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| Monday, November 22, 2010 02:30 PM |
| (Last updated on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 08:32 AM) | | On the Viewer - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 |
 by Fëanor |
WARNING: If you have not read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or you haven't seen the movie and would prefer to know nothing about it, DO NOT READ THIS POST. You have been warned.
Also, beware lengthy analysis!
It my not seem like it after you read this post, but I really did enjoy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I think it's probably the best film adaptation we are likely to see of the first half of this book. That being said, this book, perhaps more than any of the other Harry Potter books, is full of small details and important little scenes, and the fact that the filmmakers didn't have time to fit all of them in here, even after splitting the book into two movies, and that they altered others for various reasons, was rather disappointing. And someone who knows the book better than I do might be even more disappointed.
The first scene that wasn't included and that I really missed was the one where Dudley says good-bye to Harry. In the book, Dudley realizes, even after everything's that happened, that he really will miss his step-brother, and he finally (sort of) thanks Harry for saving his life. That scene shows how that character has grown and changed, and it's quite funny and touching. Dudley gets to redeem himself to a certain extent. In the film, the Dursleys leaving is an extremely short, throwaway sequence. Dudley asks why they're going and Vernon says because it's not safe there anymore. Petunia doesn't even say anything; we just get a quick shot of her looking pissed in the car. And that's it.
Petunia is a far more interesting character in the books than she was ever allowed to be in the movies (although the actress really does everything in her power to make her shine, especially in the first movie). I really wanted to see her interact with Harry one more time, but no. There's also not really any explanation of why it was so important that Harry always go back to the Dursley house - no description of the magical protection that kept him safe there. In fact, the movie is constantly failing to explain things, as if taking for granted that you've read the books and will be able to fill in the blanks yourself. I'm vaguely okay with that because hey, I have read the books, and several times! Plus it adds a layer of subtlety and complexity to the story, and forces you to really look hard and carefully interpret what's going on. But I have to imagine it's very confusing for someone who hasn't read the books.
A really powerful moment that wasn't dramatized in the book but is in the movie is Hermione rearranging her parents' memories and erasing herself from their lives to protect them. This is one of the most moving scenes in the whole movie. I like that this was included, because the series is so much about family, parents and children, love, and sacrifice.
In some cases the movie is hindered by things that previous movies failed to do. They had to include the shard of magic mirror so Harry could call for help from the basement prison of the Malfoy house near the end of the film, but the mirror had never been introduced in any previous film. You'd think they would have added a scene to explain it, but they just... didn't. Harry just has the mirror and it does things and there's no explanation. Harry never talks to anyone about the things he sees in it, either.
It's disappointing how little time is spent on Bill and Fleur's relationship, and on their wedding. This is a long, funny sequence in the book with lots of character building. But in the films Bill had never even been introduced to Harry yet, and his relationship with Fleur had never been established, so they have to throw it at you really quickly and then move on. Bill getting attacked by Fenrir, which is a really terrifying and important moment in the books, and transforms Fleur's relationship with Bill's mother in a really sweet and moving way, is treated as little more than a passing joke here. Also given incredibly short shrift is the relationship between Lupin and Tonks. I really enjoy the scene in the book when Lupin announces he's going to have a child, but here Tonks doesn't even get to finish her sentence about it before Mad-Eye interrupts her and we're moving on.
I really enjoy the way the movie does the multiple Harry sequence - the effect is wonderful, and the way the characters handle it is very funny. I also think the fight sequence immediately afterwards is done very well. As soon as they leave the house, our heroes are instantly ambushed. The group is split apart and everything is chaos and confusion. It feels exactly right. Except for one very important thing - my least favorite change in the entire film, the one that made me actually say out loud, "No, that's wrong!" In the movie, the villains discover which Harry is the real one because Hedwig flies in to defend him. But in the book Harry is found out because of the spell he casts in his defense. This is a key difference. It's really important that it's Harry's desire not to hurt, but only to disarm, even in a fight to the death, that gives him away. That really illuminates who Harry is. That it's Hedwig that gives him away takes something away from Hedwig's sacrifice, and doesn't give us that character-illuminating moment.
Some of the central mysteries of the story, though they are dramatized to a certain extent, are not really discussed. We see Harry's wand move by itself to defend him from Voldemort, but Harry doesn't tell anyone about this; it never comes up in conversation. His visions of Voldemort's quest for the Elder Wand are brief and you have to look and listen carefully to even get a sense of what's going on. I have to say I'm actually kind of pleased that we don't have to listen to Harry and Hermione argue about whether his wand acted on its own or not, and what it means. But it still seems like a bit of a mistake to give short shrift to anything about wands, given that the destruction of Voldemort and really the central plot twist of the novel rests on wands - how they work, what it means to "own" a wand, etc. Also barely discussed is Dumbledore's secret personal history, exposed in such dramatic fashion in Rita Skeeter's book. The movie does do a pretty good job of showing how difficult it is for Harry to learn that he knew almost nothing about Dumbledore as a person, and that Dumbledore had not always been the noble and great man he eventually became. And I kind of like the way they boil down Harry's interaction with Doge and Muriel at the wedding. But, while Grindelwald is shown and his name is spoken, we learn absolutely nothing about him, and that is disappointing. The Hitler-like Grindelwald - the most important dark wizard ever, besides Voldemort - was a fascinating addition to the history of Rowling's world, and his complex relationship with Dumbledore really illuminates Dumbledore's character. The fact that Grindelwald sought out the Elder Wand and captured it, in order that he could have ultimate power, and that Dumbledore defeated him and took it for his own, is also incredibly important, but these details are never really made clear. In the movie, Grindelwald is just some guy who used to have the wand and doesn't anymore.
