Deaths in film can often be badly portrayed, with people often falling and dying to wounds that should have done nothing. Other people seem to live when there is every assumption they would not have made it.
The part most difficult to do is for actors to portray their injuries. This is understandable, since for health and safety purposes, actors are not usually shot and stabbed, but have to pretend instead. Unfortunately, most actors probably do not see people in real life having been hit by bullets, arrows, or blast injuries. So far as I am aware, this is not compulsory reading at drama-school.
In addition, actors are usually direct to pass away "heroically", or "beautifully". Completely understandable as films are a form of art, but there should be a way to combine both.
I am going to take a look at the representation of Boromir's death, which is one that I was actually quite impressed with.
Arms and armour question: Would the arrows have penetrated to the depth
that they did?
The first question is a historical/practical one - would the arrows have penetrated into Boromir in the way that they did?
So…what is Boromir decked out in? It seems to be a light and
practical affair – a suit of chainmail
(presumed, since we only see he sleeves), under a leather overcoat and what
seem to be fairly normal clothes. Elegant and flashy, managing to maintain Sean
Bean’s figure while also looking all war-like.
The type of arrow used is also important. The broader the
arrow head, the harder to penetrate metal armour (more video evidence here).
Lurtz, the uruk-hai who fires the arrow seems to be using quite thin arrows,
although it is hard to see on-screen.
Summary
So, Boromir opted for flashy clothing and fairly impractical
armour, while Lurtz was properly geared as part of a scouting force to hunt the
fellowship down. Conclusion: there is every reason to believe the arrows would
pierce to the depth that they did.
Blood and bones
question:
Would Boromir have kept fighting with all the injuries?
Three arrows. Three injuries. Can someone keep going? Let us analyse them in turn.
First arrow: Lungs and muscle
Number 1 seems to hit Boromir in the top of the chest, and I
want to know exactly where it hit. So…
So this is Boromir. More precisely, Boromir with an additional arrow.
Now lets work out on a chest x-ray what this corresponds to.
In medical terms we might say just level of the third rib, mid-clavicular line. In less medical terms, the arrow is mostly just hitting lung, and not much else. We can also make out where it hits by looking from the side (what we call the sagital view).
As a further note, the arrow pierces the pectoralis muscle. This is a main controller of the arm. If it had a stick of wood coming out of it, then any movement with this arm would be exceedingly painful, and very restricted. From this point on, Boromir mostly (with one exception), fights one-handed, where before he typically used both hands.
Second arrow: abdominal content:
Enters much lower down the body, but
more or less in line with the first arrow. It lands slightly above the belt, so entering into the abdomen.
Checking the scans, all we can really see down here is intestines, so not that important and while painful, Boromir could fight on. It goes far enough to the left that it probably misses any important things like blood vessels.
Third arrow: important thoracic content.
Difficult to see from the movie exactly
where it landed, however it is between the first two, and more closer to the
centre of the body. Big problem here is that it looks like about a 50% chance
that it should have hit the heart.
Yet, as the documented evidence shows; Boromir does not instantly die. Maybe went below. Nonetheless, the
depth that the arrow could have gone means that it would get a massive vessel
at the back called the aorta.
In actuality, I think it likely that the arrow probably did hit the aorta, and this is for a couple of reasons.
First off, Boromir seems to loose the use of his legs, and as he collapses defeated, he does so in the kneeling position. If the arrow did hit the aorta at this level, it would disrupt the blood flow to the legs, stopping him from moving them.
Furthermore, when Boromir eventually passes away, it is fairly slow and peaceful. Despite the arrow to the lungs, he does not die of breathlessness and lack of oxygen, but seems to drift away. A simple explanation for this is internal bleeding and as he says farewell to Aragorn, he is noticeably pale - a good sign of massive blood loss.
