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Yes! I spotted Lucius and Draco in the Minister’s box!! That alone made it worth the ticket price…
Not having a DVD player has been particularly frustrating over the last couple of weeks, as I’ve followed the LJ squeeing over Serenity and GoF. But the IMAX print of GoF finally getting in Manchester took the sting out of it a little.
IMAX, I concluded last Saturday, is absolutely awesome for scenic shots and for seeing background detail in more crowded scenes, but it is not a comfortable medium in which to view close-ups of people. Much as I like having my entire vision filled by the film, in retrospect I had to pick and choose which parts I wanted to focus on. Fine for a second viewing, but I won’t be rushing out to find an IMAX midnight showing of OotP on release day.
Anyhow, this seems as good a time as any to write up my impressions of movie!GoF, which never made it from notes to LJ last November. (Limited access to internet being something of a demotivating factor).
Spoilers follow - but really, if you haven't seen the film by now you probably won't care anyhow.
General impressions of the adaptation
Basically, I thought they did a good job of adapting the book for the movie. Yes, some characterisation was cut, but some was IMO improved, and this movie was a vast improvement over PS and CoS in that respect. Yes, I missed the absent storylines (especially Imperiused!Barty Crouch Snr), but the cuts they made were far cleaner than for PoA: Fake!Moody bringing Harry and Neville together in the library was a great way to compensate for the lack of Dobby before the second task, and though I missed the Skeeter-bug I guess Hermione can find another way to persuade Rita to write Harry’s story next time.
Speaking of Hermione, there were the usual complaints when the film was released about her being given other people’s lines, and I don’t disagree with that. But it struck me here – especially in the scene just before the first Task – that this is not necessarily done to push her forward, but to act as Harry’s inner voice, or to allow Harry to voice his thoughts. And it certainly works better than a Harry voiceover or monologue would. Is it necessary? I don’t know. We’d probably lose some information, but perhaps this is another symptom of the filmmakers not being able to let go of aspects of the book that don’t translate to movie storytelling.
I was confused, though, about the role of the Death Eaters in the film. The initial scene with Voldemort implied that those at the QWC were actually acting under orders from Barty Jnr, and he certainly didn’t display the same resentment towards them as he did in the Book. And what else would explain Lucius’ none-too-subtle ‘enjoy yourself while you can’ taunt – what did he know? And yet, none of this was evident at the graveyard scene, which was played largely as in the book.
Barty’s tongue-tic didn’t work for me. The first time I saw the movie, I only noticed it right at the end (despite musical cues earlier), and it seemed really out of place. Then I saw someone explain it, and then it felt really in-my-face. A worthy parallel to the book’s clues, I suppose, but it just didn’t feel natural to me – I’ve never seen anyone do that IRL.
What really impressed me:
My favourite scene was the return from the graveyard – after being immersed in all that darkness and horror, I’d completely forgotten about the crowd waiting back at the school, and being thrown back into bright lights and jolly music and cheering was a brilliant juxtaposition. Seeing Amos and Arthur heartily congratulate each other, and watching the gradual realisation spreading through the crowd was superb. Several people have said that they cried when Cedric died. I didn’t – I cried at the desperate look on his father’s face as he pushed through the crowd towards the body. That’s the first time an HP movie has made me shed a tear, and I got nowhere near the same feeling from the book – little details like people’s expressions that can be much more easily shown on film than mentioned in Harry-PoV writing.
Actually seeing the tasks added a lot for me – I realise now that when I read the book I never really believed they were that dangerous, but although I felt that the dragon fight went on for a little too long, seeing Harry look so helpless in the arena made the risk of being roasted or spiked look a whole lot more real. Likewise, following Harry to the murky depths of the lake and swimming through the weeds and fighting off the sea-creatures (not Grindylows as I’d imagined them from JKR’s description, but they did the job), made it feel like we were entering an eerie otherworld from which one might well not return…
Some of the special effects were awesome, too – I don’t mean for being technically impressive, but for showing aspects of the story. Voldemort’s cloak materialising from dark shadows was symbolically spot on as well as beautifully rendered, and the arrival of the Death Eaters from the mouth of the Dark Mark… that makes so much sense if Voldemort summons the DE’s to wherever he is at the time: not so much, perhaps, that they go to him, but that they align themselves with the Dark and the Mark spits them out wherever the Dark Lord wills it?
On a more mundane note, I felt that showing Krum’s Imperius by turning his eyes white worked well, though it somewhat contradicts the canonical difficulty of discerning whether people were under Imperius (at least, it would if they left any witnesses.)
What I liked
I wish they’d included:
I wish they’d left out:
“I love magic!”
And I was disappointed by:
And finally, a word to Lucius…
When one is in disguise, it is not – prudent – to let one’s very identifiable hair stick out from under one’s hood, no matter how neatly arranged is said hair.
