Why biopics on writers like Tolkien are a challenge for filmmakers - Yvette Huddleston

Biopics are always problematic.
JRR Tolkien taught at the University of Leeds for a period. (Credit: University of Leeds/PA).JRR Tolkien taught at the University of Leeds for a period. (Credit: University of Leeds/PA).
JRR Tolkien taught at the University of Leeds for a period. (Credit: University of Leeds/PA).

Tolkien, which opens in cinemas today starring Nicholas Hoult in the titular role and Lily Collins as his wife Edith, focuses on the young writer’s experiences at school, Oxford University and during the First World War.

Early reviews have been positive and Hoult’s sensitive performance praised, but there will always be sticking points when making a film about someone’s life. There are the conflicting demands of detailed historical accuracy and the equally compelling requirements of dramatic integrity and engaging storytelling. You can see why filmmakers are attracted to the genre because – a bit like with adaptations of novels or plays – there is a story already in place. The assumption is that it will be somehow easier, plus there is a ready-made audience of admirers/readers/theatregoers. (And in the case of Tolkien a whole army of fans of the hugely popular Peter Jackson films inspired by the fantasy writer’s novels).

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In fact, the stakes are pretty high, especially if the subject themselves or their friends, relatives or descendants are still alive. They are, understandably, less likely to be accepting of the necessary poetic licence that comes with the territory when putting a life on film. What do you leave in and what do you leave out? It is impossible to cover everything.

The basic facts must be adhered to, however, 
and in today’s unsettling world where the boundaries between truth and fiction are becoming increasingly blurred, often deliberately and frequently by those in positions of power, it appears that art is where we are turning to in order to find true authenticity.

Last week an exhibition opened at New York’s Jewish Museum commemorating the extraordinary life and work of poet, musician, singer-songwriter, artist and all-round legend (I’m a fan, can you tell?)

Leonard Cohen who died in 2016. Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything invited a number of artists to respond to aspects of Cohen’s life and work across a variety of media. In a way, this feels like a ‘truer’ way of recording a life. We are all complex and our lives fragmentary, no-one’s narrative is linear so it makes sense not to try and make sense of it, if that makes sense? I feel Cohen, of all people, would understand.