There are few film series as commercially and critically successful asThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy. It became the most awarded film series of all time andThe Return of the Kingalone tied the record for the mostOscarsever won by a single film, achieving the distinction while accomplishing the most perfect Oscar sweep in history, winning the award for every category in which it was nominated.
Despite the shower of superlatives that can be applied to those films, however, they did not make everyone happy. Particularly due to the fact that the story was adapted from one of the most successful book trilogies of all time, there was a great deal of interest in a film adaptation from the start, but the adaptation process itself means that some things always have to be changed from the source material to better fit the medium of film. These differences between the two types of storytelling are always particularly significant to devotees of the book series, as thedifferences between the books and filmsare always food for thought.
While one of the most famous complaints about the deviation from the books is inthe way the films depict Faramir, arguably the more significant character difference between book and film is not Faramir but his father, Denethor.
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Denethor of the films, portrayed byJohn Noble, is easily one ofthe most useless leadersin the movie. He is a scowling, grumpy, tomato-savaging man who does next to nothing to prepare for the impending siege of Gondor. He has to be tricked into lighting the beacons to call for aid from his allies, he sends his only son on a suicide mission to recover a lost city, he is more concerned about losing the city to Aragorn than to Sauron, and he ultimately attempts to burn his son alive, along with himself. To his credit, he was at least half successful at the latter. It’s the thought that counts.
To be fair, the films do give him a certain amount of depth to keep him from simply being a villain. He is clearly in great mourning, grieving the death of his son Boromir and consequently lashing out at his less-favored son. Nonetheless, he clearly does care for Faramir in his own way, and gives in to despair when he sees that he has sent Faramir to his (apparent) death.
Nevertheless, the character of Denethor in the books is a much more favorable representation. In the books, Denethor is actually clearly an extremely competent ruler. He is actually said to have been a great step up from his predecessors as Steward, and to have been “more kingly” than any of them.
In the books, it is also on Denethor’s orders that the beacons are lit and Gondor rallied all of its allies. Far from being inept and unprepared,Denethor is prepared well in advanceof Sauron’s assault, and actually prepares the defense of Osgiliath so well that the initial attack of the forces of Mordor is beaten back. Rather than being weak and inept, Denethor actually beats Sauron to the punch with his foresight for a time.
One of the more curious and most impressive things about Denethor in the books also has to do with another element of that story not seen as clearly in the movies. In the books, Gandalf, while undeniably good, is much more subtle and not nearly as straightforward as he appears in the movies. He rarely speaks his whole mind, and usually has some unspoken motive or plan for events that he always keeps to himself.
It is only when he comes before Denethor, however, that someone finally calls him out on it. Denethor surprisingly holds his own in conversation with Gandalf, even at one point chastising him for growing irate, telling him that he is overgrown with pride to grow restless when the Steward decides to talk to Pippin rather than the wizard. In Pippin’s own eyes, the encounter seems evenly matched: “he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame. Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older.”
Denethor is well aware of Gandalf’s subtlety, and refuses to play a part as a puppet of Gandalf’s larger scheme. While Gandalf certainly has the best of intentions, it is difficult not to respect the man who can do what few others can and actually stand up to the wizard in conversation.
Perhaps the final element that makes Denethor so different in the books is his dramatic fall. And no, I don’t mean the flying flaming leap he takes off of the battlements of Minas Tirith. But the fall of Denethor is a tale more appropriate for a tragic play than perhaps anything else, and something the movie, for all its runtime, could not capture accurately.
Denethor’s slow corruption is perhaps in itself a testament to his greatness of character. While he is an extremely capable leader, the first blow to his character comes as his wife dies when Boromir and Faramir were both very young. He grows more grim and withdrawn, as he does years later when Boromir dies as well.
He also has such confidence in his own will that he decides to look into the Palantir in Minas Tirith, though he knows the seeing-stones are compromised by Sauron. It is almost exactly in this way that Sauron actually ensnares and corrupts Saruman in the first place. The great testament to Denethor’s character, however, is that, unlike Saruman, he proves to have such integrity and strength of will that Saruman can not corrupt him or overthrow his will. Not only is Denethor an equal to Gandalf in conversation; he is actually able to wrestle the will of Sauron himself and win. For a time.
It was with the knowledge that he gleans from the Palantir that Denethor is able to prepare so well for the movements of the enemy and lead his people as well as he does. Nonetheless, it is the Palantir that become his downfall. Despite the fact that Sauron can not overcome him, what Denethor sees in the seeing-stone feeds his growing despair, compounded by the death of Boromir and Faramir, as he believes. The last, and terribly ironic straw, is that he finally gives in after seeing the black ships of the corsairs of Umbar coming up the riverto spell doom for the city. It is this scene that drives him to his own funeral pyre, never knowing that those ships are actually bringing Aragorn and his relieving force to save the city in its hour of greatest need.
These are some of the most significant differences between Denethor of the books and films, and the net result can be quite dramatic. While Denethor of the films is corrupt with occasional hints of sympathy, the Denethor of the books is noble, competent, strong-willed, but tragically flawed and falls into despair by means of his own greatest strength.
