The Keepers

As announced in our Russian movie blog, The Keepers (Khraniteli) is a long lost, but now joyously rediscovered Soviet TV film adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The film covers the story of just the first book in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. Created with a paltry budget right before the collapse of the Soviet Union, this movie has a loveably low level of special effects and production value. It’s a little bizarre to realize that Peter Jackson’s magnificent version was made just 10 years after this Soviet one. Still, it’s a ton of fun to watch. Russian culture enthusiasts will appreciate the film’s late Soviet aesthetics (e.g. unmistakably out-of-place electronic music score) and Tolkien fans will relish, among other things, witnessing Tom Bombadil on screen for the first time!

Unfortunately the film doesn’t yet have English subtitles. To help you follow along with the story, here are some key plot points with timing markers below:

The plot

Part 1

• 5:26 – Bilbo addresses his birthday party
• 7:19 – Gandalf shows up
• 7:40 – Epic fireworks
• 13:30 – Bilbo uses the ring at his party
• 16:00 – Frodo gets the ring from the envelope
• 16:30 – the Nazgul
• 18:53 – Smeagol and Deagol
• 21:12 – Smeagol becomes Gollum
• 22:37 – Gandalf confronts Gollum
• 27:02 – the four hobbits set out
• 30:15 – the hobbits arrive… somewhere?
• 36:55 – hobbits in the Old Forest
• 38:35 – incomprehensible nonsense
• 40:31 – one of them is stuck in the tree, with ridiculous hobbit feet visible
• 41:49 – Tom Bombadil shows up
• 42:25 – Bombadil rescues that other one
• 44:54 – at Bombadil’s house with Tom’s ladyfriend
• 49:08 – cliffhanger ending with the Barrow-wight, or something

Part 2

• 0:51 – Frodo in the Barrow-downs
• 2:00 – the Barrow-Wight, followed by Frodo’s ridiculous feet
• 5:19 – Frodo calls for Bombadil’s help
• 5:44 – Bombadil throws some stuff and saves them
• 8:35 – at the Prancing Pony
• (from now on, they have given up on making the hobbits look smaller than other characters)
• 9:05 – Pete Townshend yells at them
• 10:27 – Frodo creeps on some opera singer
• 11:40 – Frodo meets Aragorn in the corner
• 15:52 – hobbits struggle to pronounce “Aragorn”
• 16:45 – Aragorn reveals his true identity
• 19:42 – Frodo fights the Nazgul at Weathertop
• (the defeat of the Nazgul at the Ford of Bruinen happens offscreen)
• 21:22 – Frodo wakes up at Rivendell
• 26:14 – Elrond addresses the council
• 27:46 – Bilbo freaks out when he sees the ring
• 28:43 – Boromir addresses the council
• 31:05 – Gandalf meets with Saruman the White (yes he is still called “the White” in this version)
• 32:40 – Saruman’s orc army
• 34:04 – Gandalf is caged by Saruman
• 34:23 – epic resue by the Eagles
• 36:28 – Introduction of Gimli Gloina (the “gnome”)
• 36:30 – and Legolas (a woman!)
• 38:24 – the Fellowship encounter absurd monsters in Moria
• 40:37 – the Fellowship wind their way through Moria
• 41:50 – epic battle with orcs in Moria
• 45:00 – crossing the bridge of Khazad-Dum
• 45:54 – the Fellowship realize that Gandalf just died offscreen
• (no sign of the Balrog)
• 47:21 – Galadriel’s interminable dance troupe
• 53:51 – Galadriel speaks
• 56:51 – Galadriel freaks out when she sees the ring
• 57:40 – Finally, the Eye of Sauron
• 58:44 – Frodo clearly has never eaten an apple before
• 1:00:00 – Boromir menaces Frodo
• 1:02:41 – Frodo and Sam set out alone

• 1990s
• Soviet Union