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EE Commentary Transcripts
The Departure of Boromir

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Peter (cont.): I’m sure people are going to blame me for Lúrtz licking his dagger, but that was actually filmed by Barrie Osborne, and I have no responsibility for it at all. [laughs] I can distance myself from it, although I do actually quite like it! (beat) [Boromir: “I tried to take the Ring from him”] This moment between Boromir and Aragorn is iconic from the book, you know, you can read the book and imagine our Boromir leaning against the base of the tree with the arrows in him, and Aragorn leaning over him and –.

Philippa: I think this moment is better than the moment in the book. There, I said it! [laughs] I do.

Peter: Yeah, well we definitely enhanced [Philippa: I think we did] the dialogue: we made it –.

Philippa: Not just the dialogue, but I actually think the emotional content [Peter: Yeah] of this moment, and the connection between these two characters. And I do think it was a failure of Professor Tolkien’s. I wanted more when I read that moment in the book.

Peter: Yeah. (beat) [Aragorn: “I will not let the White City fall”] As it is in the movie, this scene really becomes as much about Aragorn as it is about Boromir’s death, and it is… It’s really a moment for Aragorn to declare to us, the audience, his intention now to embrace his birthright as a noble King of Men, and to pursue that, which is obviously what… really what Aragorn’s story is over our next two movies.

Philippa: And it’s the simple identification with the world of Men, “Our People,” he says, and you can see… and Sean plays it so beautifully.

Peter: There’s a very subtle thing that happens when Boromir dies here, just coming up shortly, that on our colour [?tiling ?timing] – because we did all of our colour grading in a computer, we were able just to make his face go pale at the moment that he dies… just to take away [Philippa, amazed: Ahh!] a little bit of the colour.

Philippa: That last line was… There were advocates to cut that last line, and it was very interesting that Sean really, really wanted that line, “My brother, my captain, my king.”

Peter: Oh, that was a great line. [Philippa: Yes] I really love it. I really love it. It’s great. [Aragorn kisses Boromir’s forehead] This is an image that I really like, too, of the kiss on the forehead.

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The Lord of the Rings and its content does not belong to me, it is property of the Tolkien Estate;  the commentaries transcribed here, as well as the images used, are the property of New Line Cinema.