THE biggest cinematic undertaking in history is the movie entitled “LORD OF THE RINGS” (LOTR). It is also acclaimed as the “greatest fantasy epic of our time.” The author, J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, and his book, a trilogy on Middle-Earth (“Fellowship of the Ring”, “The Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”) paved the way for the third part (“Return of the King”) to sweep the Oscar Awards by winning 11 Oscars. It won in every category it was nominated in, including best picture and best director.

All three parts of the trilogy is replete with Christian symbolism. One fine example is when the main character, Frodo Baggins, the hobbit, makes his arduous ascent to Mt. Doom in the company of a faithful servant, Sam, to destroy the Ring of Power, highly coveted by the Dark Lord Sauron. The journey is a tremendous sacrifice on the part of Frodo, whose painful experiences can be likened to Christ’s tortuous ascent to Calvary. Both have the spirit of detachment from the awesome power that they could and can use at the time of conflict; and both undergo a moment of temptation before the final commitment to the ultimate act of letting go.

The cinema review of the CBCP Monitor (January 11, 2004) points to yet another Christian symbolism. In what it refers to as a kind of “communion of saints”, the forces of Gandolf and Aragorn (the good guys in the movie), who are totally outnumbered by the forces of evil (led by Sauron and his humanoid allies), are assisted by “warriors from another realm” to a victorious ending.

With due credit to J.R.R. Tolkien and to the movie director, Peter Jackson, the Catholic movie-goer is treated to a unique interpretation of how the souls helped vanquish the bad guys in the Battle of Pelennor Field.

This kind of help will be more appreciated in the light of a comment that came out in the internet, stating: “Aragorn’s victory over the black fleet is highly unbelievable – that he could conquer a sea-hardened naval force with a handful of maritimely lesser competent Gandonians and some inactive phantoms, (for indeed they took no “active” part) is one of the mysteries of the Final Battle.”

Indeed, for the “unbeliever”, it is a mystery. For the likes of Aragorn, the soon-to-be-crowned king, he said it all as he bade the souls “ Go ye now in peace”, for proper retribution for past offenses had been done.