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Bombadil
Half-elven
Jul 5 2014, 3:57pm
Post #1 of 24
(1070 views)
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Excuse me? How about a Martin Freeman Appreciation THREAD?
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SOooo many Topics, here.
Bomby wantz to start off w/
Martin's NoseTwitch?
Okay he uses that to Great Effect
& Likely a piece of "ActingBusiness"
NOT Featured... much, before.
First time, he does it?...is in BadEnd
When he thinks he has "Blown Gandalf off".
Watching through his
Window as the
Wizard leaves.
It is likely he uses it again
at some point
in Gollumzz Cave.
In his FIRST HeadShot
in DOS, he Twitchzz.. his Nose
Scouting out AZOG & Company.
Insie Erebor
He also NoseTwitchzz
Riddling with
MISTER
MAGNIFICENT?
Maybe sum here
could do a ...NoseTwitch
count?
Other posts HERE could point out his
"Home-Loving" Acting expressions..
His
Brilliant.."I Don't understand?" Acting..
His
Bewildered @ The World-AT-Large Creatures, or
BizarroMundo Landscapes
His
Development of Courage,
"You've Changed, Bilbo Baggins".
THERE are so many Ways to Appreciate Martin..
What Say YOU?
TORn Family Worldwide?
Bomby wantz you
to Impress us
with your
Analysis of Martin's
Awesome
Acting....
Cheerzz, Gafferzzz
bom
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Arannir
Valinor
Jul 5 2014, 5:01pm
Post #2 of 24
(688 views)
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I was one of those who had hoped for James McAvoy before the casting was announced.
Though I realized at some point that McAvoy would probably have been a better Frodo than Bilbo. He might have lacked the comfortable and cozy aspect Freeman so deftly brings to the character.
Freeman also fits PJ's approach to the movies as a whole. Slightly slap-stick though, imho, mainly on the right and not on a low level (as I know some of the critics feel).
"I am afraid it is only too likely to be true what you say about the critics and the public. I am dreading the publication for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at." J.R.R. Tolkien
We all have our hearts and minds one way or another invested in these books and movies. So we all mind and should show the necessary respect.
(This post was edited by Arannir on Jul 5 2014, 5:03pm)
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 5 2014, 6:17pm
Post #3 of 24
(677 views)
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I say unto you, IMO there are no words to describe the wonder of Martin Freeman
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It's sort of the same reason I personally don't start a [besotted] Thorin/RA appreciation thread. Or - tho there was one - a Ken Stott appreciation thread. I've run out of superlatives even using a thesaurus!
But, since I managed to catch a happy re-watch of DOS - how I love this movie! and to cheer on Martin Freeman as Bilbo - one thing that always strikes me is the sensitivity with which MF uses his eyes, mouth, and hands - every nuance is perfection in every scene he is in.
I personally love when Bilbo is left alone at the hidden door, for some reason this Hobbit puzzling things out completely captivates me, I find myself inwardly chanting along with him "stand by the gray stone, when the thrush knocks. And the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine...."
IMO the voice work is also perfection through the whole scene, every note.
And that's just THAT scene. There are other moments "I was going to tell you...." the entire spider sequence, the way Bilbo crouches down at the barrel looking at Elros and the keys, the looks that pass between Bilbo and Thorin that say so much about their changed relationship from AUJ, and of course Bilbo's magnificent interactions with Smaug. Who but Martin Freeman could so effectively perform that movement when Bilbo sinks down, hand on his cheek, as the gold begins to heave with the waking of Smaug?
As Ms. Boyens says in the Appendices, as envisioned Bilbo IMO is a very difficult role to play, but Martin Freeman makes me laugh, makes me want to protect Bilbo, I cheer him on when he's getting fiesty, I worry for him, I hurt for him. I forget this is an actor and for me it's JUST Bilbo, and it's now, for me, exactly how Bilbo should be.
And *cough* I dread possibly not being too happy with him, (possibly) viewing him as betraying Thorin whom I also hurt for. So *sigh* BOFA will be very hard on me, but I'd have to say I completely appreciate Martin Freeman. Any time I want to jump through a screen as in AUJ and tell Gandalf and Thorin to quit steamrolling this poor little hobbit, I'm feeling the character, to the great credit of the actor behind the character!
"Looking back on Bag End, it's...it's like we're just so innocent. We were all so happy...in that place, about to start this journey" - Richard Armitage, The Hobbit Appendices.
"If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together" - Thorin, The Desolation of Smaug.
