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Movie Rec: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 1
This movie felt different from all the others that proceeded it; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 has more in common with a tense zombie movie like 28 Days Later or the empty landscapes of the plague decimated population of the excellent BBC series Survivors than it does with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. There are lovely and sad scenes where our three heroes, reluctantly on their own, wander through beautiful but deserted spaces (most eerily, a trailer park that seems like a setting straight out of a horror movie instead of a coming of age story full of magic and wonder.) Magic is not in short supply, but wonder and joy are, and the stakes could not be higher. The threats in this movie (to our heroes, to their world and the people they love) are more fully realized and the mood of the entire film is dark, dark, dark waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. And when it does drop... bad things happen, and they keep happening. Put together, it's a tremendously satisfying and dark story, and cuts off at a very natural point.
What I really love about this movie and the screenplay is that the annoying bickering that takes up about a third of the book has been effectively dealt with so that it doesn't bore me the way it did in the book. That said, the plot and large passages of dialogue are cut directly from the pages of the story, and what has been added is good. Neville gets a short but kick-ass scene; there's an added scary bit with Voldemort and Dumbledore's coffin that neatly frames the conflict. The added on scene that got the most attention in the theater I was in was the part where Ron storms off, and Harry and Hermione find themselves alone. A cheerful song comes on the radio and Harry dances with Hermione. The audience around us laughed, for reasons that didn't make a lot of sense... I thought this moment was well-timed and necessary to dispel some of the tension that had built up over the past few scenes. But perhaps it seemed forced to others?
The thing that I really noticed was how everyone did well with what little they had. Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, and Alan Rickman are on screen for just a few minutes apiece, but each of them manages to make their appearances memorable and real. (Tom Felton, in particular, lets his internal struggle play across his features in a very interesting way.) I also loved how the characters in the Order of the Phoenix have a very real sense of solidarity with one another and for the cause they believe in.
Mostly, I cannot wait for Part 2 now! The movie ends at a very good point, but knowing what comes next, I am so, so eager to see the final conflict. Also, I am ready to cry like a baby at massive character death. I expected to cry at this film, but it didn't happen. More emotionally effective than the character death in this installment, I am sorry to say, is the torture. And it's not done in a ghoulish or creepy way... just horrible and realistic.
tl;dr version: Relentless tension still makes for a great plot and excellent acting work makes this a real treat. But the best treat of all will be seeing Part 1 and Part 2 together. XD
Trailer Park:
~ Green Hornet and Green Lantern duke it out for green-related superhero movie.
~ Cowboys & Aliens got a disbelieving laugh from the audience when the title finally came up, and I'm inclined to agree. Seriously: you spend all that money to hire Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, and make all those pretty special effects and blow stuff up, and you couldn't think of a better title?
~ Yogi Bear: O RLY (Addendum: Justin Timberlake... WHUT.)
~ Am I the only one who's not dying to see the new Tron movie? This trailer made it look very headachy and predictable. (I invented A.I. OH WAIT THE A.I. HAS TURNED AGAINST ME!!!1!)
What I really love about this movie and the screenplay is that the annoying bickering that takes up about a third of the book has been effectively dealt with so that it doesn't bore me the way it did in the book. That said, the plot and large passages of dialogue are cut directly from the pages of the story, and what has been added is good. Neville gets a short but kick-ass scene; there's an added scary bit with Voldemort and Dumbledore's coffin that neatly frames the conflict. The added on scene that got the most attention in the theater I was in was the part where Ron storms off, and Harry and Hermione find themselves alone. A cheerful song comes on the radio and Harry dances with Hermione. The audience around us laughed, for reasons that didn't make a lot of sense... I thought this moment was well-timed and necessary to dispel some of the tension that had built up over the past few scenes. But perhaps it seemed forced to others?
The thing that I really noticed was how everyone did well with what little they had. Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, and Alan Rickman are on screen for just a few minutes apiece, but each of them manages to make their appearances memorable and real. (Tom Felton, in particular, lets his internal struggle play across his features in a very interesting way.) I also loved how the characters in the Order of the Phoenix have a very real sense of solidarity with one another and for the cause they believe in.
Mostly, I cannot wait for Part 2 now! The movie ends at a very good point, but knowing what comes next, I am so, so eager to see the final conflict. Also, I am ready to cry like a baby at massive character death. I expected to cry at this film, but it didn't happen. More emotionally effective than the character death in this installment, I am sorry to say, is the torture. And it's not done in a ghoulish or creepy way... just horrible and realistic.
tl;dr version: Relentless tension still makes for a great plot and excellent acting work makes this a real treat. But the best treat of all will be seeing Part 1 and Part 2 together. XD
Trailer Park:
~ Green Hornet and Green Lantern duke it out for green-related superhero movie.
~ Cowboys & Aliens got a disbelieving laugh from the audience when the title finally came up, and I'm inclined to agree. Seriously: you spend all that money to hire Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, and make all those pretty special effects and blow stuff up, and you couldn't think of a better title?
~ Yogi Bear: O RLY (Addendum: Justin Timberlake... WHUT.)
~ Am I the only one who's not dying to see the new Tron movie? This trailer made it look very headachy and predictable. (I invented A.I. OH WAIT THE A.I. HAS TURNED AGAINST ME!!!1!)
no subject
I note that the scriptwriter has been quite open about this: http://www.rupert-grint.us/forum2/showthread.php?109-Steve-Kloves-and-JK-Rowling-on-Harry-Hermione
I'm happy to disagree on this point, but I've been hearing from other folks about laughter during the dancing scene, and I do suspect that the H/Hr stuff is one of the reasons _why_ people are laughing, even if it can be read very differently.
no subject
I wonder now if JKR would rewrite the books to favor H/Hr. I just want Harry/Luna, myself...
no subject
I read another interview with Radcliffe and Watson where Watson said that they chose to play it with some ambiguity - that there's a moment of potential in the scene, and then they silently decide to stick to friendship, perhaps with some regret on Harry's side (but not on Hermione's.) I rather like that reading (though reading movies straight up is totally legitimate) - mostly, because, frankly, two attractive close 17-year-old friends alone in the woods, in a highly stressful situation, attracted to the appropriate gender - of course they're going to _think_ about it. They may well choose not to do anything about it, but there's going to be a moment or two of wondering on at least one side. And portraying the dance as both comforting and friendship and that little moment of what-if...I like that.
Sadly, I think there's more evidence for Harry/Draco than Harry/Luna in the movies, much as I like Evanna Lynch.