“Tolkien” explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school.
“Tolkien” is a beautiful film based on the life of Author J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote some of the most memorable stories with such titles as “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.” After the death of his mother, John Ronald Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) is sent to live in an orphanage by his legal guardian, Father Francis Morgan (Colm Meaney). Despite his unfortunate family circumstances, he excels in his academics and is considered one of the tops students.
John spends most of his time obsessively reading old books people have never heard of, drawing fictional characters and writing stories about mystical places. One day at his new school in rugby practice, he gets into a fight with a young man who happens to be the headmaster’s son. As punishment, they are required to do everything together and eventually discover their love of poetry and writing. Along with two others, they become the closest of friends. They would meet up at the Borrows Store where they would have tea and recite poetry and talk about literature. They decide to always support each other and create a club called the T.C.B.S. (Tea Club, Barrovian Society).
Later on, John meets another orphan in his home by the name of Edith Bratt (Lily Collins). She is a beautiful, outspoken and intelligent pianist with whom he shares his drawings and stories and who later becomes the love of his life. His beautiful romance with Edith involves walks in the forest, outings to places catered to the rich and when he fails an exam for the first time, Father Frances Morgan blames it on his relationship. He forbids John to see her and makes him decide between her and going to University. He chooses University.
At University, John gets the attention of Professor Wright (Derek Jacobi) while drunk one night yelling his made-up language on the school lawn. This causes him to lose his scholarship but Professor Wright is impressed with his ability to grasp the understanding of difficult language in literature and create his own. He then takes him under his wing and his life changes as a result.
Overall, I thought this was a great film. I love the way this story is told in such a magical, mystical way. There is so much beauty in his relationship with Edith but you also see it in his friendships and writing. I don’t really care for the war aspect of the film which is why I haven’t mentioned it yet but yes, a war breaks out and John and his friends go off to fight in battle. A few don’t make it but John does come back in one piece, home into the arms of Edith and that’s a beautiful thing!
In theaters Friday, May 10th
