A scene in Armitage’s eyes, or: Thorin’s glance as action

Given the importance of Armitage’s eyes as a means of characterizing Thorin Oakenshield, I expect I may be spending a lot of time on them for awhile. This is another favorite moment from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In the scene with the stone trolls, the dwarves have lost their battle and are tied up, being roasted or awaiting the spit. Bilbo is trying to stall the trolls, and asserts that the dwarves are parasite-ridden and not fit to eat. The dwarves, a bit thick under any circumstances and already exercised by by Bilbo’s assertion that they should be skinned before roasting, begin a vociferous protest.

And then the camera moves to Thorin. It’s about a second or a little more of camera time, but four distinct expressions move across his face.

Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) reacts to Bilbo’s stalling of the trolls in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Observation, calculation, resolve, action (note the subtle closing of the mouth in the last cap) — and in the next moment we see Kili twitching as Thorin kicks him.

Lots of reasons I like this. First, it’s his eyes that betray at all at the beginning of the scene that Thorin’s at the back of the heap of dwarves. They’re visible even through the gloom. A moment earlier:

Second, it’s the kind of scene that children will notice — oh, Thorin’s big eyes — so it’s something that kids can enjoy right along with parents. Third, it expresses what’s going on in Thorin’s mind perfectly — you can see the stages of the thought process play themselves out concretely and obviously — even as it is subtle and takes up very little time or space. And finally, it’s such a neat way of showing Thorin’s desire to act even when he’s tied up and entirely motionless. He can’t move anything but his mouth and his eyes — but in his eyes we see his resolve to act and we realize something important about his personality. He won’t lose control — even when he’s lost control.

I’ll leave you with the treat of a rare Thorin Oakenshield smile of relief, from the same scene:

Thorin (Richard Armitage) glimpses Gandalf splitting the rock to let through the dawn, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

One thing I like about the expression here — I think it’s not just Thorin relieved that Gandalf has come to their aid, although of course that’s there. I think it’s a bit of the starry-eyed Richard Armitage coming out, thinking, “Oh! It’s GANDALF! I’m in the same place as Gandalf.”

It’s another one of those childlike moments of wonder that one hopes some children in the audience will be open enough to enjoy and their parents will be open enough to remember.

~ by Servetus on January 10, 2013.