NFB Re-Watches The Lord Of The Rings: “A Long-Expected Party” As A Major Setpiece

Previous entry: The Music Of “Very Old Friends”

That was good.

With a bang and a flash.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings – “A Long-Expected Party”

Wherein a lot of big bangs happen; Bilbo gets maudlin; and the world’s best (or worst) birthday speech occurs.

It’s time now for The Fellowship Of The Ring to give us a significant setpiece. The first of the story was undoubtedly “Prologue: One Ring To Rule Them All…” with all of its important plot points, battles and history. We’ve had a good bit of intervening scene-setting between then and now, but “A Long-Expected Party” is going to be the next major moment of the story, a chapter where more vital characters are introduced, big bombastic moments occur and critical plot developments unfold. Much of the story, especially from now until Frodo and Bilbo are re-united in Rivendell, is going to branch off naturally from the events contained within these few minutes.

There’s a lot happening in this sequence, as you might expect from the general set-up, and I figure I’ll go through it all chronologically. One of the very first things we get is a set-up that will be long in the payoff, as Sam plays wallflower at an area of the party set aside for dancing, looking sheepishly at a dancing Rosie Cotton. Remember that all we have seen of Sam so far in the story is a very brief glimpse at him gardening in “Concerning Hobbits”: his line here where he declares he will go for another drink rather than ask Rosie to dance is actually his very first moment of speech. It’s Frodo – who lacks any of Sam’s conservatism in terms of being willing to dance – who literally shoves his friend into Rosie’s arms. A few important things get established here: that Sam has a thing for Rosie, which save one scene in a little while we will literally not come back to for the better part of ten hours; that Sam is inherently shy and reserved; that he and Frodo are friends; and that Frodo is willing to push his friend out of the figurative airplane door if it comes to it. The idea of the hero and the “lancer” is also evident in this kind of characterisation, with Frodo and Sam set-up as opposites in many ways despite their friendship. It’s not a major thing, but all of this kind of stuff has come to the fore in a moment of quasi-conflict, which helps set out appreciation of the party on the right note, as a space where significant things will happen.

The party also has two major nods to The Hobbit, to go along with the little hints that we have gotten in “The Shire” and “Very Old Friends”. The first is of course Bilbo’s story to the children, essentially a re-telling of the chapter “Roast Mutton”. The second, and much more spectacular, is the dragon firework that gets unleashed by Merry and Pippin (more in a sec). Even if totally ignorant of what occurred in The Hobbit, we’ve already heard Gandalf talk about “the incident with the dragon” in “The Shire”, so we could guess what this amazing, and rather scary, firework is in reference to. It is these moments, and especially the fiery dragon, that help fix this chapter even more in our minds, with the dragon especially marking it out as an unexpectedly exciting part of the story.

That particular firework allows for the introduction for the next two critical characters of the story, in Merry and Pippin, again marking “A Long-Expected Party” out. Their small adventure in trying to rapidly progress Gandalf’s big finale establishes plenty of important things about them: their relative immaturity; their lack of long-term planning for their schemes; their penchant for acting without really thinking about what they are doing; their role as a foil for Gandalf; and, most importantly perhaps, their status as a duo, who will essentially only ever appear on screen as a pair until we get to the last part of the trilogy, and even there the split is only temporary. Their escapade, and Gandalf’s annoyance at the conclusion of it, allows us to inject a bit more traditional comedy into the narrative too, between their ridiculous appearance in the aftermath or the wizard grabbing them by the ears. It’s all fairly light-hearted, but enough has been done to plot the identity of Merry and Pippin firmly in our minds, enough that we won’t be surprised to see them pop back into the narrative later as major characters.

In the midst of all this is a much more serious moment between Bilbo and Frodo. We’ve already seen that Bilbo has his nephew very much on his mind, his one true regret about leaving the Shire in the manner that he is planning to, outlined subtly in “Very Old Friends”. Now, having imbibed a little alcohol, Bilbo has the chance to give voice to some of those feelings. It is interesting that he frames his adoption of Frodo as a selfish act, one where he indulged his own sense that Frodo was a step above his other relations in terms of having “real spirit”: given that this is the last time the two will talk until much later in the story, it’s all but a symbolic passing of the torch, of the once adventure-seeking hobbit designating that it it now Frodo that will have to take his place in Bag End and among the hobbits, while he steps out of view. In essence, having been the main character for this first very early part of the story, Bilbo now passes that mantle very firmly to Frodo.

The centrepiece of the whole scene is Bilbo’s speech of course, a moment that really makes “A Long-Expected Party” what it is, and critical set-up for what we can say constitutes the climax of this whole section of the film in the next chapter. It’s a nice blend of rustic comedy (the hobbit roll call), clever wordplay (Bilbo’s compliments to the audience), indications that Bilbo might not be all there (the “I have things to do” moment) and a singular instance between Bilbo and Frodo in the midst of the crowd as the speech reaches its crescendo. At the conclusion of this major setpiece, we get a moment worthy of that title, as Bilbo disappears and the main instigating moment of what will follow begins to come into being.

Goodbye

Notes

-The music for most of the chapter is the lovely folk-sounding “Fiery Red Hair” for the dance, then “Farewell Dear Bilbo”, which matches sentimental repetitions of the Shire leitmotif for Bilbo and Frodo’s conversation with the much punchier, but still slightly light-hearted, moment with the “dragon”.

-The fireworks are amazingly realised before we get to the dragon. The outward-shooting birds are spectacular, as are the smaller ones that Gandalf lets off just to delight the kids. They look both realistic and fantastical at the same time.

-Bilbo delights some watching children about the events of “Roast Mutton” and then finds out that all of the kids belong to one woman. “Good gracious you have been productive” is Bilbo’s perfectly delivered exclamation.

-Bilbo’s words to Frodo, his last until they are re-united much later in the story, are very telling. His admission that he is “very selfish you know” regards why he took Frodo in when his parents in certainly speaks to a man who is considering very carefully all of the deeds of his life thus far.

-In an amazing comedy moment, Frodo asks if this sentimental Bilbo has been drinking, getting the great reply of “No…well yes”.

-Can’t say enough about that fireworks dragon, which is such a great effect. Frodo’s reaction of real fear helps to make the impression.

-Love the hobbit roll call at the start of Bilbo’s speech, which of course is straight from the book: “My dear Bagginses, and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks, Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots!” (“Proudfeet!”)

-Of course, that pales in comparison to the riddle that follows: “I don’t know half of you half as well as
I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

-Bilbo’s speech suddenly takes a turn, as he mumbles “I…I have things to do” before taking the Ring out of his picket. The impression is almost of senility: it’s hard to know if this is a sign of Bilbo having genuine mental deterioration, or if he is putting on a bit for the crowd.

-As he says his “very fond farewell”, it’s a really nice touch that Bilbo is looking straight at Frodo, who belatedly realises that something is just a bit wrong. “Goodbye”.

Final Verdict: “A Long-Expected Party” is a great setpiece, five or so minutes that give the viewer great characterisation of individual people, some appropriate introductions, moments of plot significance and helps you wash it all down with great visuals and a few instances of hilarious humour. The Fellowship Of The Ring has had hints of darkness since we got to the Shire, but this is a time for celebration and fun, before we turn back to darkness, ever so slowly, with the disappearance of Bilbo. “Concerning Hobbits” was prologue, “The Shire” and “Very Old Friends” were more direct set-up, and after them “A Long-Expected Party” is a middle act in a mini-arc, that gives some payoff and fleshes everything out. Next is a very important climax.

Next entry: The Evil Of The Ring In “Farewell Dear Bilbo”

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