"Lord of the Rings": where was the film made? Locations - "The Lord of the Rings"

The famous trilogy, based on Tolkien's book, is the most ambitious and cult project in the history of world cinema. Millions of fans who dozens of times revisit their favorite movie, share their impressions and create fan clubs. And one of the most interesting questions for every fan of the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" - "Where was the film made?" The selection of territories for the film sets is an amazing story, accompanied by a multitude of problems and joyful events.

Difficulties encountered before the shooting

Peter Jackson, a resident of New Zealand, first met with the fictitious world, looking through a cartoon film based on the book. Then he was only 17, but it was this moment that instilled in him the confidence that he would become a director and be sure to make a film about Tolkien's work.

And Jackson became a director. First he shot films only in his native country. But "The Lord of the Rings" financed 95% of the US, which created difficulties. Perhaps investors did not know what the director could do, or maybe they did not believe in success, but only $ 70 million was allocated. And when the producer came to New Zealand with a check, then on his return said that it would take at least twice as many investments.

At that time the book was divided into two films. Peter has already prepared a script for each of them. But the sponsors decided that it was necessary to shoot just one film, cut out a lot of scenes, removed some of the characters. Jackson refused to shoot under these conditions. However, Peter did not plan to retreat, he rewrote the script for 2 years, invested a lot of effort and money.

New producer and film company

Jackson was looking for new partners for almost a month, he came to the film company and showed scenarios, as well as several already filmed clips, again and again receiving a refusal. But once he was lucky, he met Mark Ordeski, and he agreed to become a producer. Until the end it is not clear who then the luck smiled more, to the director or film company.

Mark proposed to remove not 2, but 3 films, otherwise all Peter's ideas simply will not fit. In addition, Tolkien himself divided his book into three parts. Jackson began to rewrite the script, and a few months later he was ready. Directly to the filming of the group began four years after Peter began to implement his long-standing idea for the film adaptation of the book "The Lord of the Rings".

Where the film was made: panoramic beauty and green Shire

Answer exactly where they shot "The Lord of the Rings", can only be superficial - in New Zealand. In fact, there were an infinite number of film sets, and it is impossible to say which part of the landscape got into the film to a greater extent.

The most attractive is the Shire - a quiet place in the Huikato region. Despite the fact that the shooting ended in 2000, today this place has not lost any popularity. Here everything was the same as it was during the work on the film, all the scenery was left for tourists. You can see the huge tree under which Uncle Bilbo turned 111 years old, and the house of the Beggins.

Queenstown is a resort town that is notable for its ideal beauty. It was noticed by Jackson, and he shot a lot of panoramic scenes here. In the film in this territory is located Lorien, a magnificent elven forest. By the way, here Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) was injured. Resting from work, he decided to surf. As a result of the impact on the water, his face was very swollen, even the make-up artists could not hide it. But the shooting did not stop, Peter decided to shoot Viggo only on one side, less swollen.

The functional river Wauau and the geographical center of New Zealand

Not far from the town of Queenstown, a colorful plain stretches. Here, a battle was fought between orcs and soldiers of Rohan. The Plain belongs to the national park. She meets twice - during the second stage Gandalf jumps on horseback to Minas Tirith.

The Anduin River, which occurs in every part of the trilogy, is Wauau. It was here that the ring lay, until it was discovered by Gollum. This river was the boundary between light and darkness, of course, until Sauron was destroyed. Crossing Wahiau, Arwen saves Frodo from the Nazgul. And also on the river they start a raft with the body of Boromir. In a word, this place is full of nostalgic memories, so it is so beloved by tourists.

In the town of Nelson, there is also a place where the "Lord of the Rings" was filmed. This is a geographical New Zealand center with magical charm. It is likely that this is why Peter in his film cast a ring of absolute power. In this city there is a helicopter tour, which shows tourists hard-to-find sights of the painting "The Lord of the Rings".

Where the film was made: the lifeless plains of the surroundings of Mordor and other gloomy places

Looking through the cinema, it's hard to imagine that the whole variety of natural landscapes, from the green Shire and ending with the horrifying gateways into Sauron's lair, are located in New Zealand alone. This is actually so, and most of the gloomy scenes were filmed in Tongariro Park.

