The backgrounds:
It’s no secret that Led Zeppelin love Lord of the Rings. In “Ramble On” you even sang about “Mordor” and “Gollum”. Then, when a mysterious hooded figure with a lantern appeared in the booklet of their fourth album, it was thought to be a character from a book by JRR Tolkien.
The truth:
“The Hermit” is a character primarily inspired by a tarot card. Page played this role during a fantasy sequence in the 1976 Led Zeppelin film The Song Remains The Same.
Photo: Warner Brothers. All rights reserved.
British actor Andy Serkis received worldwide acclaim for his portrayal of the villain character Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. More than twenty years after the start of the film, he brought the fantasy character eaten up by resentment back to life. In the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on the US TV network CBS, he resurrected him as Vladimir Putin.
Review: “The Batman”:
Serkis actually came on the show to talk about his role as Alfred Pennyworth (Bruce Wayne’s trusty butler) in the current blockbuster The Batman. But then Colbert, as a well-known megafan of “Lord of the Rings”, quickly steered the conversation to what was happening in Middle-earth.
Serkis reportedly lent his voice to 132 (!) different characters in the latest audio book version of The Rings; which he then promptly demonstrated with a mock studio microphone. When it was his turn to play Gollum, he drew striking parallels to Vladimir Putin in a short game action.
On the talk sofa he staged the mutation of (good hobbit character) Sméagol to arch villain Gollum. “We want it. We need it. We must have Kyiv!” he hissed at the Putin Gollum. In the inner counter-speech, the voice of Gollum conscience admonished that “they” will then impose severe sanctions. “Sanctions? Sanctions my darlingzzzzzz? If they do that, we won’t give them a shit back.’”
With this parody of Putin, Andy Serkis referred to the numerous sanctions and boycotts imposed on Russia by numerous countries. Knowing full well that the blocked start of “The Batman” in Russian cinemas can at best be a pinprick in the face of war and destruction.
Nevertheless, all major Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros, Disney and Sony, have stopped working with cinemas or platforms in Russia until further notice.