During the filming of The Lord of the Rings, and more precisely a scene from the “Two Towers”, Peter Jackson was excluded from filming for a moment with Aragorn, which his writers finally ensured.
No doubt, Peter Jackson is the mastermind of the Lord of the Rings saga on the big screen. However, on The Two Towers, the second episode of the trilogy, a scene was not directed by him.
This is the sequence in which Eowyn, niece of Théoden king of Rohan, falls in love with Aragorn. The latter greets in her a “daughter of kings” and call her “Damsel protector of the kingdom”. At this point in the film, Théoden ordered all the inhabitants to take refuge in Helm’s Deep, which seemed to them the safest place against Saruman’s armies:
In the film’s audio commentary, Peter Jackson says:
This passage with Aragorn was directed by Fran [Walsh] with Philippa [Boyens] next door, who was drooling with admiration. Me, I was given a scene with Gollum!
Fran Walsh is the co-writer of the trilogy with Philippa Boyens, so both of them have canned this streak between Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and Miranda Otto (Eowyn). During a question-and-answer session given in january 2006, Otto had returned to the symbolism embodied by his character, in particular in this sequence:
“The character of Eowyn is definitely an inspiration to women (…). She’s kind of a perverted version of the fairytale girl, who is saved by her knight in armor. In this book, she must become her own knight and save herself “.
Warner Bros.
Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
So an example, and a strong and sentimental scene, in a film that we mostly remember for its impressive 30-minute battle sequence. In December 2022, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the French release of Les Deux Tours and this year, on December 19, it will be the case for The Community of the Ring.
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