Contemplate the emotion on the set of “Lord of the Rings” when Frodo’s interpreter, Elijah Wood, films his last scene opposite Peter Jackson.
It’s been 20 years this year and almost to the day since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was released on screens. The saga which brought JRR Tolkien’s cult work to the cinema for the first time in live action ended after three films and 14 and a half months of filming.
This is why, when Elijah Wood, the interpreter of Frodo Baggins, shoots his last scene of the three films, the emotion is palpable on the set. Even though he already has everything he needs in the box, director Peter Jackson continues to replay the scene because he can’t bring himself to say a simple “cut!” which will put an end to more than a year of filming:
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As Jackson says in this excerpt from the making of the saga:
We have just said goodbye to Frodo Baggins. […] We have the feeling of having left for the Gray Havens. So it really is the end of an era. It’s another sad day.
The Gray Havens is the name of the last chapter of the last novel of the Lord of the Rings. This is a place where Elves go when they want to go to the Undying Lands, also called the “Blessed Kingdom”, and located in the “Far West”. A sort of symbolic Paradise of Tolkien’s universe.
When Peter Jackson chooses to refer to the Gray Havens, it is to emphasize that the adventure is over, as was that of Gandalf and Frodo, who left for the Gray Havens at the end of the novel. The scene of their departure is also present in the film:
Warner Bros. Departure for Gray Havens
Even if the video shows Elijah Wood’s last scene on the main shoot, reshoots were necessary for the three films for 2 months, some time later, making the reunion of the teams, actors and director also very moving. No doubt when they met they all simply said, like Sam at the end of the novel: “Well, [nous] here we come again.”