The Long and Short of It

From Tolkien Gateway

The Long and Short of It is a short film directed by Sean Astin, filmed in Wellington, New Zealand during the filming of pickups for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The film stars Andrew Lesnie, the cinematographer for the Lord of the Rings films, as well as two of the body doubles who appeared in the films: the eight-foot Paul Randall and the three-foot-four-inch Fon Chansantor. Peter Jackson also briefly appears, and various other cast and crew members from the film series (including Andy Serkis and Elijah Wood) contributed their efforts. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2003 and was later released as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the theatrical version of The Two Towers.

Plot[edit | edit source]

The film is entirely wordless and is scored to the aria "Che gelida manina" from the opera La bohème.

A workman (Andrew Lesnie) is trying to glue a large poster to a wall. However, he finds that his ladder is broken, so he cannot reach the top of the poster. He is also unable to stoop down to the bottom of the poster due to back pain. A short woman passing by (Fon Chansantor) helps him to attach the bottom of the poster. A tall man (Paul Randall) waiting at a bus stop nearby notices the activity and comes over to help with the top.

As the three stand back to view their work, the poster is seen to be an advertisement for a car called the Wombat 2000 XXL Luxury Sedan, promising "More leg room for the uncommon man". A bus arrives (driven by Peter Jackson) and the three get on board, with Lesnie's character paying the fare for the other two.