Should the Hobbit films contain prologues?

B

Beutlin

Rivendell
Every single "Lord of the Rings" film opens with a prologue:

.) The Fellowship of the Ring: Sauron's downfall and the history of the One Ring
.) The Two Towers: Gandalf's battle with the Balrog of Moria
.) The Return of the King: Smeagol and the One Ring

What do you think? Should the Hobbit films contain prologues too? What should be shown in these prologues?
 
The second film could have a historical prologue about the dwarves and their battle with the orcs and Smaug.
 
I can't really pick an option to vote, because none of them really fit what I feel.

If there are prologues to one or both films, I would only want them to be there if they serve the storytelling. If they're there as a crutch or to overelaborate on something out of fear that those who haven't read the books wouldn't understand something, then no.

I think it makes more sense in the first film to have a prologue, and maybe a flashback at the beginning of the second film just to help catch people up on where they are in the narration.
 
If you think about the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy as one single film, the prologue in the "Fellowship of the Ring" could be defined as the only real one. It establishes the setting, informs us about the history of the One Ring and shows us how Sauron was vanquished. Nevertheless, both subsequent beginnings are prologues by definition: Both scenes precede the main story line for their respective films (Gandalf's battle occurs months before the Breaking of the Fellowship, Smeagol takes the Ring centuries before he encounters Frodo and Sam.) One could of course argue that an important distinction has to be made between the first prologue and the latter ones: Galadriel's introduction had to be included in the first film, otherwise ordinary movie-goers would have failed to understand basic facts about the story and the setting later on. On the other hand, Gandalf's battle with the Balrog and Smeagol's story are not as important as the aforementioned one in order to grasp what is happening on the screen. For the lack of a better word, we could call the FOTR prologue a "prooemium ante rem", whereas the other ones could be defined as "prooemia praeter rem". In other words: Not one of the LOTR movies starts with the main storyline right away.

I am just wondering if Peter Jackson will use the same narrative technique(s) for the Hobbit films. I think that "An Unexpected Journey" will probably start with a"prooemium praeter rem" - we could see Bilbo talking with Frodo about his former adventures. "There and Back Again" on the other hand could start with a larger prologue, one that shows us the story of the dwarven diaspora. Then again, this is just a wild guess :)
 
...although it's really more of a flashback placed at the beginning of the film. But Gandalf's battle was framed as a dream Frodo was having, so I don't really think that counts at all.
 
A flashback is always an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. It is used in the middle of a film, not in the beginning. Apart from the fact that prologues are ofter longer than flashbacks, the placing is what defines the flashback as a narrative technique. As I said before, if you watch all LOTR films in a row, prologues II and III could be called flashbacks - but from the perspective of an ordinary movie goer they are both prologues on their own. A prologue is an opening to a story/film that establishes the setting and/or gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. However, I do not want to argue about semantics here (it's my birthday after all :)): I think we can both agree that all LOTR films begin with a scene that does not occur in the main story-line for each movie. Peter Jackson apparently likes to insert scenes at the beginning which are set apart from the main storyline. Will he continue this narrative tradition in the Hobbit films, or will (for ex.) part II begin straight away?
 
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