Stefan Servos

Stefan Servos is probably the foremost German expert on Peter Jackson's Middle-earth films. He managed the biggest German website about the films for many years until it was one of the casualties of the pandemic, he wrote several books about them, and he even traveled to New Zealand to interview Peter Jackson.
This small book - in fact a magazine, but with a bookish feel because of its chapters and layout - was published in 2012 when the first Hobbit film came to the cinemas.
The first half of the work was the most interesting to me because after a few short chapters on how Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, Servos recalls the long history of how the films came to be. While I had heard all of it some time before, it was entertaining to read about it in a concise version: The first attempts and older film versions, the success of the LotR films and how the Hobbit films were planned, the odyssey of studios and contracts, strikes and obstacles, major changes and revelations, until the first film was finally about to be released.
After that, there are portraits of the major characters and the actors and actresses who play them - this chapter is more like a summary of wikipedia entries.
Next, the major filming locations are presented, as well as the different companies and studios belonging to Peter Jackson's imperium. I enjoyed both chapters because I learned new things and I liked the photos very much. The last chapter goes back to the beginning and explores how by adapting The Hobbit in a new way, Peter Jackson adds to the myth and contributes to it being alive. To be honest, this is a rather euphemistic view of the many changes to the story and some of the terrible new characters, but still, it is an interesting concept.
All in all, Servos is fanboying a bit too much when it comes to Peter Jackson and I would have liked to read a more balanced commentary. The many typos and some grammar mistakes also got on my nerves. Apart from that, I spent an enjoyable couple of hours with this and had a good time journeying down memory lane for a little while.… (meer)