Fox Searchlight has dropped a new Tolkien trailer. Obviously, this movie is a JRR Tolkien biopic that presents a portrait of the brilliant artist as a young man, but the opening moments waste no time in highlighting how, well, absurdly handsome the young author was. And as portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, he had no trouble with the ladies. Lily Collins plays Edith Bratt, who would go on to be Tolkien’s wife and muse, inspiring characters within his literary epics. One can’t help but get the sense, though, that this trailer puts romance at the forefront, moreso than influences such as the rag-tag group of school friends and the time Tolkien served in World War I that are also shown later.
Here’s the film’s synopsis:
Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the “fellowship” apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels.
Those last few seconds of the trailer are striking to behold, given that Tolkien’s wartime experiences appear onscreen in both real and imagined (yup, there’s a dragon!) capacities. Also notable are mentions of the “invincible alliance” of friends, which Tolkien describes as “a fellowship” before going on to author The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Whether or not the film highlights the more visceral aspects of Tolkien’s experiences over his love life, we’ll have to wait and see.
Tolkien will see a limited release beginning on May 10.