Shooting "Lord of the Rings" was held near the volcano Orodruin. Here Isildur first destroyed Sauron, but he did not cope with the curse of the ring and put it on his finger. Here is the Fiery Hill - the final place of Frodo's nightmare. Gollum, together with the ring, plunges into the lava, breaking the boundary between darkness and light.

Another pretty dark place in the filming is Lake Te Anau. This is the Dead Marshes, where Frodo falls under the power of the dead. Perhaps, Te-Anau is the only place where there was no computer graphics, since it actually completely copies the description from the book.

Cast

With some of the invited actors, Jackson had difficulties, but luck was always on his side. For example, the performers of the roles of Frodo and Sam are Americans, but the director wanted to see only the British in the hobbits. Therefore, the other two small men had to bring them closer to English culture for several months, to correct their accents.

The role of Elven Arwen was originally written for Uma Thurman, but before filming she became pregnant. Liv Tyler perfectly coped with the character. Maybe even better than Thurman would have.

The actor, who was supposed to play Aragorn, was too young. The future king is wiser and older. Then, right during the filming, Peter invited Viggo Mortensen, whom he had never worked with before. At first he was refused, but the situation was corrected by the son of the future Aragorn, who literally worshiped the book "The Lord of the Rings". Where the film was made, what kind of work was to be done, what the fee would be - all this went to Viggy for second place. He immediately boarded the plane and went on a journey.

Orlando Bloom and John Rice-Davies were born for their roles. They not only got used to the images perfectly, but also played in such a way that it's impossible to imagine someone else in their places.

But the wizards are interesting facts. Christopher Lee, who got the role of Saruman, would like to take the bright side. Moreover, he was blessed by her own Tolkien, so Christopher was personally acquainted. Hardly knew about the shooting, he immediately rushed, because he was ideally versed in the writer's work. Now for him it was no longer important which magician he would get. Unlike Lee, Ian McKellen (Gandalf) never read Tolkien and had no idea what he was going to play.

And, of course, Andy Serkis is the real star of the film. Gollum in his performance was ideal. A lively character and surprisingly correctly transmitted emotions - that's what the actor managed to do.

Interesting incidents on the set of the film

Such a large-scale project was bound to be accompanied by funny and amazing stories. For example, some injuries that were received by the actors during the filming, were in the footage of the film. Gandalf hit his head several times on the low ceiling of the Hobbits' home. In one of these scenes, he actually got hit. But it was so believable that the director decided to leave the stage. Also Aragorn, when he went out into the clearing with a bunch of burnt orcs, was to kick an iron helmet furiously. They took several takes, but the actor coped only when he broke two fingers on his leg. He fell to his knees and called for help, without leaving the role. This unique frame of viewers can also see in the film.

Another interesting event happened with Sean Bean, who played Boromir. The fact is that before the shooting of "The Lord of the Rings" he had to get on a helicopter. And he has a panic fear of flying on such a technique. Bracing himself, he informed the workers of the project that he would rise on his own, on foot. To make it it was possible for couple of hours, and the actor group with delight watched, how brave Boromir rises on rocks though it and did not demand its role. The descent proved even more difficult, it took almost 3 hours. Undoubtedly, this day was one of the most difficult in Shawn's life.

Another, no less fascinating, story is the creation of "Gollum juice." Initially, Andy Serkins came to the place where the "Lord of the Rings" was filmed, only to sound a unique creature. But the whole film crew decided that computer graphics are incapable of giving life to the character, human participation is necessary here. As for scoring, the actor mimics the sounds his cat made when he cleared his wool. But such a voice literally tore his throat. To cope with the pain, a drink was created from honey, ginger and lemon.

Conclusion

It is impossible to convey the fascination of the stories connected with the place where the "Lord of the Rings" was filmed. Photos of characters on the background of endless green plains or panoramic shoots of some beautiful scenes, gloomy and terrifying rocks, where Frodo passed with his faithful Sam, or beautiful elven forests - all this contains New Zealand. And, perhaps, the dream of every fan of the cult trilogy is to visit this amazing country, in which the beloved characters come to life.