Nor is it prudent to attack the Hero of the Wizarding World, and tell him in public that he should enjoy himself ‘while he can’. In the immortal words of your former comrade Severus, people will think you’re up to something.
Not having a DVD player has been particularly frustrating over the last couple of weeks, as I’ve followed the LJ squeeing over Serenity and GoF. But the IMAX print of GoF finally getting in Manchester took the sting out of it a little.
IMAX, I concluded last Saturday, is absolutely awesome for scenic shots and for seeing background detail in more crowded scenes, but it is not a comfortable medium in which to view close-ups of people. Much as I like having my entire vision filled by the film, in retrospect I had to pick and choose which parts I wanted to focus on. Fine for a second viewing, but I won’t be rushing out to find an IMAX midnight showing of OotP on release day.
Anyhow, this seems as good a time as any to write up my impressions of movie!GoF, which never made it from notes to LJ last November. (Limited access to internet being something of a demotivating factor).
Spoilers follow - but really, if you haven't seen the film by now you probably won't care anyhow.
General impressions of the adaptation
Basically, I thought they did a good job of adapting the book for the movie. Yes, some characterisation was cut, but some was IMO improved, and this movie was a vast improvement over PS and CoS in that respect. Yes, I missed the absent storylines (especially Imperiused!Barty Crouch Snr), but the cuts they made were far cleaner than for PoA: Fake!Moody bringing Harry and Neville together in the library was a great way to compensate for the lack of Dobby before the second task, and though I missed the Skeeter-bug I guess Hermione can find another way to persuade Rita to write Harry’s story next time.
Speaking of Hermione, there were the usual complaints when the film was released about her being given other people’s lines, and I don’t disagree with that. But it struck me here – especially in the scene just before the first Task – that this is not necessarily done to push her forward, but to act as Harry’s inner voice, or to allow Harry to voice his thoughts. And it certainly works better than a Harry voiceover or monologue would. Is it necessary? I don’t know. We’d probably lose some information, but perhaps this is another symptom of the filmmakers not being able to let go of aspects of the book that don’t translate to movie storytelling.
I was confused, though, about the role of the Death Eaters in the film. The initial scene with Voldemort implied that those at the QWC were actually acting under orders from Barty Jnr, and he certainly didn’t display the same resentment towards them as he did in the Book. And what else would explain Lucius’ none-too-subtle ‘enjoy yourself while you can’ taunt – what did he know? And yet, none of this was evident at the graveyard scene, which was played largely as in the book.
Barty’s tongue-tic didn’t work for me. The first time I saw the movie, I only noticed it right at the end (despite musical cues earlier), and it seemed really out of place. Then I saw someone explain it, and then it felt really in-my-face. A worthy parallel to the book’s clues, I suppose, but it just didn’t feel natural to me – I’ve never seen anyone do that IRL.
What really impressed me:
My favourite scene was the return from the graveyard – after being immersed in all that darkness and horror, I’d completely forgotten about the crowd waiting back at the school, and being thrown back into bright lights and jolly music and cheering was a brilliant juxtaposition. Seeing Amos and Arthur heartily congratulate each other, and watching the gradual realisation spreading through the crowd was superb. Several people have said that they cried when Cedric died. I didn’t – I cried at the desperate look on his father’s face as he pushed through the crowd towards the body. That’s the first time an HP movie has made me shed a tear, and I got nowhere near the same feeling from the book – little details like people’s expressions that can be much more easily shown on film than mentioned in Harry-PoV writing.
Actually seeing the tasks added a lot for me – I realise now that when I read the book I never really believed they were that dangerous, but although I felt that the dragon fight went on for a little too long, seeing Harry look so helpless in the arena made the risk of being roasted or spiked look a whole lot more real. Likewise, following Harry to the murky depths of the lake and swimming through the weeds and fighting off the sea-creatures (not Grindylows as I’d imagined them from JKR’s description, but they did the job), made it feel like we were entering an eerie otherworld from which one might well not return…
Some of the special effects were awesome, too – I don’t mean for being technically impressive, but for showing aspects of the story. Voldemort’s cloak materialising from dark shadows was symbolically spot on as well as beautifully rendered, and the arrival of the Death Eaters from the mouth of the Dark Mark… that makes so much sense if Voldemort summons the DE’s to wherever he is at the time: not so much, perhaps, that they go to him, but that they align themselves with the Dark and the Mark spits them out wherever the Dark Lord wills it?
On a more mundane note, I felt that showing Krum’s Imperius by turning his eyes white worked well, though it somewhat contradicts the canonical difficulty of discerning whether people were under Imperius (at least, it would if they left any witnesses.)
What I liked
- Amos Diggory – I loved what they did with that character. No longer was he the pompous bureaucrat whose relationship with his son was defined more by pride than love. It was clear here that Cedric’s basic decency did not spring from nowhere: seeing his warmth towards Harry and his playfulness with Cedric (tweaking his nose in the background as Dumbledore introduced the maze) made his subsequent grief genuinely moving.
