Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Oh man, what a night. I waited in line for about five hours, half the time that shizermcdougal waited. I dealt with my fluctuating mood, a too-short and too-tight skirt, and furious ticket switching (there were four midnight showings at the same theatre), but in the end, it was so, so worth it.
Harry Potter has been, like for many others, one of my dearest old fandoms. But my obsessiveness peaked at around the Chamber of Secrets release, so needless to say, I've seen all the movies, but haven't been so excited since then. In fact, I owned both the fourth and fifth films, but never rewatched them on DVD. I heard fantastic things about Half-Blood Prince. It got me excited. Listening to the old scores got me even moreso. But I haven't enjoyed and felt so fucking satisfied about a Potter flick since Chamber, and I think it's my favourite one yet.
Rowling has this way of creating fantastic, compelling, unique characters, but things happen, and you begin to dislike them for one reason or another. Which is only human, to be sure; I can't fault her for it. But the thing about the films is that it makes me love these characters again, and not just connect with them and/or understand them, but love them anyway and embrace their faults instead of pushing them away. Maybe this is just the artist in me, the person that needs the visuals to really connect, but this movie reminded me, so much, of just how intensely I love all these characters, this world, this universe Rowling created. In fact, the movies make me love characters I loathe in the books, like Snape and Draco Malfoy, and adore characters I merely liked or approved of, like Neville Longbottom.
I am wary of saying that fans will enjoy the movie, because so many have high expectations of one thing or another. I think it's important to be flexible, to ride along with someone else's vision of the material, but others may not agree. Regardless, I think they did great justice to the source material, and it translated beautifully to the screen. This is due in large part to some of the outstanding factors about the film that really stuck out to me.
Firstly, there are wonderful, rounded, complex performances throughout the cast. Daniel, Rupert, and Emma have blossomed into fantastic young actors, who have really honed the minute subtleties of their characters. To me, they simply ARE Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and that's that. Still more fantastic performances from Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Tom Felton, and especially, in my opinion, Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn. Everyone is stellar.
Secondly, the directing from David Yates, and cinematography from Bruce Delbonnel, the DP on Amelie. The movie simply looks gorgeous. There is depth in the shots, motion and fluidity, and Yates gives you the action without being distracting with ridiculous camera moves, or dizzying handheld. Delbonnel shows you what is happening in the most beautiful way possible; playing intricately with lights and darks, and subtracting colour or adding where it is necessary for the extra punch.
Thirdly, the liberties taken with the story. While I said and think that the film is faithful to the book, it also takes some leeway from it, too, for a number of reasons. (Making it more relateable, more interesting, adding more danger and/or weight.) The key thing in my mind being the spiking hormones. Everyone makes out like crazy in this movie. At times, it is hilarious. Other times, awkward. Yet other times, it is poignant and touching. All of these things characteristics of sex itself, and especially for the age range here, I think it's not only appropriate, but handled, well, tastefully and respectfully. On another level, a fangirl level, there's a lot of wonderful shippy moments between Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, two of my favourite pairings. So, of course, I was happy. There's still yet fantastic Harry/Draco moments, as well as (best friend) chemistry between Harry and Hermione, who share some exquisite scenes that make me realize just how much I adore their friendship.
Speaking of realizations, I've had an epiphany, of sorts. I usually know exactly who my favourite character is in a novel or a movie, but with Harry Potter, it's kind of been a vague "well, I love LupinRonSiriusHarryDumbledoreandmaybeevenTomRiddle." But, upon watching the movie, I was consumed with a painfully acute connection to Harry, and, in the end, I think he's my absolute favourite, without a doubt. (Perhaps it's different just with the books.) It's no accident, either, but, that's another tale.
There are times, however, where the pacing felt off, to me. Yates has a way of giving every single scene weight and perspective, as if you know exactly how each puzzle piece fits into the whole. But it becomes problematic when a scene might run 20 seconds too long, and you feel as though the scene was supposed to have felt more important than it did. And to someone who has not read the books, good luck following the plot, because as the film goes on, scenes will just begin partially though the action, leaving it to the viewer to fill in the blanks.
And here I sit, reminiscing to a better time, when Harry Potter fever consumed pop culture, and I do believe that after seeing 1,500 people filling four theatres, that it has returned.