The only issue here is that penetrating trauma to the aorta would lead to a very rapid loss of blood, and death can occur in seconds. It is almost four minutes from injury to death (2 minutes for Aragorn to leap in and kill Lurtz, and then a further minute and a half of chit-chat). Nonetheless, there are plenty of ways to explain this; the arrow just nicked the aorta, or the rupture was somehow contained, or it hit the vena cava (the main vein, just next to the aorta) instead.
Other points
So far, I have tried mainly to offer clinical justification for what you see on screen. Medicine in films has to strike a balance between art and realism, and I can respect this. However, there are a few bits and pieces that you might expect if this were real life.
Breathing, pain, coughing
When you get a penetrating wound into the chest, you would expect to have some difficulty breathing. This comes about for a few reasons. Number one is pain, number two is the likelyhood that some of the ribs were fractured, and number three is the strong likelihood of causing a pneumothorax.
It is difficult to say exactly how breathless Boromir should be. He does not last all that long from arrow to collapse, and it is quite possible to survive with just one lung.
Really it comes down more to pain. There is some difficulty talking with Aragorn at the end, but not as much as you might expect - imagine having a conversation with you, and every time you speak or breath, someone jabs you in the chest. The difficulty breathing looks more like what you would expect from exertion (like fighting a battle), than from pain and injury.
Probably more than breathlessness though, I would have expected some coughing. There are many reflexes in the lungs to try and clear out foreign objects. Blood, fluid and arrows all fit into this category. It is a stimulus that you have to work quite hard to suppress.
Conclusion
Overall, I am generally impressed by how Boromir's death was portrayed. It matches the books, which is a good start, and the order of the wounds follows a natural progression that matches the symptoms that he displays.
Do you agree? Any further points you want to add?
Or have you got a film death that you want analysing? Post in the comments if you do.
Appendix - autopsy report
Patient: Boromir, Captain of the White Tower
Age: 41, born Third age, 2978.
Date of death: Unclear, but from state of the body, likely late February 3019
Next of kin: Denethor (Father), Faramir (brother). Finduilas (Mother, deceased). No descendants.
Cause of death: 3 x penetrating injuries, death by exsanguination from aortic rupture.
Case history:
Body initially recovered from the sea. Signs inconsistent with life, pronounced dead at the scene. Body was easily identifiable due to clothing, and a recent “prophetic death alert” put out by brother Faramir.
Clothing (copied from admission notes)
Black leather surcoat, burgundy and gold under-tunic, dark under-shirt, chainmail, dark green cloak with leaf shaped clasp, dark trousers, black boots, dark socks.
No note made of any vambracers on the arms, or recovered with the body, however old skin impressions consistent with these having been worn at time of death.
External examination
Caucasian male, neck-length length brown hair,
Generalised bloating, consistent with several days bring submerged in water.
Two x penetrating wounds to the thorax (1 x left upper, 1 x central), 1 x penetrating wound to abdomen (Left upper quadrant).
Recent bruising but no obvious recent lacerations. Multiple old scars, now well healed.
Internal examination
Examination limited due to time spent submerged in water.
Upper left penetrating injury to the Left chest
- Associated fracture to third rib with localised damage to the chest wall. Corresponding lung injury with evidence of haemothorax
- Arrow tip in place inside of chest, no external part of arrow retained.
Central penetrating injury to chest
- Wound is directly below xiphisternum, with scarring to the bone. Small tear of the aorta. No retained foreign bodies, however consistent with an arrow as per first chest injury.
Penetrating injury to the abdomen
- Left upper quadrant.
- Underlying damage to the small intestines.
- No retained foreign bodies, but consistent with an arrow injury.
Stomach has no discernable content - either starved prior to injury, or making use of travellers food such as the elven “lembas bread”.
Otherwise, the colon, spleen, liver, kidneys, bladder and brain are unremarkable.
So…what is Boromir decked out in? It seems to be a light and
practical affair – a suit of chainmail
(presumed, since we only see he sleeves), under a leather overcoat and what
seem to be fairly normal clothes. Elegant and flashy, managing to maintain Sean
Bean’s figure while also looking all war-like.
Now lets work out on a chest x-ray what this corresponds to.
