The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Soviet TV version of "Lord of the Rings": Between amateur theater and drug trip

2021-04-12T18:50:09.921Z


A TV adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" made in the last days of the Soviet Union caused a sensation on YouTube. It is an instant classic of the trash film - which surprisingly touches the heart.


Enlarge image

Bilbo Baggins and his friends in Russian: A Soviet film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" causes a stir on YouTube

An animal must have died on Gandalf's head, you don't know whether it's a marmot or a long-haired dachshund.

In any case, this bizarre braid can't be a wig.

On the other hand: Across from him is a man with red dust on his head, underneath some real hair in shades of brown peeks out.

So this is definitely a wig.

A Soviet film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" recently appeared on YouTube, and Part 1 has already been viewed around 1.8 million times.

If you look at them, you have a lot of time to immerse yourself in such details.

With a running time of just over two hours, this TV version from 1991 is a lot shorter than the pompous film trilogy by Peter Jackson.

But not so much happens on the other hand, sometimes you have the feeling: nothing at all.

In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, this production is an instant classic of the trash film.

Enlarge image

The tricks are very, very bad - but this trash still touches the heart

Sometimes you see amateur theater filmed by a three-year-old, sometimes a hallucinogenic drug trip - especially when Gollum appears, but more on that in a moment.

Actually, the core of the fantasy story is the journey on which the heroes accomplish heroic deeds, solve difficulties, arrive at a goal.

So at JRR Tolkien and Jackson, the staff is always on the move.

In the Soviet version of the classic, on the other hand, it sits around a table in artificial studio lighting and talks, talks, talks.

It gets really psychedelic with Gollum

In Russian, of course, this wonderful language, which fewer people understand than the far less dramatic sounding everyday English.

Nevertheless, one should definitely not wish to understand what is being said here!

The nice thing is to let yourself be absorbed by the images and the silent film-like play of the actors.

Suddenly a cut: people stagger through an (apparently real) snowy landscape.

Cut back: Gandalf and Hobbit Frodo (that's the one with the dust on his head) are talking again, rolling their eyes wildly, one of them cries immediately.

Next cut, and now it's getting really psychedelic: Gollum enters.

Enlarge image

What was it that died on his head?

Enter Gollum

Celebrated in the Jackson film for its groundbreaking animation, a kind of Kermit the Frog mutation takes the stage here.

Something must have died on this actor's head, too, here maybe a monitor lizard.

In any case, the man is waving his arms wildly and is probably reporting in Russian about his enthusiasm for the ring.

He looks as if he had been eating ecstasy for a very long time.

Ironically, the meanest and vilest place on earth - the Internet - gives the returning trash milestone a warm welcome.

This work of art, created in the last days of the Soviet empire, was actually considered lost.

At the request of Tolkien fans who heard about it, employees of the St. Petersburg TV station 5 TV dived into the depths of their archive and actually brought the treasure to the surface.

"Khraniteli" is its original name, which translates as "The Keepers".

At one point the two-part series is said to have actually been broadcast on Soviet television - before the

Wind of Change

almost forgot it.

Of course, nothing is easier than to make fun of the incredibly bad tricks of this work from today's computer-generated special effects.

About the plastic hand puppet that is supposed to be a dragon.

The explosions painted with colored pencils.

And yet - the longer you immerse yourself in this world of costumes and stage magic of the 19th century, the more this film touches your heart.

Because the enthusiasm with which people dance awkwardly and gesticulate exaggeratedly can only be taken seriously.

Because time is so ungracious with the best of intentions.

And so, of all places, the meanest and vilest place on earth - the Internet - gives the returning trash milestone a warm welcome.

"This film is absurd and monstrous," writes a YouTube user.

"And he is divine and wonderful." Indeed.

PS: In the meantime the first part got English subtitles.

In terms of absurdity, however, the dialogues cannot even begin to compete with the images.

So I would advise you to turn it off.

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-04-12

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.