- Neville – okay, so his dancing prowess is uncanonical, but I don’t care. The guy deserves a break, and after seeing him ignored or reduced to comic relief in earlier films it was wonderful to see him as a more rounded person here.
- Hermione refusing to name the third Unforgivable Curse – putting her principles (or fear?) before her need to be first with the answer is, I suppose, a symptom of Kloves’s Hermione-Sue tendencies, but it made a pleasant change from the bossy-know-it-all we see most of the time.
- And speaking of that scene – was that spider tap-dancing on Ron’s head? ;)
- Myrtle – what can I say? Too hilarious for words…
- Harry getting carried away by his success and working the crowd in the common-room after winning the egg – it brought the feeling of celebration and Gryffindor support for him to life in a way the printed words never managed.
- Lucius pulling out his wand to rescue Voldemort from Harry in the graveyard during priori incantatem
- Mrs Norris, for beautiful bushy tail-swaying and for that Yule Ball cuddle from Filch. Purrrr… (And when it comes to IMAX sound, PURR!)
- Rita Skeeter: “It’s a broom cupboard!” “You’ll be right at home then.” :))
- Ron’s evil look after Harry was ‘chosen’.
- Draco’s pained expression on Harry narrowly escaping death during the First Task.
- The Twins’ exchange with Harry about Ron during the dancing lesson (the banter felt very real to me) – and their prowess at McGonagall’s tongue-twister.
- Floating toastracks – thanks to Hijja (I think? It was a while ago) for mentioning them so I could have a look!
- Ferret!Draco. The only problem with this scene was that the first time I saw it I was laughing so hard I could barely keep my eyes on the action. Of course, it was only natural for the filmmakers to introduce ferret to trouserleg – but I could hardly believe that they actually did it…
I wish they’d included:
- Crouch Jnr’s antagonism towards the Death Eaters that got away: I’d have loved to see Moody do the ‘There’s nothing I hate more than a Death Eater that escaped Azkaban’ line, and it would have had even more resonance if it was actually Karkaroff who’d betrayed him. Why, oh why, did they miss that opportunity to add a little more depth to the character? (Especially as they’d robbed him of so much of his backstory.)
- The confrontation between Fudge and Dumbledore at the end – not only because I’d have liked to see Fudge’s reaction to Lucius’ name coming up, but because that whole cut scene is what set up Book 5. It was very odd to realise, as the credits rolled, that this was the point at which I came into fandom, that it was Book 4 that fuelled so much fan speculation about Snape’s former and future role as spy, about Hagrid’s mission to the giants. This is what we feasted on and digested and regurgitated over and over and over again for three years: this is where the future started. I’d have liked some reminder of that feeling, but the end of this film was like a blank brick wall.
- Bellatrix! I had a horrid thought that perhaps they were cutting her completely, but thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the case.
- Bill, oh where was Bill? This franchise badly needs some attractive good guys, and I’m just not young enough to squee over Cedric. I fear that Bill won’t make the script – unless he turns out to be important to Book 7, but by then it will be too late to introduce him. *sniff*
- Percy – I do hope they aren’t dropping him from OotP; he’s so important to the Weasley family dynamics. A little officious presence at the QWC wouldn’t have gone amiss. I suppose his main purpose in the plot – hero worshipping and covering up for Mr Crouch – was made redundant by the cuts here. I hope he comes back in OotP, even if he’s just sitting beside Fudge at the hearing.
- CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
I wish they’d left out:
“I love magic!”
And I was disappointed by:
- Wormtail’s lack of distress at having his hand lopped off: he should have been almost incoherent with pain. Too distressing for the kiddies, perhaps? Well, maybe: but better than making cartoon amputation look real. It shouldn’t be necessary to show gore for a half-decent actor to put across agony, and it would have made Voldemort’s lack of concern a whole lot more disturbing.
- Barty’s ‘explanation’ to Harry at the end. In the book (being fairly dense when it comes to second-guessing JKR’s plot twists) this revelation was a real shock moment for me, and I’d have much preferred Barty to have announced his intention of killing Harry completely out of the blue, with no prior signs of Polyjuice-withdrawal.
- Dumbledore’s accent – I don’t care if it was a tribute: there were times when it just sounded put on and was very distracting. We know the actor changed – we know he looks different – there’s no need to try (and fail) to make him sound the same.
- Hermione’s Yule Ball Dress. It was hideous – and I don’t just mean the colour. (And as for the other outfits: there is imo something rather disturbing about seeing teenagers dressed up in adult backless evening gowns.)
And finally, a word to Lucius…
When one is in disguise, it is not – prudent – to let one’s very identifiable hair stick out from under one’s hood, no matter how neatly arranged is said hair.
Nor is it prudent to attack the Hero of the Wizarding World, and tell him in public that he should enjoy himself ‘while he can’. In the immortal words of your former comrade Severus, people will think you’re up to something.
