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Loresilme
Valinor
Nov 1 2008, 3:02pm
Post #1 of 11
(243 views)
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MISC 11/01/08: Sean/Sam
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FOTR...
"‘If you don’t come back, sir, then I shan’t, that’s certain,’ said Sam. ‘Don’t you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon, and if any of those Black Riders try to stop him, they’ll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with, I said. They laughed.’
‘Who are they, and what are you talking about?’
‘The Elves, sir. We had some talk last night; and they seemed to know you were going away, so I didn’t see the use of denying it. Wonderful folk, Elves, sir! Wonderful!’
‘They are,’ said Frodo. ‘Do you like them still, now you have had a closer view?’
‘They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak,’ answered Sam slowly. ‘It don’t seem to matter what I think about them. They are quite different from what I expected – so old and young, and so gay and sad, as it were.’
Frodo looked at Sam rather startled, half expecting to see some outward sign of the odd change that seemed to have come over him. It did not sound like the voice of the old Sam Gamgee that he thought he knew. But it looked like the old Sam Gamgee sitting there, except that his face was unusually thoughtful.
‘Do you feel any need to leave the Shire now – now that your wish to see them has come true already?’ he asked.
‘Yes, sir. I don’t know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can’t turn back. It isn’t to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want – I don’t rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.’"
ROTK...
"Sam tried to guess the distances and to decide what way they ought to take. It looks every step of fifty miles,' he muttered gloomily staring at the threatening mountain, 'and that'll take a week, if it takes a day, with Mr. Frodo as he is.' He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly a new dark thought grew in his mind. Never for long had hope died in his staunch heart, and always until now he had taken some thought for their return. But the bitter truth came home to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible desert. There could be no return.
'So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,' thought Sam, 'to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it. But I would dearly like to see Bywater again, and Rosie Cotton and her brothers, and the Gaffer and Marigold and all. I can't think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo on this errand if there hadn't a'been any hope of his ever coming back at all. Things all went wrong when he went down in Moria. I wish he hadn't. He would have done something.'
But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam's plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through all his limbs a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue."
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Time to put another new spin on MISC ... we've done a lot of landscape and setting shots, compared how events and scenes were depicted in the books to how they were portrayed in the films. For the next few weeks I'll be meandering on over to the "Characterization" section of the screencap museum  ... looking at the characters and the actors/actresses who portrayed them. I generally have a very positive fangirl feeling towards basically all of them, but in recognition of the very enthusiastic and diverse responses to my admittedly biased Miranda/Eowyn MISC a few weeks back  , I shall keep the Subject Line of these MISCs neutral  . I'll just share my own perspectives, and sincerely encourage any and all comments - all viewpoints are welcome here on TORn Movie, it's what keeps it fun and interesting  !
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Sean Astin's performance is one of those from the films that I appreciate more each time I watch it, in particular his physical transformation from the softness of his look in FOTR to the tough warrior of the Mt. Doom sequences. I was glad to be able to find that second excerpt from the book, "Sam's plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him..." because I feel they captured that really well. In light of that, it's also touching to see his face at the end of ROTK again, it somehow goes back to that softness ... in that way it seems it was Sam who was able to really go 'there and back again' rather than Bilbo, or Frodo.
P.S. On the other hand, I believe one of the glugs in the LOTR-watching glug contest, is to glug one every time dear Sean loses his accent  . Oh well!!
Cheers all! Happy November - and to our U.S. TORnsibs- don't forget to change your clocks tonight !
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Frodo13
The Shire
Nov 1 2008, 11:15pm
Post #2 of 11
(130 views)
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hes cute but fat!
FRODO IS SO CUTE!
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OhioHobbit
Gondor
Nov 3 2008, 1:41am
Post #3 of 11
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I thought that Sean Astin was the perfect Sam. Peter has proven to me that he knows what he is doing when it comes to casting, so I have to believe that the other person that he wanted for Sam (whoever that was) would have been great. But I am so glad that he picked Sean Astin. For me, he is now Sam.