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Bernhardina
Rohan
Jul 5 2014, 6:54pm
Post #4 of 24
(656 views)
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My favourite Martin-as-Bilbo-moment
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Him dealing with the spiders - one of my favourite scenes in the trilogy this far! And of course, everything he does in Bag End, how he speak, how he moves, the subtle expressions, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Bilbo - well, Ian Holm did do a pretty good job too 
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Jul 5 2014, 11:07pm
Post #6 of 24
(601 views)
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Well it's hard to choose there are so many.
I love the "Good morning" sequence in AUJ. I also love the entire bag end scene and Martin's mannerisms there as Bilbo are simply perfection. Just how he holds his head, or his hand. Perfect.
Also, when he waves off Smaug's snout in DoS and when he shushes the treasure after he throws stuff back down. Some of the great acting work ever right there.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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Nira
Lorien
Jul 6 2014, 4:07am
Post #7 of 24
(576 views)
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There aren't enough positive adjectives...
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Every scene of his is fantastic and when he isn't on screen the absence is felt. One of my favorites is this scene...
"Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?" -Samwise
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 6 2014, 9:11am
Post #8 of 24
(549 views)
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Yup! Everything good everyone's saying
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Not much else to add except to weigh on and ditto. He really does inhabit the role like a second skin.
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
(Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies)
 Thrall Wars! Teh partsies: Prologue, One (None save Avandel knows whither teh "One"), Two, Three
"BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
=======
 Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 6 2014, 9:13am
Post #9 of 24
(540 views)
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"Looking back on Bag End, it's...it's like we're just so innocent. We were all so happy...in that place, about to start this journey" - Richard Armitage, The Hobbit Appendices. Slightly OT but just noticed your sig. awww... Give me fellowship vibes re the guys in LotR.
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
(Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies)
Thrall Wars! Teh partsies: Prologue, One (None save Avandel knows whither teh "One"), Two, Three
"BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
=======
Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Noria
Gondor
Jul 6 2014, 12:05pm
Post #10 of 24
(548 views)
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It has been said that Martin Freeman was born to play this role.
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Back in the day there were a number of interesting actors mentioned by the fan community as possible Bilbos but as soon as I heard MF's name, I knew he was the one. I completely understand why PJ moved heaven and earth to get him.
One of the things I like about the performance is that there has always been a bit of steel underneath the character's initial softness and foolishness. That has been gradually sharpened through the movies until by now, Bilbo has quite an edge to him.
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Farficom
Rivendell
Jul 6 2014, 5:20pm
Post #11 of 24
(531 views)
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I was skeptical as to whether anyone other than Ian Holm could, or should play the roll of Bilbo. Now after the last two movies I think Martin Freeman has stepped in, and done an admirable job. That being said I'm glad we get to see the two of them... and they work well together playing the same part.
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 6 2014, 6:06pm
Post #12 of 24
(511 views)
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It's out of context, of course, to an extent. And yet, listening to RA speak about Bag End in the Appendices, and particularly for him, seeing images like:
Which doesn't show up in the film of course. But I like to think of Thorin at least being able to sleep, that night, surrounded by his Company, knowing at least for one night he didn't have to sleep with a sword.
So I was thinking about BOFA and kind of bummed, as the words RA uses are so prophetic
And I think about Bilbo, a hobbit who goes on a journey from a place like the Hobbit market where you can get excited about root vegetables:
To Erebor, where I often think re the western guardroom, even after Smaug, and spiders, and Thorin, and dangerous elves and orcs, Bilbo has never seen anything so terrible:
The warrior dwarves would have seen terrible things before, of course, even though this is brutal on even Thorin and Dwalin, esp. Thorin and Balin I think. But not Bilbo.
(Probably this kind of experience, I imagine, is an arc Tolkien was too familiar with. I remember reading articles/essays here and there, of the men who would come back from the World Wars and not being able to stop shaking, or would just stare into the distance, because of what they brought back with them in their minds).
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 6 2014, 6:58pm
Post #13 of 24
(512 views)
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Thanks to Martin Freeman's remarkable "palette of subtleties" to paraphrase Sir Ian, for me, Martin Freeman's more serious scenes are quite beautiful. I don't have any other word for it, but there's a kind of purity? of feeling he is able to convey, so we the audience can feel what he is feeling.
And I personally love it when Bilbo gets impatient with the woozy dwarves in Mirkwood - just Bilbo's expression and tone of voice LOL
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 7 2014, 2:33am
Post #14 of 24
(480 views)
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your sig I mean.