Another character who never gets to shine is Kreacher. In the book, we learn a lot more about him and the history of the Black family, and he ultimately ends up warming to Harry and his friends when they take the trouble to look at things from his perspective and figure out what it is that really matters to him. It's a pretty important evolution of all their characters that's completely neglected.
[UPDATE: I'm not sure the movies ever established that you could use a patronus to send messages; it just sort of happens here. Still, the way Kingsley's patronus shows up to tell everyone the Minister is dead, the Ministry has fallen, and, "they are coming," and the way the wedding immediately erupts into chaos, with Lupin pushing Harry away from danger, and Harry and his friends disapparating into the middle of a busy street - that's great stuff, very well done.]
Another disappointing change: Harry does not steal back Mad-Eye's eye from the door of Umbridge's office. It's odd that the movie goes to the trouble of showing us the eye, but then doesn't do anything with it. It would have taken only a moment to show Harry yanking it out, and I think it would have been worth it. This is another of Harry's really bad decisions that illuminates his character. There's no way Harry can leave the eye behind, even though taking it is dangerous and alerts everyone to the fact that there are intruders in the Ministry. That's because Harry always does the right thing, the loyal and good thing, even when it's stupid and dangerous.
Besides this change, I was generally pleased with the sequence where our heroes infiltrate the Ministry. The actors who play our heroes playing other people are quite excellent, and it's always good to see Umbridge and the Dementors get what's coming to them.
Another odd, but sort of understandable, change the movie makes is that Harry and his friends do not use the invisibility cloak in the movie at all. It's not even clear whether they have it with them. But in the book they use the cloak constantly, mostly because, well, they don't want to be seen! They're fugitives! Also, it makes sense to bring the cloak to the forefront in this story, since the thing turns out to be one of the titular Deathly Hallows. I guess it would have been awkward to constantly shoot scenes of our three fully grown main characters trying to huddle awkwardly under one cloak, and make it clear to the audience that there was something there even though we couldn't see anything, but still.
I like that the movie manages to fit in the radio broadcasts from the underground resistance, but these broadcasts are yet another thing the movie fails to explain, or go into any detail about. In fact, Harry seems mostly annoyed by them. In the book, these broadcasts are precious to all of them because they get to hear their friends and pick up important bits of news about what's really going on in the outside world.
In the book, when Ron returns by using the Deluminator, and explains how he did it, he finishes self-deprecatingly with, "Dumbledore knew I'd leave." But Harry points out, "He also knew you'd always want to come back." It's a moving moment. Sadly, the movie removes it.
Still, in general I really do like the way the three main characters and their relationships are treated. Rupert Grint is particularly wonderful as Ron, but really all these actors have grown into these parts, so that it's hard to imagine Harry, Ron, and Hermione being played by anyone else. The scene where Ron shows excessive support for Hermione's idea of what they should do next in order to get back on her good side is very funny. Also, whenever Ron talks about the stories in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and how his mother used to read them to him, it is hilarious. Speaking of which, another thing I like is the way the film handles "The Tale of the Three Brothers." As Hermione reads the story, we see it reenacted via surreal and stylized animation. It's very neat.
In the book, the scene where Hermione tries to disguise Harry's identity from the snatchers by cursing his face always seemed a bit silly to me. If you have time to cast a spell, why not cast one that gets you the hell out of there? But in the movie they make this make sense by having a chase ensue where the three of them get split up and there's no time for them all to get together and disapparate to the same place. With their foes closing in, Ron nowhere in sight, and Hermione yards away from Harry, there's only one thing she can do.
The ending of the film is absolutely brutal. The wonderfully triumphant moment in which Dobby comes into his own as a bad-ass hero is followed immediately by his tragic and deeply moving death. And that is followed immediately by Voldemort recovering the most powerful wand in the world. As he holds it up in triumph, and the defeat of our heroes seems assured, the film ends. It's a tough place to leave us as viewers, but it feels right.
[UPDATE 2: There's another thing missing from the film that I guess I thought originally they were going to do in the second part, but which I've since realized they've missed their chance to cover. In the book, Harry has a pivotal choice to make after the death of Dobby. He has to decide which to go after - Horcruxes or Hallows. He knows that if he chooses Horcruxes, there won't be time to go back and get the Hallows - Voldemort will already have beaten him to the Elder Wand. He wavers, but ultimately decides to follow the last wishes of Dumbledore and focus on the Horcruxes. It's an important decision, and shows that despite everything, he's still held onto his faith in Dumbledore, and that destroying Voldemort is more important to him than having the biggest weapon or becoming the "Master of Death." In the film, he doesn't get the chance to make the decision at all.]
There are definitely parts of the movie that frustrated me, but it's beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, funny, moving, and true at least to the spirit of the book, even if not always to the particulars. I look forward to the second part and the conclusion of the saga. |
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