''Tolkien'' is a 2019 British-American
biographical drama
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a Nonfiction, non-fictional or History, historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. The ...
film directed by
Dome Karukoski
Thomas "Dome" August George Karukoski (; born 29 December 1976) is a Finnish film director. He is considered to be one of Finland's most successful film directors, having won over 30 festival awards and having directed six feature films that beca ...
and written by
David Gleeson
David Gleeson (born in Limerick) is an Irish film director and writer.
Personal life
A native of Cappamore, Co. Limerick, Gleeson is the third generation of his family to enter the film business. His grandfather opened up the Regal Cinema, C ...
and
Stephen Beresford
Stephen Beresford (born c. 1972) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for writing the play ''The Last of the Haussmans'', produced by the National Theatre in 2012, and the 2014 historical comedy ''Pride'', which won the Queer Palm ...
. It is about the early life of English professor
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
, author of ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'', as well as notable academic works. The film stars
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...
,
Lily Collins
Lily Jane Collins (born 18 March 1989) is a British and American actress and model who is known for her work in several films, including ''Stuck in Love'' (2012), ''The English Teacher'' (2013), and '' Love, Rosie'' (2014), comedy ''Rules Do ...
,
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney (; ga, Colm Ó Maonaigh; born 30 May 1953) is an Irish actor known for playing Miles O'Brien in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He has guest-starred on many T ...
, and
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''The Tempest'', ''King ...
.
''Tolkien'' was released in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2019, and in the United States on May 10, 2019, by
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
, and was the first feature film released after the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...
. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $9 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.
Plot
As young children being raised by a widowed mother,
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
and his brother Hilary receive help from a local priest, Father Francis, who must relocate them from their home to small apartments in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
due to financial hardships. Their mother is supportive and loving, filling their minds with stories of adventure and mystery which she recites by the fireplace at night. She becomes ill, however, and one day upon returning home from school, Tolkien finds her slumped in her chair, dead. Father Francis becomes the boys' legal guardian, and eventually finds a kindly rich woman who agrees to take them in, providing them with room and board while they continue their childhood education. There, Tolkien meets
Edith Bratt
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...
, the woman's only other ward. Tolkien is taken with Edith, whose piano playing he admires, and the two become friends.
At school, Tolkien immediately shows talent with languages, earning rough treatment from a rival classmate, Robert Gilson. When the two boys get into a fight, the headmaster—Robert's father—orders that they spend all of their time together for the remainder of the term. While both initially resent the assignment, Tolkien is soon accepted into Robert's small circle of friends, and the four—Tolkien, Gilson, Christopher Wiseman, and Geoffrey Smith—form a close friendship, the TCBS or "Tea Club and Barrovian Society", which grows with the years, even as they attend separate universities. Meanwhile, Tolkien continues his friendship with Edith, falling in love with her. Father Francis finds out about their relationship and recognizes that it is affecting Tolkien's grades, and so forbids him from pursuing her while under his guardianship. Tolkien is distraught, not wanting to lose the priest's financial support of his schooling. He relates the conversation to Edith, promising they will be able to be together when he reaches 21, the age of majority, but she instead ends the relationship.
Tolkien struggles at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, but attracts the attention of Professor
Joseph Wright Joseph Wright may refer to:
*Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), English painter
*Joseph Wright (American painter) (1756–1793), American portraitist
*Joseph Wright (fl. 1837/1845), whose company, Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons, became the Metro ...
, a prominent
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
. Tolkien realises that language is his true passion, and enrols in Wright's class. When the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
breaks out, he and his friends all enlist in the armed forces. Before Tolkien leaves, Edith returns and the two declare their love for each other. At the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
, Tolkien, suffering from
trench fever
Trench fever (also known as "five-day fever", "quintan fever" ( la, febris quintana), and "urban trench fever") is a moderately serious disease transmitted by body lice. It infected armies in Flanders, France, Poland, Galicia, Italy, Salonika, Ma ...
, goes to look for Smith, convinced that he is calling him, but is unable to find him and collapses unconscious. He wakes in a hospital weeks later with Edith by his side, to find that Smith and Gilson have been killed; Wiseman survived but was traumatised.
