“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” brought Middle-earth and the legendary mythology of JRR Tolkien back to the audiovisual. The ambitious Amazon Prime Video series faces the end of the first season with a slew of revelations throughout its episodes. But, above all, with a huge unknown that surrounds the entire narrative of the production: Where is Sauron? Presumably, the latest episode will answer the question after two explosive chapters where the status quo has changed forever.
The person in charge of bringing the two most recent installments to the screen was Swedish director Charlotte Brandstrom. At 63, the director has many contributions to her resume in highly recognizable television series such as ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Arrow’, ‘Outlander’, ‘The Witcher’ … Now, she is immersing herself in Tolkien’s work to leave it all. ready for an ending that should be tremendous. “I’ve always loved Tolkien. I read the books a long time ago and was a huge fan of Peter Jackson’s films. So this is something that I was very excited to do, of course. “says the director in an exclusive interview for eCartelera.
Bayonne’s vision
“But I wasn’t expecting something like this. I had a few conversations with the showrunners and they eventually took me to New Zealand. But I never expected it. When the two scripts come to your mind, you haven’t seen more of the first two. But it’s great that most of the episodes are very connected, it feels like a movie. I was very impressed, I was like “wow, it’s like a director’s dream”. This is because it has everything, it has action, it has its emotional side and its epic side … “adds Brandstrom. The director believes the work was so overwhelming that it didn’t leave her room to assume what he was doing, or to feel the weight that such a daunting task entailed. “Once you start working, you can only work. So you don’t have time to be scared or impressed or anything.”Comments.
In relation to the above, Brandstrom wanted to underline the role of the Spaniard JA Bayona when it came to proposing “The Rings of Power”. “Bayona made those first two episodes that started it all. She made two spectacular and very cinematic episodes that were pretty amazing.”praises the director, “Well, after seeing them, I knew what they had done [con la serie]. In a way, I inherited the cast and some incredible sets from him. And what he gave me was amazing. In fact, not long ago I wrote to him to thank him, I told him that he has given me some fantastic tools to work with. “.
an explosive job
That truly unique perspective Bayona infused into the project was combined with the narrative of the series, which in the episodes of Brandstrom coincided with one of the big highlights of the season. “I have a story that’s very special, because it’s an attack, and a lot of the episodes are built for episode six. So it’s a great gift, because it’s great for the director to have the preparation and then be able to do the whole thing, to do all these spectacular scenes. It was really great to be able to do that. “gratefully exposes.
Specifically, the two episodes he directs are the one with the first major battle against the orcs and the formation of Mordor when a huge volcano erupts. Both moments were set up as realistically as possible. “For inspiration, I was watching a lot of movies. And then, eventually, I started researching real battles, not cinematic battles but photos of various real-life situations. That’s where the idea of filming horse battles in this way came from. Because I was inspired by the Cossacks. Ukrainian Cossacks, I believe from the 15th or 16th century, who were incredible knights. They fought on horseback and were great acrobats, they knew those tricks on horseback and could do anything. I thought it was going to be something very epic and spectacular. So I started looking at a lot of those photos and looking for inspiration. “thoughtful account.
Audience angry at high expectations
Despite the large audience numbers that The Rings of Power is getting, the series also collects numerous criticisms episode after episode, especially on social networks. Some speak of the lack of fidelity to Tolkien’s books, while others point to the slow pace he displays or even aspects like Galadriel, unlike the original trilogy, is constantly on guard and angry. Something that even Brandstrom has an answer for. i> “I feel that sometimes the audience confuses two things, confuses Peter Jackson’s films, and then what Tolkien actually wrote about the story, and also about the Second Age, which was actually thousands of years ago”, defends the director . “You can make a film about the same characters thousands of years later, but here they will be much younger. And when you are younger you can be more aggressive, angrier, more impatient, more than anything.”adds in relation to Galadriel’s theme.
“Since our stories are scripts that take place thousands of years ago, they are also completely different stories. So even though they are the same characters and have been involved in the same way, they are different people. And that’s all there is to it. Interesting.”strikes again. “And also remember that this series will last a long time, there are five seasons. So you have to start somewhere with the characters and set up something to get to another site. People have to be patient and appreciate, when all eight episodes are aired, how it all works together. “, hopefully. Some promises that, thanks to the episodes of him, begin to be kept.
Brandstrom then completes his reflection by adding how incredibly broad Tolkien’s universe is and its infinite possibilities. “You’re building the world you’re building, with new characters and all”it begins, “what I love about Tolkien is that the fantasy is very real. I mean, the characters are true to life, they are grounded characters living in a fantasy world. They have their own codes, they have rules “.. Finally, he concludes his claim in favor of “The Rings of Power”, stating it “There are a lot of people who have probably already decided what to expect before even watching it. Yes, I think it’s a very good series.”.
Despite being a franchise like ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the reluctance of some sectors could cloud the expectations in terms of the numbers that the series, the most expensive in the history of television, would reach. However, Brandstrom has always kept its expectations at the level with which the project ended. “I had very, very high expectations because it is a great series and there has been a lot of talk about it. You never really know, but you are always confident, right? I was very confident it would work in large numbers, because it was such a big, big thing. People were waiting for him a lot “., manifests. Wish fulfilled.
The resurrection and Tolkien’s fantasy
Within the huge budget that Amazon Prime Video managed for each episode, some of the money even went to specialists who worked to take care of Tolkien’s work as part of the necessary changes made to his mythology. And it is that Brandstrom is the author’s first love. “I had the people on the set, there were Tolkien specialists, a fantastic dialogue assistant, the people from Leith responsible for every movement …” invoice, “And then you do a lot of research. I had a Tolkien dictionary with me. He has always been interested in Scandinavian culture and Nordic culture. He has created many languages. He was an extraordinary man. He is the great father of all the world fantasy “.
Thanks to his work, countless fantastic stories and franchises have been developed in the 20th and 21st centuries, some of which are timeless and which dominate even the great television productions of the moment, as in the case of ‘The house of the dragon’. The Swedish director sees something very beautiful in this rise of fantasy: “It’s great because I think people need to get away from reality a little bit. We want to dream and let ourselves be carried away by something. You don’t always want to see what you see every day when you leave the house. You want to see different worlds. Fantasy allows you to dream and experience something else, something different. But, at the same time, you can probably recognize yourself, you can recognize many situations that are real or could be true at any moment and in any period of time. “.
Middle Earth, a different world
While he didn’t want to respond to anything related to Sauron or fan theories, Brandstrom ultimately also positioned himself firmly in favor of the diversity and inclusion of “The Rings of Power” in the face of the racist and misogynistic criticism it received. “Being different is very important. Tolkien’s stories are about various races, various people, and they all unite and fight together against common enemies, against the darkness. We will continue to do so. And that means being very loyal to Tolkien “.concludes.