I adored the newest Harry Potter, and I hope you will, too.
Harry Potter has been, like for many others, one of my dearest old fandoms. But my obsessiveness peaked at around the Chamber of Secrets release, so needless to say, I've seen all the movies, but haven't been so excited since then. In fact, I owned both the fourth and fifth films, but never rewatched them on DVD. I heard fantastic things about Half-Blood Prince. It got me excited. Listening to the old scores got me even moreso. But I haven't enjoyed and felt so fucking satisfied about a Potter flick since Chamber, and I think it's my favourite one yet.
Rowling has this way of creating fantastic, compelling, unique characters, but things happen, and you begin to dislike them for one reason or another. Which is only human, to be sure; I can't fault her for it. But the thing about the films is that it makes me love these characters again, and not just connect with them and/or understand them, but love them anyway and embrace their faults instead of pushing them away. Maybe this is just the artist in me, the person that needs the visuals to really connect, but this movie reminded me, so much, of just how intensely I love all these characters, this world, this universe Rowling created. In fact, the movies make me love characters I loathe in the books, like Snape and Draco Malfoy, and adore characters I merely liked or approved of, like Neville Longbottom.
I am wary of saying that fans will enjoy the movie, because so many have high expectations of one thing or another. I think it's important to be flexible, to ride along with someone else's vision of the material, but others may not agree. Regardless, I think they did great justice to the source material, and it translated beautifully to the screen. This is due in large part to some of the outstanding factors about the film that really stuck out to me.
Firstly, there are wonderful, rounded, complex performances throughout the cast. Daniel, Rupert, and Emma have blossomed into fantastic young actors, who have really honed the minute subtleties of their characters. To me, they simply ARE Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and that's that. Still more fantastic performances from Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Tom Felton, and especially, in my opinion, Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn. Everyone is stellar.
Secondly, the directing from David Yates, and cinematography from Bruce Delbonnel, the DP on Amelie. The movie simply looks gorgeous. There is depth in the shots, motion and fluidity, and Yates gives you the action without being distracting with ridiculous camera moves, or dizzying handheld. Delbonnel shows you what is happening in the most beautiful way possible; playing intricately with lights and darks, and subtracting colour or adding where it is necessary for the extra punch.
Thirdly, the liberties taken with the story. While I said and think that the film is faithful to the book, it also takes some leeway from it, too, for a number of reasons. (Making it more relateable, more interesting, adding more danger and/or weight.) The key thing in my mind being the spiking hormones. Everyone makes out like crazy in this movie. At times, it is hilarious. Other times, awkward. Yet other times, it is poignant and touching. All of these things characteristics of sex itself, and especially for the age range here, I think it's not only appropriate, but handled, well, tastefully and respectfully. On another level, a fangirl level, there's a lot of wonderful shippy moments between Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, two of my favourite pairings. So, of course, I was happy. There's still yet fantastic Harry/Draco moments, as well as (best friend) chemistry between Harry and Hermione, who share some exquisite scenes that make me realize just how much I adore their friendship.
Speaking of realizations, I've had an epiphany, of sorts. I usually know exactly who my favourite character is in a novel or a movie, but with Harry Potter, it's kind of been a vague "well, I love LupinRonSiriusHarryDumbledoreandmaybeevenTomRiddle." But, upon watching the movie, I was consumed with a painfully acute connection to Harry, and, in the end, I think he's my absolute favourite, without a doubt. (Perhaps it's different just with the books.) It's no accident, either, but, that's another tale.
There are times, however, where the pacing felt off, to me. Yates has a way of giving every single scene weight and perspective, as if you know exactly how each puzzle piece fits into the whole. But it becomes problematic when a scene might run 20 seconds too long, and you feel as though the scene was supposed to have felt more important than it did. And to someone who has not read the books, good luck following the plot, because as the film goes on, scenes will just begin partially though the action, leaving it to the viewer to fill in the blanks.
And here I sit, reminiscing to a better time, when Harry Potter fever consumed pop culture, and I do believe that after seeing 1,500 people filling four theatres, that it has returned.
I adored the newest Harry Potter, and I hope you will, too.