Unfinished Tales: A Review of Dome Karukoski's "Tolkien" by Dawn Felagund

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Fanwork Notes

Fanwork Information

Summary:

In this review of Dome Karukolski's biopic Tolkien, I consider the role of fictionalization, dangling threads, and of course the power of fellowship in art.

Major Characters: J.R.R. Tolkien

Major Relationships:

Genre: Nonfiction/Meta

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings:

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 2, 654
Posted on 7 April 2019 Updated on 7 April 2019

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

Unfinished Tales: A Review of Dome Karukoski's "Tolkien"

Comments

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Thanks for this thought-provoking review.

As a fellow country dweller I haven't seen the movie either, but some of the themes you mention do resonate with me so I'll comment anyway ;-)

First of all I'm thrilled that the movie al least acknowledges that JRRT's works came at the expense of Edith's chances in life. As a mom of young kids and fanfic writer I've always considered this a gaping omission in Tolkien's biographies. 

It's nearly impossible to overestimate the sheer amount of emotional and physical work required to raise even one child into a functional adult -- enough to sink any intellectual or artistic pursuit. Edith had four, and no hope of anything resembling a fair division of that labor. 

While Tolkien had oceans of undisturbed time on his hands to read, write and sit in pubs discussing his work with his friends, Edith spent her time and energy feeding, diapering and disciplining her unruly toddlers. Tolkien never had to interrupt his Elvish genealogy to wonder whether his kids had made their homework, if their school uniforms still fit or how to get them to do piano practice. In the 1930's all that was exclusively women's work. 

I'm so glad to finally see a Tolkien biography acknowledge this that I'm not even disappointed in the movie resolving this thread by having Edith resign herself to her situation: in reality it was her only option. 

This is probably very bad for my karma but I share your delight in seeing certain pockets of the fandom discover this message and the one about Tolkien accepting his friend's orientation. JRRT was a product of his time and his religion, but claiming that an early 20th century Oxford Catholic would wholeheartedly subscribe to the views of the 21st century religious right is as fundamentally dishonest as making him a liberal. 

 

YES. I 100% agree that Tolkien's literary career--including the very fact that we are having this conversation right now--was due to Edith taking on the labor of mother and homemaker. Grundy presented about the horrors of modernity in his work, especially his own ambivalence: complaining of the noise and stink of cars, for example, even as he owned one for a while. Grundy's words, paraphrased, seem relevant: He disliked when machines reduced the need for manual labor even though, as an Oxford professor, he was performing no manual labor. He complained about caring for his chickens, for pity's sake! Not the most difficult of homesteading chores, especially given all the free protein they supply.

Anyway, in short, he was privileged. A lot of work--Edith's especially--went on around him that he romanticized and held up as an ideal even as he was unwilling to perform it himself.

My chief complaint about the happy-hand-holding-walking-in-the-woods scene--because I agree, yes, it WAS her only choice--is that it seemed to resolve a conflict that, in fact, never resolved. And reverted to the whole, "Why would I want a career when I can get paid in hugs and kisses?" reasoning that the emotional satisfaction of having a family will and should triumph over women's need, same as men's, to challenge themselves intellectually. However, I would rather the ending we got than some invented resolution to the actual conflict. Most viewers, I hope, will see that Edith can be content with her family and still feel like her life lost some of its meaning and direction, partly in sacrifice to his goals.

Re: religion, I just remarked to Oshun that the religious right seems to neglect that most modern Christians are capable of faith as well as being rational, humane people. This fandom has always harbored a handful of them. In reality, I imagine they will just hate the film for suggesting that Tolkien was capable of accepting his friend's homosexuality while remaining a devout Catholic, but their discomfort during the film itself is nice to imagine. >;^)

It's a really good review. Thanks so much for sharing. As I already mentioned to you I am burning with envy that you got to see it. [If I had known earlier they were showing it in Vermont at the conference, I might have made an even greater effort to deal with my health, financial, and personal issues which made me unable to attend this week.] Happy, however, that you have so thoroughly reviewed here--it's the next best thing. (I can never get enough spoilers! It really helps me to be able to enjoy something more. Especially true in this case.)

I guess it will be available in NYC around May 10. Still have not managed to track down where it will be showing. Got my fingers crossed that I will be able to see it next month. Don't think I can stand to wait until it is available online.

I am bringing my own opinions and baggage with me, since I combed through both the Tolkien biography and Garth's Tolkien and the Great War more than once this past year. Garth has a lot about the collective and the individual members of the T.C.B.S. and also Tolkien and Edith.

Thanks again so much.

(So grateful it does not have scenes that play out like some of the worst of Alex's video games! I can handle a few scenes of battlefield pyrotechnics. I thought about the Dead Marshes myself when thinking of descriptions I have read of no-man's land on Somme battlefields.)

 

I thought about putting on a spoiler warning and did not--just for you! :D It's a film review. About a person's life whom we are all studying in a nerdy amount of detail. Spoilers should be expected and are they really spoilers anyway?

I hope you can see it. I really want to know what you think of it. You would have loved this past weekend. I really missed you being there. Sian and Grundy are such fun and smart people to hang out with. We've made it our mission to get you here next year! You will love the theme: Tolkien and the Classics. I personally think you should present a paper comparing Mae/Fin and Achilles/Patroclus. XD

I thought the battle scenes were actually very well done. I detest prolonged action sequences. I will deliberately sleep through them because I feel like catching up on sleep is a better use of my brain. I find them both dull and sensorily overwhelming, like having someone shout wordlessly in my face for 15 minutes. These were very dreamlike: a mix of the very gritty (though not terribly graphic) and the mythic. It left me with a definite understanding of how involvement in the Somme would have influenced him (even if he claims it did not, or did not much ... the Dead Marshes are, iIrc, the one part he acknowledges as connected to the Somme).

**I personally think you should present a paper comparing Mae/Fin . XD**

Now you are indulging me! I could do that. (I've thought about it enough.) There has been debate about the exact nature of their relationship--Achilles/Patroclus--since at least as early as the classical period itself and I have been known to compare Mae/Fin to them.