Years later, Tolkien and Edith are married with four children, and Tolkien is now a professor at Oxford himself. The film ends with him inspired to write the famous opening line of ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...
''..."In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."
Cast
Production
![Tolkien cast by Gage Skidmore (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Tolkien_cast_by_Gage_Skidmore_%28cropped%29.jpg)
On November 21, 2013,
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
and
Chernin Entertainment
Chernin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and owned by former News Corporation president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin, also CEO and chairman of the company. Jenno Topping is the current Head o ...
announced they were developing a biographical film about the English
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
and author of ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'',
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
, based on a screenplay by
David Gleeson
David Gleeson (born in Limerick) is an Irish film director and writer.
Personal life
A native of Cappamore, Co. Limerick, Gleeson is the third generation of his family to enter the film business. His grandfather opened up the Regal Cinema, C ...
. The film was to touch on many themes in Tolkien's early life, including his friendships, love of languages, religion, and romance with
Edith Bratt
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...
.
Another biopic, ''Tolkien and Lewis'' – about Tolkien and his friend
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
– had been reported to be in production the previous year, but did not proceed.
James Strong was announced to be directing the project, then titled ''Middle Earth'', but later dropped out for unknown reasons. On July 24, 2017,
Dome Karukoski
Thomas "Dome" August George Karukoski (; born 29 December 1976) is a Finnish film director. He is considered to be one of Finland's most successful film directors, having won over 30 festival awards and having directed six feature films that beca ...
was hired to direct the film with the screenplay from Gleeson and
Stephen Beresford
Stephen Beresford (born c. 1972) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for writing the play ''The Last of the Haussmans'', produced by the National Theatre in 2012, and the 2014 historical comedy ''Pride'', which won the Queer Palm ...
, which Chernin produced for Fox Searchlight to distribute.
Karukoski related that he had grown up fatherless and in poverty, and that because of this, he felt, as a child, a strong connection to Tolkien, who had similar experiences.
Karukoski also mentioned that he had wanted to create a biopic about Tolkien since he was 12, which was when he first read Tolkien's works,
and that it had been a dream of his to create film adaptations of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''.
He described the effect of Tolkien's works on him as "life-changing", saying that when he was bullied as a child, "it was like the characters became friends of mine."
Of the author, he said: "
at struck me the most is that he lived an amazing life... this beautiful, emotional story about love and friendship. So many things about what I had read about
nthe books, occurred or were instrumental in his own life.
he ''Tolkien'' film wasa film that had to be made."
In July 2017,
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...
was recruited as the frontrunner for the title role.
On August 30, 2017,
Lily Collins
Lily Jane Collins (born 18 March 1989) is a British and American actress and model who is known for her work in several films, including ''Stuck in Love'' (2012), ''The English Teacher'' (2013), and '' Love, Rosie'' (2014), comedy ''Rules Do ...
was cast to co-star with Hoult, as
Edith Bratt
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...
, love and later wife of Tolkien; Bratt was also the inspiration for
Lúthien in ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...
''.
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney (; ga, Colm Ó Maonaigh; born 30 May 1953) is an Irish actor known for playing Miles O'Brien in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He has guest-starred on many T ...
,
Tom Glynn-Carney
Tom Glynn-Carney (born 7 February 1995) is an English actor and singer. He has appeared in Christopher Nolan's war film ''Dunkirk'' (2017), '' Tolkien'', '' The King'', and '' Rialto'' (2019), and as King Aegon II Targaryen in ''House of the ...
, and
Genevieve O'Reilly
Genevieve O'Reilly (born 6 January 1977) is an Irish actress. She is known for her work in the ''Star Wars'' franchise as Mon Mothma, having portrayed the character in ''Revenge of the Sith'', ''Rogue One'', and the Disney+ series '' Andor'', ...
joined the cast in October 2017, and
Craig Roberts
Craig Haydn Roberts (born 21 January 1991) is a Welsh actor and director. He is best known for lead roles as Oliver Tate in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film '' Submarine'' (2010) and David Meyers in the series ''Red Oaks'' (2014–2017), and ...
was added the following month.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
commenced in October 2017 in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and concluded on December 14, 2017.
