"It's Gone"

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=80 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="005dba33.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="009ef530.jpg" border=0 width="239" height="83" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">|  </FONT> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Return of the King"><U>RotK</U></A>  |  <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U>Home</U></A>  |  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >back to  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Return of the King"><U><B>Return of the King</B></U></A> </FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Just a Feeling"><U>"Just a Feeling"</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shelobs Lair"><U>Shelob's Lair</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Crossing Mordor"><U>Crossing Mordor</U></A>   |   <A HREF="sammathnaur.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sammath Naur"><U>Sammath Naur</U></A>   |   <B>"It's Gone"</B>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The End of All Things"><U>The End of All Things</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Houses of Healing"><U>The Houses of Healing</U></A>   |   <A HREF="greyhavens.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Grey Havens"><U>The Grey Havens</U></A>   | <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/Shelob" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/Shelob"><U>Shelob's Lair</U></A></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="95972473.jpg"> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> <div> <I><B>"It's Gone"</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Regarding:</B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>  </B></I></FONT>Reaching inside yourself vs. reaching inside the character.  The first technique may work in most dramatic situations, where the actor has lived through an experience that's at least somewhat similar.  But at this point in the story, not only has Elijah not experienced a moment like this--I'd venture to say that <I>no actor </I>has.  Frodo's combination and level/depth of personal relief, loss, love, joy, grief and confusion, along with the knowledge that Middle-earth and the Shire are saved, is unique.  Tolkien says Frodo was probably not experiencing the guilt here that he will later--mostly because he expects to die momentarily.  That acceptance and even welcoming of death is another thing to throw into this portrayal of Frodo.  One emotion? Hardly!  Elijah gives us not only a good sample of his layered mixtures of emotions, but changes the entire mix moment by moment, as he has at other important times during the movies.  He shows us Frodo's emotions, not his own, which IMHO is a <I>partial </I>answer to the mystery of how he does what he does.  </div> <bR> <div> I'm not going to even try to define all the emotions here, but I think we can see the shift as Frodo literally regains himself.  Pics 1 and 2 are almost pure confusion; Frodo don't seem to even reach the point of asking "Where am I?" until 3.  3-6 show a gradual realization of where he is and what's happened.  I think 7 is very interesting, and would love to know exactly what thought is occurring to Frodo at that moment.  There's a dramatic change in the eyes between caps 6 and 7, almost as if they've regained a fundamental awareness, and for a fleeting instant there's virtually no forehead wrinkling or eyebrow raising; but then in 8, some of the confusion returns, and 7 seems to stand out as an isolated moment of lucidity--which, IMHO, would be a perfectly natural part of his recovery.  In 12-13, he gets to a place where he can touch the happiness and relief of the job being done and of the Ring no longer controlling his mind.  But there's another emotional switch in 14 that continues to one degree or another through cap 19.  Possibly the reaction to experiencing the other side of what "It's gone" means to him, in addition to himself and Middle-earth being saved?  By the time we get to 18-19, the joy and relief are gone.  It takes Sam's confirmation that "It's over," (20) to bring Frodo back to the realization that something good has truthfully happened.  In 21-23, we not only see a relief that's beyond expressing, but we also see Frodo really notice and focus on Sam for the first time since he decided to let Sam pull him out of the chasm.   IMHO, some of the positive emotion we see on Frodo's face in those caps is love for Sam and gratitude for his presence. </div> <div> <B> <A NAME="itsgone_top"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></div> <div> <B>1</B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="00e1f510.jpg" border=0 width="799" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>2</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="00f1c510.jpg" border=0 width="796" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>3</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01020500.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>4</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0111c500.jpg" border=0 width="796" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>5</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01220500.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>6</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01320510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>7</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01420510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>8</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0151e500.jpg" border=0 width="798" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>9</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01620530.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="339" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>10</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="017204e0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="334" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>11</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="018204f0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="335" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>12</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="019204f0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="335" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>13</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01a1f510.jpg" border=0 width="799" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>14</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="017204e0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="334" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>15</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01c1d530.jpg" border=0 width="797" height="339" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>16</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01d1d4e0.jpg" border=0 width="797" height="334" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>17</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="01e20510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>18</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="02020510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>19</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0221f510.jpg" border=0 width="799" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>20</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="02320500.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>21</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="02420510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>22</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="02520510.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>23</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="02d204f0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="335" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="137" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 67 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#itsgone_top" TITLE="Its Gone"><U><B><IMG SRC="02e7d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 66 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The End of All Things"><U><IMG SRC="03c7d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>