Exclusive | Director Charlotte Brändström on what makes The Rings of Power unique: ‘In shows, you often have only one world; but here…’

Although the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power featured eight episodes, it was the sixth and seventh — titled Udûn and The Eye — that left audiences stunned due to their technical brilliance and the two stood out as the most visually impressive of the season. Interestingly, they were the only two episodes helmed by the same director that season, but they were enough to demonstrate her exceptional talent. Hence, fans were thrilled to learn that the first episode of season two would again be directed by the same person, Swedish-French director Charlotte Brändström. Besides directing the first, seventh and final episodes solo, Charlotte also co-directed the second and third episodes alongside Louise Hooper, showing that the makers were committed to delivering a visual spectacle for viewers this time.

Developed by JD Payne and Patrick McKay based on JRR Tolkien’s history of Middle-earth — primarily drawn from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings — the Amazon Prime Video fantasy series is set thousands of years before the novel, during the Second Age. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express in Singapore, Charlotte discussed what she found most fascinating about the world JD and Patrick brought to life from Tolkien’s literature.

Watch The Indian Express’ interview with The Rings of Power’s Charlotte Brändström, Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Trystan Gravelle here:

“It is incredible to be able to portray so many different looks and so many different worlds. Very often, in shows, you have only one world and have to navigate within that world. But here, you are going from one world to the other frequently. From Númenor to Middle-earth; then we go to the dwarfs and then we’re back in Rhûn with the Harfoots. So it’s really incredible to have all these different looks. It gives you the chance to be very creative and to give a different lighting and colour to everything,” she said.

In a previous conversation with us, JD Payne had explained the reason for TROP’s darker tone. He noted that the second age was a much grimmer time compared to the third age, in which LOTR is set. “In the third age, you have darkness rising in Sauron, but in the second age, you have an embodied Sauron. In the third age, they were worried Sauron was going to do what he did in the second age. They say he could cover the world in a second darkness, and in the second age, you watch him cover the world in darkness. In TROP, we are witnessing that happen and it’s difficult and hard,” he noted.

Anandu Suresh

Anandu Suresh is a Senior sub-editor at Indian Express Online. He specialises in Malayalam cinema, but doesn't limit himself to it and explores various aspects of the art form. He also pens a column titled Cinema Anatomy, where he delves extensively into the diverse layers and dimensions of cinema, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourse. Anandu previously worked with The New Indian Express' news desk in Hyderabad, Telangana. You can follow him on Twitter @anandu_suresh_ and write (or send movie recommendations) to him at anandu.suresh@indianexpress.com. ... Read More