J.A. Bayona defends The Rings of Power and assures that the series must be “unfaithful” to Tolkien's work

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Prime Video's ambitious series that brings J.R.R. Tolkien's universe to the small screen, is sparking all kinds of reactions among fans of the original work, whether praising the technical workmanship of its production or criticizing the script, the pacing or the adaptation of the original lore. In any case, it is clear that the vision of its showrunners, J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, leaves no one indifferent.

Now, in order to justify how the series deals more or less freely with a less detailed period in the history of Middle-earth -rights aside-, J.A. Bayona, director of the first two episodes of The Rings of Power, has explained to Cinemanía that it is necessary to contribute something to avoid falling into nostalgia.

A new vision of The Lord of the Rings' origin

This is how the filmmaker put it, assuring that to adapt a story to a different medium you have to contribute, to be "unfaithful" to the original work: "Tolkien spoke of The Lord of the Rings as a story that grew as it was told. The stories have independence. Tolkien also said that he planted seeds so other authors could enrich them. In a way, he laid the groundwork, just as Michael Crichton did with Jurassic Park. I'm lucky to have brought my vision to the world of Jurassic World. We made probably the weirdest movie in the saga, turning it into a haunted mansion movie. I will always be grateful to Spielberg for giving us the permission to be able to do that," says Bayona about his time in the Jurassic saga in relation to creative freedom.

Full screen

In this sense, Bayona assures that to adapt it is not necessary to strictly stick to the source being adapted, but it is necessary to enrich the concept and contribute something: "Here there was a lot of freedom to fill the gaps in Tolkien's work. When adapting a story, you have to be unfaithful. You have to bring something to it. If you don't, you stay in recovery, in nostalgia. You have to bring up the level of excitement. This adaptation of Tolkien's world is original, we are filling in the gaps, taking the work very seriously, and doing our best," concludes the filmmaker.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power faces these last two weeks the outcome of a first season that has laid the foundations of what Tolkien fans know from the novels, such as the origin of many of the characters or iconic settings of The Lord of the Rings. But with the freedom that its creators allow themselves when it comes to adapting the material, also taking into account the lack of rights to certain key elements of the original work.

Source | Cinemania