (young) | ||
| Lily Collins | Edith Bratt | Victoria Frenz | Tolkien's childhood sweetheart , later also his wife and mother of his children, served as inspiration for his characters Lúthien Tinúviel and Arwen Evenstar |
| Mimi Keene | Edith Bratt (young) | ||
| Anthony Boyle | Geoffrey Bache Smith | Tim Schwarzmaier | Tolkien's poet and close friend; died in the First World War |
| Adam Bregman | Geoffrey B. Smith (young) | ||
| Laura Donnelly | Mabel Tolkien | Katrin Zimmermann | |
| Pam Ferris | Mrs. Faulkner | Katharina Lopinski | |
| Genevieve O'Reilly | Mrs. Smith | Silke Matthias | |
| Colm Meaney | Father Francis Morgan | Lutz Schnell | Roman Catholic priest and former protégé of Cardinal John Henry Newman ; Tolkien's guardian and father figure |
| Patrick Gibson | Robert Q. Gilson | Patrick Keller | |
| Albie Marber | Robert Q. Gilson (young) | ||
| Craig Roberts | Private Sam Hodges | Roland Wolf | British soldier in World War I , served as Tolkien's officer boy in the Battle of the Somme |
| Sir Derek Jacobi | Prof. Joseph Wright | Friedhelm Ptok | Linguist, Tolkien's professor at the University of Oxford |
| James MacCallum | Hilary Tolkien | Jan Andreesen | |
| Guillermo Bedward | Hilary Tolkien (young) | ||
| Owen Teale | Principal Gilson | Axel Lutter | |
| Samuel Martin | Red Eyed Captain |
Web links
- Tolkien in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Tolkien in the German dubbing file
- Tolkien in the program of the Montclair Film Festival (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Tolkien . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 190206 / K).
- ↑ a b robots-and-dragons.de
- ↑ empireonline.com
- ↑ dailymail.co.uk
- ↑ comingsoon.net
- ↑ filmmusicreporter.com
- ↑ filmmusicreporter.com
- ↑ dailymail.co.uk
- ↑ Montclair Film Festival 2019 to welcome Mindy Kaling, Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins and screenings of 'Late Night', 'Tolkien'. In: nj.com, March 29, 2019.
- ↑ hollywoodreporter.com
- ↑ upi.com
- ↑ Start dates in Germany. In: insidekino.com. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ↑ Film starts in June 2019. In: skip.at. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
- ↑ TOLKIA | Official Trailer | FOX Searchlight
- ↑ Tolkien film - new trailer with the dragon Smaug provides a connection to the Lord of the Rings works. In: gamestar.de, March 6, 2019.
- ^ Reason for release for Tolkien In: Voluntary self-control of the film industry. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ↑ rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ programmkino.de
- ^ Philipp Bühler: Tolkien. In: kinofenster.de, June 19, 2019.