Ranger of the North

Inspired by his favorite novel, The Lord of the Rings, Peter Christian moved to Alaska and became a ranger with the National Park Service in 1994. He has been patrolling and protecting the vast, northern wilderness for thirty years now and has witnessed dramatic changes in that time. As he approaches retirement, he must face the reality that the wilderness and wildlife he swore to protect are suffering from a rapidly warming climate. Embarking on a deeply personal journey into the far north of Alaska, Peter looks back to the novel that inspired him and searches for the path to hope.  Following Peter on his journey, “Ranger of the North” is a short documentary in progress.

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Director’s Statement

As a high school English teacher, I tell my students on the first day of class that great literature has the power to change your life. “Ranger of the North” is my effort to show them I mean it.

This film, in other words, is my effort to show viewers what it’s like to absorb a particular novel — J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings — to such an extent that it shapes the way you think and the way you see the world.

In making “Ranger of the North,” I specifically set out to explore the implications of Tolkien’s understanding that good and evil manifest as conflicting ways to treat nature. Throughout The Lord of the Rings, the heroes display a profound reverence for the natural world, whereas the villains consistently exploit and degrade the land. So what would it look like, in our world, to take Tolkien’s love of nature seriously?

Peter Christian shows us. The Lord of the Rings shaped his environmental awareness as a kid and eventually inspired him to become a ranger with the National Park Service. His thirty-year career has been an ongoing effort to live out the values he learned from Tolkien.

“Ranger of the North” invites viewers to see the world through Peter’s eyes and peer into his mind to understand how his thinking has been shaped by reading — and re-reading — Tolkien. Through our collaboration with Peter, we have distilled his Tolkien-inspired environmental ethos into a documentary meditation on wilderness and humanity’s responsibility to care for it under threat.

Looming over our planet, that threat goes by many names. Whatever we call it — whether climate change, industrialization, human greed, or something else — it can feel overwhelming for many of us. Even Peter questions how he can go on in the face of despair. Of course, he eventually finds a way, through Tolkien’s writing.

Ultimately, our film is about more than Tolkien’s love of nature — it’s about hope. Neither Tolkien nor Peter can simply give it to you, but “Ranger of the North” might help you discover how to find hope on your own. That’s just what a great film, and great literature, can do.

— Bradley Bethel

Select Credits

Bradley Bethel: Director, Producer, Writer
Peter Christian: Writer, Protagonist
Ned Phillips: Cinematographer, Editor, Producer
Stuart Muller: Producer
Nick Wallhausser: Sound Designer, Drone Photographer, Associate Producer
Sumner James Phillips: Composer