I just have to draw attention to this little gem of a biographic movie. I was really fortunate to get a chance to see it at Wellington's Documentary Film Festival a few months ago – sandwiched between two other movies about local New Zealand artists. But who knows, you might be lucky enough to have it screening in a documentary film festival near you… otherwise, unfortuanely, your chances for actually *seeing* it are pretty slim, unless and until the John Howe documentary trilogy enhanced box set (with Fell Beast bookends) finally appears.

As you will probably know if you are reading this, John Howe, along with Alan Lee, is largely responsible for the look of Middle-earth as we know it . Both were already well-established as illustrators of Tolkien's work (and a wide variety of other fantasy literature) when they were asked to contribute as conceptual designers to Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy – and since then they've both become intensely famous. Hence they often get confused with each other. So, just for the record, I'm talking about John Howe now – creator of, among other things, Bilbo's front hall, the Fell Beast, and Gandalf's hat. Alan Lee is the *other* guy.

I stumbled upon John's marvellous website one sunny February morning and spent several hours hooked, browsing through his stunning – and very extensive - portfolio. Ever since, I've made his internet forum my virtual home, and I've come to know John a bit over the last three years – as far as one can "know" a person through persistent communication on the internet. Particularly in the last few months, he took a bit of interest in my artistic (and, on occasion, personal) well-being. Besides, he is probably the biggest fan I've ever had of my music, which he apparently keeps on constant rotation...

So this is not the average film review for me to write. I have to admit I didn't really know all that much about John's biography before I went to see the movie – other than the rather sketchy bits and pieces contained in the Lord of the Rings dvd appendixes (which show him mostly engaging unsuspecting fellow humans in sword fights with historically very accurate swords). From conversations on the internet forum, I knew he has a great offbeat sense of humour, vast amounts of learning, is very introvert, caring, intensely intelligent, an expat from Canada and proud of it, very attached to his wife (who is from Iran and is also an illustrator), and his only son (who, incidentally, just enrolled himself in an early music conservatory), at odds with some of the stranger rules of immigration departments in Switzerland and the world over, a fighter for respect for artist's copyrights, passionate about seeing other (younger) artists develop, ambivalent about art schools, extremely knowledgeable about various pieces of armour, clothing, tools and furniture from various periods throughout the Middle Ages, occasionally dressing up in same as a member of the medieval re-enactment group Order of St George, a keen jogger, quite nostalgic about his time in Wellington, and very fond of music (including, to my eternal delight and wonderment, my own).

With this rather hodgepodge picture in mind, I went into the movie curious and almost a bit nervous – what was the celluloid incarnation going to reveal about this person? Would it confirm or contradict the picture I had formed in my mind? Would it add facets to my image of his personality that do not come across in virtual communication?

Certainly, I came out of the movie with a much more rounded picture of the biographical facts and John's artistic development. I also found out that he seems to have a preference for blue jeans and tanker tops - this does not come across well on an internet forum - although I am also not sure if it is important. :-P

This exceedingly well-crafted, and in parts just plain beautiful documentary introduces us to some of the people and places that were and are important in the artist's life. Good use is made of the privilege to use some footage from the "Lord of the Rings" movies, and interview some of the people who worked on it (Alan Lee and Peter Jackson both feature).

More interestingly, it shows us some of the influences and preoccupations that made John who he is – from his early obsession with collecting second-hand paperbacks for the sake of their covers, and his admiration for the work of Frank Frazetta, to his alien years at art school in Strasbourg – arriving in France with barely a word of French, he "spent the first two years at school not understanding what was wanted of him, and the third year not wanting to do what was wanted of him" – which must have added up to quite a unique art school experience!

We get to visit Strasbourg cathedral, where John used to spend much time in his student days soaking up Gothic architecture and befriending gargoyles, having been given a key that gave him access to all parts of the building. We meet John's family and go for walks in the surroundings of John's present home in Neuchatel. In those parts, and particularly in a passage that touches upon the subject of light, the movie becomes sheer visual poetry. It is fascinating to let the camera takes us, as it where, into John's head and give us glimpses of what it is he sees when he looks at the world around him.

We get to witness some of John's viciously intelligent musings on what it is that he does and why - which, I might add, stood in particular stark contrast to the endless string of platitudes voiced by the artist who was the subject of the next movie in this documentary film festival screening. We visit an endearing former art school teacher who probably didn't know *what* to do with the boy while he was at school, but now seems intensely pleased that he turned out to be a very successful artist after all. Lastly, we pay a visit to H. R. Giger's enchanted surreal garden and speak to the man himself - artist and designer of the "Alien" movies, which left a deep impression on both John and his wife when they first came out. Asked if he considers John to be a "painter" or a mere "illustrator" - apparently there is a difference, though I personally never was aware of it, a painter is a person who paints, right? – Mr Giger seems mildly amused at the idea of bestowing the honourable epithet "painter" upon John. Perhaps I misunderstood something here, but I have to admit, this had me slightly upset. Not John though – when asked about his ambitions to be regarded as a "painter" rather than an "illustrator", he looks defiantly at the camera and states that perhaps he does not have the talent.

review written by Asni - contact me

imdb listing for this movie

I encourage you to take some time browsing through John's images. Here is a selection of some of my personal favourites:

last updated: 14 December, 2006