Some sequences of the FOTR have a striking quality similar to a painting. Just occassionaly the camera holds on an image and covers tremendous ground in terms of understanding of the character. One such image is Frodo at Amon Hen.
We see Frodo spent, resting on the eye of a fallen statue. The image is framed in such a way to make a number of points:
~ we are reminded of the opening sequence of the film. Frodo at ease in the comfy life of the shire, resting on a green tree reading, full of the energy of the springtime.
All the time in the world. A party is even in the air. Above, in the image of Amon Hen, we catch up with Frodo at the breaking of the fellowship. We see how far Frodo has come. Here he is exhausted, almost forlorn in a hard, stony cold place. The tones around him are not green but greyish. The surround is autumnal, stark. The little green growth of grass sticking out from the head slightly above the figure seems almost a mocking reference to the shire. From the familiarity of the round doors of Bag End to this stony cold eye. From this one image we see the distance Frodo has covered since the Shire. Alone, tired and we wonder even if the hero is beyond recovering. Though the figure is motionless we know at once that he has come a long long way.
~the little figure rests in the eye. This is Frodo alone with his fate. The eye reminds us of the eye of Sauron. The eye surrounds Frodo as the lidless eye of the dark Lord tries to do. Destiny surrounds the halfling. So we can see that Frodo is drawing nearer to his fate and it tells us he is going there alone. ~the figure is arranged like a tear in the eye. If we rotate the image we can see Frodo’s body is almost like a newly formed tear. There is a reminder here of the tears when Arwen gave her grace at Bruinen, of the tear held in Frodo’s eye after Gandalf’s fall (again Frodo was framed alone) and the lone tear that will come when Frodo determines to continue the quest alone.
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