Hollywood Jesus Books has just published Peter Jackson in Perspective: The Power Behind Cinema's The Lord of the Rings. This is my second book about The Lord of the Rings, following up last last year's Tolkien in Perspective. Unlike last year's book, however, which dealt exclusively with Tolkien's written mythological fiction of Middle-earth, Jackson in Perspective focuses specifically on Peter Jackson's filmed adaptation of Tolkien's most famous book. The core of this new volume, naturally, is a collection of the essays published here on Hollywood Jesus over the last several years.

I'm very proud of Jackson in Perspective. Publishing the Hollywood Jesus essays in book form has provided me with more than just an opportunity to present them in a more cohesive format. I have also been able to include new (and in some cases, much more substantial) essays based on a number of lectures I have conducted over the last year. This accomplishes three things.

First, the original essays are presented in the context of a larger discussion: the role of the cinematic arts in our culture, and the relation of the cinematic arts to literature. The opening section of the book, "From Book to Screen," is a thorough discussion of the problem of adapting Tolkien's epic tale to film.

My work on Hollywood Jesus has led one commentator to refer to me as a "Jackson apologist"—that is, a critic devoted to defending and justifying the artistic choices of Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

While I certainly have devoted a great number of words to explaining Jackson's choices, my aim has never been a sycophantic adulation of Jackson or his films. This opening section of Jackson in Perspective helps make that clear. Yes, Jackson did a number of things right in approaching a daunting and potentially unforgiving task, and credit is due where it is deserved. However, the necessity of cutting and trimming Tolkien's 500,000+ words to produce three filmable screenplays naturally means that something will be lost in translation—and the process is decidedly worth getting in artistic perspective.

Second, the extra space provided by the book format allows a more extended and in-depth treatment of interviews conducted with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens regarding this process. The closing section of the book, "The Spirit of Tolkien," presents a topical review of interviews published on Hollywood Jesus and elsewhere. Jackson, Boyens and Walsh explain for themselves what they felt was important in the story, and what they hoped to accomplish.

Now that the filmed trilogy is completed, of course, the time is right to get all of this in perspective. And Peter Jackson in Perspective is the first title available to attempt a comprehensive retrospective of Jackson's remarkable cinematic achievement.

Finally, though, the real benefit of this collection is clarifying what has made Jackson's films so successful: the power of film itself, the skill of Jackson's artistry and the amazing power of Tolkien's original story. Author Christopher Garbowski says of Jackson in Perspective:

"The 'power' of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings is the power of story. Greg Wright demonstrates that the greatest stories gain much of their strength from how they resonate in our lives, depicting our virtues and foibles at the religious, spiritual or moral levels. Wright brings to his critique a vast knowledge of Tolkien extending far beyond the adapted work, yet he is also sensitive to the demands of film craft—and from this perspective probes the decisions Jackson made in bringing the novel to his medium. The critic rightly points out that the greatest departures from the novel's Christian spirit occur at junctures such as Aragorn's 'no mercy' cry at Helm's Deep rather than through the more obvious changes to Tolkien's story."

Jackson in Perspective is now available through Hollywood Jesus, Amazon.com and other online retailers.

LOTR Coverage Index here

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