Cinescapade

With LOTR, the Land Down Under is taking its turn on center stage

Millions of people around the world are anxiously awaiting December 19th, 2001. Only the out-of-touch won't know that this date marks the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of the most anticipated screen adaptation of the decade, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". Known to fans as LOTR, this epic fantasy tale deals with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs and other magicians. If this enumeration leaves you cold (or perplexed), perhaps the fact that scholars from prestigious Universities such as Oxford (where the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, taught Old English) still debate the story's qualities to this day will bestow some dignity on this affair. Now LOTR fans are speculating on legions of Internet sites (and even the Tolkien enthusiast will concede that some of these are major geek zones) whether the tale can be successfully adapted to the big screen. One thing is certain: with a record 1.7 million downloads of the trailer in the first 24 hours of its release on the Internet, this movie is generating more buzz than even Star Wars Episode I could muster.

Interestingly, this adaptation also happens to be an authentic Down Under production shot by New Zealand director Peter Jackson in his homeland. Now how did that happen? How is it possible that a reported 270 million-dollar film trilogy be manufactured so far from Hollywood and its reigning team? It is hard to establish exactly what prompted the choice of director, other than him being a Tolkien fan. But Peter Jackson, although he had never been involved in a project of such dimensions before, did have several cards up his sleeve: a strong visual style, his own special effects company, WETA Digital, and a good knowledge of New Zealand.

The variety of natural landscapes and low production costs offered by this location are part of the US television and film industry's attraction to the so-called Land Down Under. Many Hollywood productions have been shot in Australia over the years, especially since the Australian film renaissance in the early 70es. With blockbusters like The Matrix II and Star Wars II coming out of Fox's new Sydney studios, Australia and now New Zealand have become Tinseltown's favorite location resources.

LOTR, with its Kiwi director and use of local resources, from actors and technicians to pre- and post-production, also marks the tip of a wave going in the opposite direction. For years a growing number of films from Down Under have slowly been making their way onto our screens, the latest being The Dish. Aussie actors and directors are now using their American success to pump up their homeland's image and industry. Baz Luhrmann insisted on shooting Moulin Rouge in Australia. Crowe demanded that his character in Proof of Life be Aussie. Charlotte Grey, an all-Australian production, marks director Gillian Armstrong's return Down Under after her 1994 Hollywood stint, Little Women. Guy Pearce will go back to his roots next year in two Australian productions with no current US distribution, the ghost story Till Human Voices Wake Us and Blood and Guts, a comedy about a trio of robbers that sounds vaguely reminiscent of an Aussie-style O Brother Where Art Thou.

Now, after years of road clearing by Jane Campion and films like Once Were Warriors (or TV's Xena for mass audiences), LOTR is giving New Zealand its turn on center stage. These new installments in the Down Under saga are changing the film industry. And who knows? Tinseltown's world domination may one day be challenged by the Aussie and Kiwi industry.