Locations for the film included
Thornton Hough
Thornton Hough () is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England, of pre-Conquest origins. The village grew during the ownership of Joseph Hirst into a small model village and was later acquired by William Lever, founder of Lever ...
village green and
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...
docks.
On April 23, 2019, the
Tolkien Estate
The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate to subsidiary ent ...
issued a statement making it clear that the family and estate did not endorse the film or its content.
The film was released on May 3, 2019, in the United Kingdom
and on May 10, 2019 in the United States.
Reception
Box office
''Tolkien'' has grossed $4.5 million in the United States, and $4.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $9 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
''Detective Pikachu'' (also known as ''Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'' and released as in Japan after the original game) is a 2019 comedy film directed by Rob Letterman. Based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise, the film is a loose adaptation of the ...
'', ''
Poms'' and ''
The Hustle'', and was projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,425 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $2.2 million and finishing in ninth.
Critical response
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Tolkien'' has the period trappings and strong performances of a worthy biopic, but lacks the imagination required to truly do its subject justice." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at
PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
gave it a 76% positive score.
[
Giving the film two out of five stars, Wendy Ide for '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' commented " decades-long trudge through Middle-earth would seem like a carefree skip through the park compared to this slog of a literary biopic." David Sims, writing for ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', criticized the biopic as lacking imagination and subtlety, stating, "The result doesn't rise above the insight of a Wikipedia page." Sheila O'Malley, reviewing the film for Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
.com, comments that having Tolkien literally "see ngdragons and what would eventually become the Eye of Sauron and the Nazgûl, unfurling across the hellscape of No-man's-Land ... is a very reductive approach to literature". Worse, in O'Malley's view, is that by explicitly showing the Somme as "'inspiration'" (her quotation marks) for Middle-earth, the film "diminish sboth the battle and the books".
On the other hand, Graeme Tuckett of ''Stuff
Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to:
*Physical matter
*General, unspecific things, or entities
Arts, media, and entertainment
Books
*''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly
*''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...
'' gave the film four out of five stars and called it "A subtle, delicate biopic of The Lord of the Rings author." Writing for ''The Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of Ma ...
'', Chuck Yarborough graded it A, calling it "a wonderful piece of art" and "a magical film worthy of the wizardry of Gandalf himself." Yarborough later rated it the 2nd best film of the year, after ''Rocketman
''RocketMan'' (also written as ''Rocket Man'') is a 1997 American comic science fiction film directed by Stuart Gillard and starring Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn. A partial remake of the 1967 film, '' The ...
''.
The film was criticized for giving no indication that Tolkien's faith was a central theme in his life. Karukoski explained the decision as motivated by the difficulty of portraying something as "internal" as religion in Tolkien's life. Karukoski related that he had attempted to create scenes that depicted Tolkien's more religious side, but those scenes failed to engage initial audiences and were cut from the film. Nevertheless, Karukoski explained that although there are no overt references to religion in the film, religion is still implied: "We have scenes where he attends communion and helps Father Francis to show that he was a man of faith. There are also layered scenes, where he looks up to the heavens for an answer as if asking God for help. There's another scene where a figure is on a cross. Many people won't notice those hints because they're so eternal." Other reviews stated that Tolkien's Christian faith is embedded in the film as it is in his Middle-earth writings.
References
External links
* on Fox Searchlight's official website
*
*
*
Tolkien
' at ''History vs. Hollywood
''History vs. Hollywood'' is a television show on the History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel in the United States. On the show, experts are interviewed on the historical accuracy of a film that is based on a historical event. For example, the ...
''
{{Dome Karukoski
2019 films
2010s biographical films
American biographical films
American coming-of-age films
Biographical films about writers
Coming-of-age drama films
Cultural depictions of J. R. R. Tolkien
Films directed by Dome Karukoski
Films scored by Thomas Newman
Fox Searchlight Pictures films
Western Front (World War I) films
World War I films based on actual events
Films set in England
Films set in France
Films set in Birmingham, West Midlands
Films set in Oxford
Films shot in England
Films shot in Oxfordshire
Films shot in Greater Manchester
Films shot in Merseyside
Films shot in Lancashire
Chernin Entertainment films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films