Nice observations about the favoured Hobbit of the King (in-waiting) Under The Mountain. Bilbo's journey is really interesting. PTSD is a terrible burden to carry. Academically, the effects on a Hobbit would be an interesting area of study I suppose. In the book he sort of skirt the brunt of it, being well, supine, through most of the Battle. In the movie though, seems like he'd be conscious for more of the actual happenings. Maybe that adds to his eccentricity after he got home. But then, as the premier authority on Hobbits, Gandalf did give glowing recommendations for their potential to end up swimming when thrown in the deep end.
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
(Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies)
Thrall Wars! Teh partsies: Prologue, One (None save Avandel knows whither teh "One"), Two, Three
"BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
=======
Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 7 2014, 2:43pm
Post #16 of 24
(444 views)
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The effects of repeated ungrieved trauma
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Actually if it were modern day, I've always thought of Thorin (in the films) as an untreated PTSD sufferer - if a human mental wounding can be ascribed to dwarves or hobbits (based on books I've read, without wanting to drift into psycho-babble or trivialize what people go through with this).
From what I have read, not only can actual events be soul-shattering, but the wounding is worsened if society "revictimizes the victim" and the person is unable to grieve - also if there is repeated trauma. But everyone is affected differently, and the term "steel" was used in this thread about Bilbo. That's interesting, in that I was thinking when Bilbo refuses to give up on the hidden door, or takes on the spiders, or even gets cheeky with Thorin - to me that echoes the inner strength of hobbits that allowed Frodo to carry the Ring for so long.
Certainly Thorin, nor Bilbo, or even Thranduil I think, are what they would have been, if they had never had to cope with so much loss and so many terrible things.
One thing - and I think Tolkien would have observed this - years ago, as far as I can tell there was no term "PTSD". You just went home and dealt with horrible memories as best you could, and often men were expected to be "manly" of course and just deal with everything.
"Looking back on Bag End, it's...it's like we're just so innocent. We were all so happy...in that place, about to start this journey" - Richard Armitage, The Hobbit Appendices.
"If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together" - Thorin, The Desolation of Smaug.
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 7 2014, 2:50pm
Post #17 of 24
(437 views)
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Interestingly on the barge, Dwalin seems a wee chastised by Bilbo "Bard, his name's Bard..." *grins*
The Bilbo + dwarf dynamics have been such a joy in these films!
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Bombadil
Half-elven
Jul 7 2014, 6:11pm
Post #18 of 24
(428 views)
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Maybe someone HERE?.... could PUT together a...
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MF Close-up REEL?
Send it to
The Academy of Motion Picture
Artists...etc.
AS a....
"ShowREEL"
to...
Start a
"Best Actor"
Campaign?
WORTH a TRY
AnyWAy?
"Viral-Martin Freeman-Marketing"?
Anyone?
Coulda... Happen
Woulda......Happen
SHOULDA... Happen?
bom (Goldberry's BOY!)
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 7 2014, 10:18pm
Post #19 of 24
(401 views)
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I'd rather picture Thorin refuting diagnosis (if anyone can even get him to consider a consult) and refusing treatment.
Re Bilbo. As the Gandalf spiel goes: Hobbits are amazing and surprising. How else can anyone deal with eating so much everyday and not keel over? Must be their inner steeliness and happiness burning up fuel.
Not trivialising the impact of war or the effect on surviving participants here but I think Bilbo's got the better "bargain" in terms of his Hobbitish constitution and his bitty participation in the Battle. Thorin's psychosis wouldn't really be from any conflict... book-wise he was not there at the desolation. Yes, there was the Goblin Wars. I don't know enough about Dwarf politics or history to really get this right but I think his mopey state is the result of personal loss, the need to carry a nation without I guess proper handover (was he officially made King/Regent with provisions of succession before Thror and Thrain disappeared or was he King by default when they MIA'd?) and a sense of helpless destiny, maybe informed by a certain inferiority re the collective Dwarven origins. Re Thranduil... interestingly, I don't think he's quite a PTSD sufferer. That's usually alluded to from the passage about sunlight dimming if he looked south post-Last Alliance. But, he's not the only Elf to experience that, though his personal tragedy was great. But still, if PTSD is his problem, the others would be carrying this albatross around their necks too. No one talks about Elrond getting grumpy, but then Elrond isn't upset with having to go home to house moving projects and still ending up with spiders and general malaise overrunning Rivendell and ruining the decor theme.  *ahem* anyway, here again we see a similarity, sorta, of Dwarf and Elf history/character/situation. Interesting.
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
(Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies)
Thrall Wars! Teh partsies: Prologue, One (None save Avandel knows whither teh "One"), Two, Three
"BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
=======
Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 7 2014, 10:19pm
Post #20 of 24
(411 views)
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LoL Dwalin does look like he's always...
