‘Born of Hope’ official poster by Jeffrey Ray Hayes

The last film on my list of independently made films set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth is an ‘Actors at Work’ production.

‘Born of Hope’ originated in the mind of Kate Madison, who produced and directed the film; she’s also one of the actors.

Back in 2003, she’d initially wanted to send a film to a Tolkien Fan Film Exhibition, and put up her own life savings, with the amount subsequently increasing through online fundraising.

It then grew into a much bigger project, and the film was eventually released in 2009.

The story was written by Paula DiSante, under the name Alex K Aldridge, with Kate Madison, Christopher Dane (who plays Arathorn), and Matt Wood contributing to the script.

The film takes its inspiration from a couple of passages Tolkien wrote about Aragorn’s parents in ‘The Appendices’ at the end of ‘The Return of the King’.

Set near the end of the Third Age, when Sauron’s power is unchallenged, the film opens with a night-time Orc attack on a village.

As a villager tries to protect his little daughter, he falls, and an Orc cuts off his finger, which bears a ring.

The film then cuts to a family of three pushing a cart through a forest. Within minutes, they’re besieged by Orcs.

Travelling through the forest before an Orc attack

As they stand to defend themselves, the man, his wife, and daughter are rescued by the unexpected arrival of a group of rangers.

When the Orcs have been beaten back, the man, Dírhael, played by Andrew Mcdonald, thanks the chief ranger, explaining their village had been attacked by Orcs and his son died protecting them; the young man’s body is in the cart as they didn’t want to leave him to the Orcs.

He introduces his wife, Ivorwen, played by Philippa Hammond, and daughter, Gilraen, played by Beth Aynsley.

Dírhael is surprised to learn the ranger is Arathorn, played by Christopher Dane, son of his kinsman, Arador, and he realises they’re among the Dúnedain.

One of Arathorn’s rangers is a young woman, Elgarain, an original character played by Kate Madison. She finds some rings still attached to human fingers on one of the Orcs, and they’re mystified as to why Orcs would collect such booty.

Elgarain’s father had died while on a mission with Arathorn, and when she’d asked to take his place, Arathorn had agreed even though his father, Arador, was against it, and she proved herself a capable ranger.

Arathorn takes Dírhael and his family to their village, Taurdal, where they’re welcomed by Arador, played by Iain Marshall, and they’re able to honour their son with proper funeral rites.

Before long, it becomes obvious that Arathorn is attracted to Gilraen, but he’s unsure if she feels the same.

Then Arador sends Arathorn on a solo mission to find the reason for the Orc-attacks as he begins his campaign against the growing number of Orcs in the north.

Gilraen assures Arathorn she’ll be watching for his return.

Dírhael is not happy that Gilraen seems to have given her heart to the ranger for he believes she’s too young to marry, being barely 22 while Arathorn is already in his mid-50s.

But Ivorwen, believed to have the gift of foresight, tells him, “If these two wed now, hope may be born for our people; but if they delay, it will not come while this age lasts.”

The focus of the film is the relationship between Arathorn and Gilraen, while also showing the lives of the Dúnedain as they live the best they can with the ever-present threat of attack hanging over them.

There’s a smaller focus on another pair and the situation surrounding them was nicely handled in a way that, for me, was a breath of fresh air.

The Orcs are more focussed in this production as they’ve been tasked by Sauron to fulfil a particular errand.

I found the fight scenes tense and well done.

While I haven’t commented on the music for the other fan-made films, the music in ‘Born of Hope’ suits the tone of the film, adding to the different moods without intruding, if that makes sense.

The casting is solid across the board, and each of the cast gives a performance well above what I expected for a non-commercial production.

Apart from Elgarain, there’s at least one other original character, Dírhaborn, played by Danny George, who’s also a ranger.

Elgarain (played by Kate Madison) and Dírhaborn (played by Danny George)

We even get to see Elrond’s twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, played by twins, Matt and Sam Kennard.

Elladan (played by Matt Kennard) and Elrohir (played by Sam Kennard)

The village scenes were shot in West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village in Suffolk, with the forest scenes in Epping Forest, and wintry scenes in Snowdonia National Park.

While the costumes of the rangers are spot-on, some might take issue with the costumes of the villagers as they’re more colourful.

After the initial surprise of seeing more colour than I was expecting, I hardly noticed as the film progressed.

While I’ve enjoyed the other fan-made films, ‘Born of Hope’ is my favourite, and I cannot believe it’s taken me 13 years to find it.

Even knowing the outcome, I enjoyed every minute of it.

At the 2010 London Independent Film Festival, the film deservedly won the category of ‘Best Micro-Budget Feature’.

Respect for Tolkien’s lore is very evident through the film, and a great example of this is seen in a brief scene with a very young Aragorn, played by Luke Johnston, and a teenage Halbarad, played by Ollie Goodchild; it literally made me gasp.

I believe this respect is the reason why, despite its age, ‘Born of Hope’ has remained ‘fresh’, much like Peter Jackson’s films.

As with the other films, this film is also free to watch on YouTube, and I highly recommend it.

Film Review - 'Born of Hope' (Tolkien Fan-Made Film)