A further eighty-five pages must elapse before we reach Sam’s “Well, I’m back.” Here at the end of all things, Sam.” So concludes Chapter 3, “Mount Doom,” but all is far from over at that point we are only fifty-two pages in. After Gollum and the Precious have plunged into the Crack of Doom, Frodo states, “The Quest is achieved, and now all is over. Of the nine chapters in Book Six of The Lord of the Rings, two-thirds deal with events following the destruction of the Ring. Indeed, the book has more end-matter than the movie because it contains a lengthy chapter, “The Scouring of the Shire,” that did not find its way into the film. This essay offers no opinion about Jackson’s movie, except to observe that its multiple endings (if that is the right term for them) are a feature of Tolkien’s book too. Finally, finally, finally, the film finishes. At which point we embark on yet another journey, this time to the Grey Havens, where Gandalf oversees Frodo’s painful parting from his three hobbit friends.Īnd even then there’s one last thing to show: the return of Sam to the bosom of his family in Hobbiton. “There’s room for a little more,” as Frodo says, handing Sam the book for him to add his own chapters later. Frodo writes an account of his adventures.Īnd still the movie is not over. The coronation throng bows to the four hobbits and a map appears on screen signalling their return to the Shire. Is this the end? No, for the scene now shifts to Minas Tirith where Aragorn is crowned king. Perhaps this is the end? No, Frodo awakes to discover that Gandalf is alive he is then reunited with the other surviving members of the Fellowship. But, of course, there is more to come as Frodo and Sam are rescued by the eagles. The end of the movie appears as if it might have been reached when the screen goes black after the destruction of the Ring and the eruption of Mount Doom. “Yes, eleven nominations, – one for each ending!” “Eleven nominations!” declared Billy Crystal in his opening monologue at the 2004 Oscars. However, it was not immune from criticism even as it received its bouquets. Peter Jackson’s film version of Tolkien’s The Return of the King was a huge commercial and critical success, winning all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated.
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