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woken up on the wrong side of the bed... or maybe getting his pate stepped on in his sleep
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
(Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies)
Thrall Wars! Teh partsies: Prologue, One (None save Avandel knows whither teh "One"), Two, Three
"BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
=======
Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 8 2014, 2:01am
Post #21 of 24
(400 views)
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Re trauma - too foggy on the book to comment but...
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As far as I remember the cantankerous book Thorin, while my favorite, don't think it would have even crossed my mind (at the time) in that I had too much of a firmly imbedded "garden gnome" of sorts vision in my head, and between the whimsy of the book, and picturing garden statues, if I had thought about trauma at all re the book, it would have been for Bilbo!
But, between reading, TORn, and various recent storm events, along comes PJ & co. and the Hobbit movies, which thanks to some impeccable, multi-layered performances, triggers a whole cascade of associations for me. Re PTSD - and I agree that not only Thorin, but all dwarves would refuse any succor, re Tolkien evidently (I'm still learning) basing the dwarf mentality on the attitudes of the Norse.
But the condition is something humans are afflicted with. For me it's interesting, although it strains me - it's tough comprehending what MIGHT be dwarf, elf, or hobbit mentality and ability to deal with stress, as by default they aren't human.
Re Thorin, whom I view personally as (probably) being one of the "best" of his race, as presented in the films, from my perspective his burdens were many - seemingly functioning as a warrior-king leader before Erebor even fell due to Thror's condition, taking on leadership of his people in exile (that's one that really gets me, as any time you have an entire people on the move, EVERYTHING would be on Thorin's shoulders - so I imagine the old and the very young getting ill and dying on the way at times, dealing with hostile (or not) local populations, trying to come up with ways to keep supplies coming in - and while Thorin would have had support, at the end of the day, if you are the leader everything falls to you, eventually). Then there's the battles. And then there's the rebuilding in the Blue Mountains, the backbreaking work I imagine. And Thorin has had to carry all that.
*Shrug* dwarves aren't elves - personally I don't have a problem if dwarves might be considered a fierce, insular, even angry race at times. Re all I imagine I'm totally with Thorin (and any other dwarf) being very, very angry. This isn't a shot at Thranduil, but as depicted (or even in the book) I'm not seeing where any other race stepped up to assist, exactly. (It's tough to have a conversation when so little was ever fleshed out by Tolkien for some things - sigh). I mean if Thorin were working as a blacksmith, it's not as tho the race of men were falling over themselves just because he was dwarf royalty.
True enough, there are interesting parallels between elf and dwarf history that I am slowly learning. And how an elf like Thranduil or Elrond may internalize violence and loss is very tough for me, as I'd have to think in terms of a people who are essentially immortal, and how that may change your view of the world.
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Kerewyn
Rohan
Jul 8 2014, 10:47am
Post #22 of 24
(395 views)
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I watched FotR the other night,
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for the first time since watching both of TH movies. It was older Bilbo that I watched most closely. He just has this whole added dimension to him now. Here is the hobbit created by his background, his baggage (the Ring). It just works, I felt, a testament too to Martin's close study of Ian Holm to get the movements and mannerisms.
I was particularly moved by the moment when older Bilbo thinks he has lost the ring and goes into a panic, only to find it in his pocketses. Even that has more added meaning.
'People don't know where I begin and latex ends, which has always been an ambition for me.' (Martin Freeman)
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KeenObserver
Lorien
Jul 11 2014, 8:52am
Post #23 of 24
(358 views)
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An appropriately premature standing ovation . . .
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. . . for the forty-two-year-old English actor from Aldershot, Hampshire, who has painstakingly provided us with an extraordinary portrayal of the beloved character: Bilbo Baggins.
  
  
Whether it's a hoity-toity frown, a nervous stammer, a flash of fright, a look of courage or a twitch of the nose . . . He's got it nailed and covered.
We applaud you, Martin John Christopher Freeman.
We appreciate you.
”The thirst for adventure is the vent which Destiny offers; a war, a crusade, a gold mine, a new country, speak to the imagination and offer…” - Jose Bergamin
(This post was edited by KeenObserver on Jul 11 2014, 8:56am)
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Loresilme
Valinor
Jul 11 2014, 2:44pm
Post #24 of 24
(347 views)
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James McAvoy was mentioned so often in relation to Bilbo, that I never stopped to consider him in another of the roles. Now that you mention it, I totally agree, he would have been really good as Frodo. While he's youthful, he seems to me to have those old soul eyes, and a way of expressing depth non-verbally that would have been a good fit for Frodo.
I've found Freeman's made me appreciate Bilbo more than I had from the book. I like his take on the character.
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