| Khraniteli | |
|---|---|
 Title screen of the first part | |
| Хранители | |
| Based on | The Fellowship of the Ring |
| Written by | Natalya Serebryakova |
| Story by | J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Directed by | Natalya Serebryakova, Costel Tudor Voica |
| Narrated by | Andrei Romanov |
| Music by | Andrei Romanov |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union |
| Original language | Russian |
| Production | |
| Producer | Larisa Lebedeva |
| Cinematography | Anatoliy Korinetskiy |
| Running time | 115 minutes (2 episodes) |
| Production company | Leningrad Television |
| Original release | |
| Release | 1991 (1991)[1] |
Khraniteli (Russian:Хранители,lit. 'Guardians [of the Ring]') is a Soviet television play miniseries based onJ. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Fellowship of the Ring. It was broadcast once in 1991 byLeningrad Television and then thoughtlost before being rediscovered in 2021.[2] It includes scenes ofTom Bombadil andGoldberry that were omitted fromthe 1978 film and Peter Jackson'sLord of the Rings film trilogy.[2][3]
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novelThe Lord of the Rings was published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955. He was doubtful whether the work could be dramatized or filmed,[4] but he and his publishers,Allen and Unwin, were happy to discuss film proposals, on condition of having a veto on creative decisions or of relinquishing those for a suitably large sum of money.[5] Early attempts were mainly animations; the first wasRalph Bakshi's1978 version ofThe Fellowship of the Ring with parts ofThe Two Towers.[6] The film rights then went through various hands, and filming, whether with animation or live-action, was considered by many directors.[5][7][8]
Ateleplay adaptation ofThe Fellowship of the Ring,Khraniteli ("Keepers" or "Guardians" of the Ring) was made on a low budget onvideotape byLeningrad Television and aired once in the last days of theSoviet Union in 1991.[1] The film was thought lost,[9][10][11] but was in 2021 rediscovered and republished onYouTube by Leningrad Television's successor,Channel 5.[12] The film has attracted interest for its inclusion of characters such asTom Bombadil,Goldberry, and theBarrow-wight, featuring in a detour made by the story'sHobbit protagonists through theOld Forest, and omitted fromPeter Jackson's later version ofThe Lord of the Rings as not furthering the plot.[2][3][13] The teleplay had a score by Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov of the Russian rock bandAkvarium.[2][14]
The adaptation used the 1982Russian translation of Tolkien's book byVladimir Muravyov andAndrey Kistyakovsky.[15] Sergey Shelgunov, who playedMerry Brandybuck, recalled that the entire shoot spanned some nine hours, and took place in under a week.[16]
AtBilbo Baggins's birthday party, during a firework show, Bilbo puts onthe Ring and vanishes, causing consternation.Frodo Baggins inherits the ring after Bilbo has left. The black-cladRingwraiths appear, on black horses, in a flashback, followed by the story of Smeagol and how he murders his friend Deagol and turns into the monster,Gollum. The wizardGandalf meets Gollum and interrogates him. Frodo and his three hobbit companions set out, crossingthe Shire to Crickhollow in Buckland. They enter theOld Forest, where the evil treeOld Man Willow traps a hobbit. He is rescued byTom Bombadil, who takes the hobbits to his home, where his wifeGoldberry entertains them at her table. They set out again, only to be trapped once more, this time by the undeadBarrow-wight.
The Barrow-wight lays out the unconscious Hobbits in hisbarrow as for a funeral. Frodo wakes up and summons Tom Bombadil, who frees the Hobbits. They ride through a forested landscape in the snow toBree and enter the Prancing Pony Inn. They eat and drink; Frodo and a woman dance and sing. Frodo puts on the Ring and vanishes, causing shock. Frodo meetsAragorn; the Hobbits go with him to a bedroom, where he explains who he is. They agree to travel with him. They travel toWeathertop, where they fight the Ringwraiths. Frodo is wounded and falls unconscious. They ride toRivendell, where Frodo wakes up. The Elf-lordElrond convenes hiscouncil;Boromir demands that they use the Ring against the enemy, but they agree instead to form a Fellowship to take it toMordor and destroy it where it was made, in the fires ofMount Doom. In a flashback, Gandalf meets the white wizardSaruman and sees that he has gone over to evil, with his own army oforcs; Saruman imprisons Gandalf in his tower,Orthanc, but Gandalf is rescued byan eagle. Back in Rivendell, the dwarfGimli and the elfLegolas join the party. The Fellowship travel to the underground realm ofMoria where they fightmonsters and orcs. They cross the narrow bridge across a chasm and realize that Gandalf has been killed by theBalrog. They arrive inLothlórien where the Elves dance in a golden forest; the Hobbits sleep. They meet the Elf-ladyGaladriel; Frodo offers her the Ring, which she refuses; the eye of the Dark LordSauron is seen searching for the Ring. Boromir attempts to get the Ring from Frodo; Frodo and Sam set out for Mordor on their own.
Khraniteli's production values have been described as from another era, with basic sets and "ludicrous"green-screen effects.[2] Western commentators greeted its re-emergence with comments about its "gloriously rudimentary" production.[14]NME quoted a Russian user as writing "It is as absurd and monstrous as it is divine and magnificent. The opening song is especially lovely. Thanks to the one who found this rarity."[14]Newsweek quoted another user as writing that "While listening to the opening mournful song, I almost died from laughter and pleasure".[15]The Metro commented that the teleplay's simple effects give it a feeling more like "a theatre production than a movie, which adds to the charm".[17]The New York Post cited a "wistful" American viewer who was wishing for a Russian "hero" to create English subtitles.[18] The RussianREN TV noted that the ElfLegolas was played by a woman, Olga Serebryakova, daughter of the film's director.[19]The Chicago Tribune commented that the narrator (Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov) is "a bearded man wearing oversized eyeglasses that scream 1991",[20] while the magicalsoft-focus effect seemed to be a smear ofhair gel on the camera lens.[20]Entertainment Weekly described the Bombadil scene as evoking "a sense of fairy-tale surrealism".[21]
TheBBC noted that within a few days of its reappearance, the first episode had been watched over half a million times, and described the film as a "weirdly psychedelic Soviet reimagining", very unlike Jackson's later epic.[3] It commented that the costumes looked as if they had been borrowed from theatre productions ofWilliam Shakespeare orLope de Vega, so that the wizard Gandalf resembled aknight errant, and the Elf-lord Elrond was dressed likeOthello.[3]
The crew included:
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