Sunday 29 December 2002

Pic of the day: In Norse mythology, the magic of dwarves was often in the making of wonderful artifacts. Who knows what they may be hiding behind all that beard ... (Screenshot from Dark Age of Camelot.)

Two magics

On the last day of my vacation, we went and saw Lord of the Rings II, the Two Towers. I went straight from the movie to the railway station, or rather my friend drove me. She had insisted on seeing it at Collosseum, a huge dome theater. The surround sound was impressive, as was the big picture. I felt like I was flying many a time when the camera did those slow sweeps, just like in the first movie. But actually it was perhaps a little bit overwhelming from where we sat. I think I might have enjoyed it more from a distance. Perhaps I shall see it again in Kristiansand, but more likely I shall wait for the DVD. Until then, I guess I can do with replaying it in my head. I have a pretty good memory for stories.

The movie is technically very good. I believe that ten, maybe even five years ago it was simply not possible to make a movie that did justice to the epic scale of this story. But this movie did. Like in the first movie, computer animation blended seamlessly with live acting. The battles are almost entirely computer generated, from what I hear. Every soldier is given its own little artificial intelligence, with some random variation, so they all react slightly differently. Besides, during the battle they get different inputs, as some of the AI are exposed to more or less danger etc. The end result is battle scenes so realistic you would believe they had used live actors all the way.

Battles occupy no small part of the movie. Some of the trilogy's most climactic battles take part in the second book, and the movie uses these eagerly. This is not a place for small children, especially not in a cinema like the one we were in. I believe there may be some nightmares among the youngest in the audience. (It is labeled 11 years, 8 with parents, if I remember correctly.)

I believe in Dark Age of Camelot we are going to see a lot of newbie elf rangers in the weeks to come. Legolas was adorable as usual. The dwarf is used for comic relief a bit more than in the books, where the three comrades were more on an equal footing. But I don't think I spoil too much when I say that he got the chance to show his worth at Helm's Deep. I actually wish there had been more footage of him.

***

The magic of Middle Earth has finally come to live on the big screen, thanks to the magic of our own world, the new technologies that are steadily transforming our lives. I reflected on this for another reason too. If Frodo and Aragorn had only had cell phones ...

My best friend and her family are steeped in mobile phones. When we drove for the movie, the house was barely out of sight behind us when the first phone call home was placed. Except for the actual duration of the movie, the mobile phones were never far from hand. It was as if distance had been banished – they might as well be in the same house.

It is kind of unfamiliar to me, as I don't have family anymore. Well, technically I guess I have, but I have left them so long ago and so thoroughly. And my best friend, such as she is, is someone I see twice a year. It must be hard even believing how alone I am, for most people. This is not a painful thing for me, I have loved aloneness since I was a child. But for people who are not like that, the new small and cheap mobile phones are changing their lives as if by magic. Parents as well as children send text messages and bring their phones with them even to the bathroom. I don't think they have them in the shower, though.

I found myself wondering whether fantasy stories written from now on will have some equivalent of the cell phone in them ... perhaps small magic wands or crystals that let people communicate regardless of where they are. I think it will be hard for children of tomorrow to imagine a society in which not everybody is connected. As if by magic.