The pictures and the quotes that you picked are wonderful. I think Sam probably came the closest to going there and back again, but I always think how much more mature he looks near the end of ROTK when he walks into Frodo’s study.
Movie Technical Discussion -- Index
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Nov 3 2008, 2:00am
Post #4 of 11
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Oh Loresilme...you've totally gotten me with this one. I dearly love Sam... especially when he's within his relationship with Frodo. These two pieces you've chosen are two of my all-time favourites from the book... and these pictures bring them to life all the more. sinerely... I'm undone.
Sean Astin's Sam has always moved me. He's one of those people who are easily underestimated, but always goes the distance and brings so much heart to his portrayals. When he's working with Elijah... if you want to call it working...they shine.
And for you to observe that Sam is the one who truly did go There and Back Again... omg.
I think his face when he sees Frodo when the Fellowship is restored is one of the most beautiful of Sam...
thank you for this...
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.
TORn's Observations Lists
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weaver
Half-elven
Nov 3 2008, 3:44pm
Post #5 of 11
(96 views)
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good question.. who else was considered for Sam?
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I missed all those rumor days...any one know?
And another question, was there the same sort of casting suggesting threads like we have now for the hobbit? If so, who were the top fan choices around here for Sam? Was Sean Astin or someone close to his look/qualities on the list?
Weaver
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weaver
Half-elven
Nov 3 2008, 4:30pm
Post #6 of 11
(91 views)
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glad you wandered over to the portrait gallery....
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Tolkien doesn't tell us much about how his characters look, but does give us pages and pages about their "qualities". What I admire in the casting as that the characters capture enough of my impressions of them from the books that they look right, even if I could not have told you beforehand what they should look like... does that makes sense?
In the case of Sam, here, he's got to be a softy underneath (all that bursting into tears in the books!) -- under a kind of rough/gruff exterior. Kind of doubtful and cocksure at the same time. It's a tricky combination.
The two shots you chose here work to illustrate that very well. In the first one, he looks soft on the outside and tough on the inside, and in the second one he looks tough on the outside and soft on the inside, if you know what I mean. The transformation in the guy brings to mind those lines about Frodo from the book -- how the journey through Mordor sort of etched away at Frodo and revealed his innder self. In the Sam shots, you get this sense that the journey toughened him but brought him back to the best part of him, his heart...
Thanks, Loresilme and looking forward to what else you come up with from the portrait gallery!
Weaver
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OhioHobbit
Gondor
Nov 4 2008, 5:55pm
Post #7 of 11
(88 views)
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I know that Peter was considering some British actor who had the body type that he was looking for, but I don’t know who he was. I believe that Sean Astin had to convince Peter that he could gain the weight.
That is an interesting question about casting suggesting threads for LOTR. I would like to know that also.
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Loresilme
Valinor
Nov 6 2008, 11:20pm
Post #8 of 11
(76 views)
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during filming. I'm not sure if they were able to time his weight loss to the later scenes in the films - I'm sure they tried :-)!
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Loresilme
Valinor
Nov 6 2008, 11:25pm
Post #9 of 11
(79 views)
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in that scene in the study. Very subtle, nice work - the difference between that and his FOTR manner with Frodo. He was still caring and concerned in the study, but there was more of a stillness and maturity about his physical presence, and more of a care-taker feeling about it, to his manner and words.
More mature, as you said ...
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Frodo13
The Shire
Nov 6 2008, 11:35pm
Post #10 of 11
(76 views)
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less fat .....but he looks soo cute!!
FRODO IS SO CUTE!
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Starling
Half-elven
Nov 7 2008, 12:20am
Post #11 of 11
(98 views)
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some of the scenes which were shot as pick-ups were inserted in earlier parts of the films, so Sean Astin is a little bit too slim in places. I only notice if I specially look out for it.
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