Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows review (Spoilers ONLY behind the cuts)
ABOUT SPOILERS: This post starts out with a general, spoiler-free review. I have tried very hard to put anything that might be considered a spoiler underneath an LJ-cut ( click here if you don't see the cuts). I've even used fake LJ-cuts below so I don't give away where the film ends. However, if you consider discussions of the film sets, shooting locations, character growth and other artistic evaluations to be spoilers, please don't read even the un-cut portion of this review! I'm sharing my thoughts because I think many will enjoy the advance details, but I'll be honest and say I'm nervous that someone is going to get upset about spoilers. Also, please be aware that spoiler-y discussions may be in the comments. If you’ve got a specific question for me and don’t want to risk getting majorly spoiled, please feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to discuss as little or as much of the film as you wish.
Tonight my family and I got to see an early screening of Deathly Hallows, thanks to my husband’s job as a film critic. (I’ll post a link to his review in a day or two after he writes it and edits the video package.) I had the chance to see a lot of advance promo clips from the film's electronic press kit, and my expectations weren't that high as a result, because I didn't realize how much those advance clips have been edited up, with the best parts saved for the movie. So if you've been watching any of those clips on youtube, don't make any negative assumptions about the movie based solely on what you see there.
Because - Wow! Was this ever amazing! I have griped about David Yates in the past, but I’m definitely eating crow. I never would’ve thought Yates would be capable of surpassing Alfonso Cuarón’s artistry in the third movie. And the acting - again: Wow. I was blown away by Emma Watson in particular. But the acting experience that all three kids have gained over the last few years was really evident in the phenomenal jobs they did.
One thing that really stood out to me about this movie is that it’s the first film of the series which cannot be watched without having watched the previous movies. In the past, it seemed as if a concerted effort was made to make each film "noob"-friendly. That is, one could watch any one of the films in the series without having seen the previous ones or read any of the books and yet still be able to follow along and enjoy the movie (though I hear that's debated re: the 5th and 6th movies). That is not the case here. The pacing is so fast, and yet so richly detailed, that it will be completely impossible for one to keep up with the plot without having watched the previous movies. In fact, I really think that one would have a difficult time understanding this movie if they have not read all the books. There are certain elements (such as the shard of glass from Sirius’ mirror) included in this movie which carry over from the books and which did not appear in the previous films. My 8-year-old daughter, who has only ever watched the movies, required a constant stream of explanations in order to keep up with this movie. Fast-paced editing and a huge information dump (just as in the book) exacerbates that dependency on the previous films or books in order to understand this film. Personally, I loved how heavily dependent this film is upon the books. I think it is extremely true to canon and subsequently in keeping with the way that Book 7 really couldn’t be appreciated without having read the previous books. But some may not like that.
Visually, my only complaint was that I really am not a fan of using a hand-held camera, and that technique was over-used in my opinion on several occasions, particularly in moments of high stress or action. But given how gorgeous the cinematography was as a whole, that’s a pretty minor quibble.
Chris Columbus was very dependent upon the special effects and beautiful Hogwarts set during the first 2 films. Alfonso Cuarón was my favorite director partly because of how great a job he did in making the look of the films be about more than just the cool-looking castle (as well as how great he directed the kids). I enjoyed but haven’t been overly impressed with the looks of the subsequent films, and really didn’t have high expectations for the aesthetics in this film. In addition, consider the fact that Deathly Hallows is set in a despondent, desolate time period. The world is cast in darkness, the Trio is despairing, and they’re living a pretty miserable existence. For the filmmakers to accurately portray all of that and yet really knock us out of the park with the look of this film was quite impressive.
The locations were gorgeous, with wide shots that made the Trio look very small in comparison to this huge world outside of Hogwarts. I was reminded of what Bill Nighy said in the Doctor Who episode “Vincent and the Doctor,” “Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world…” Not a great comparison, I know (neither David Yates nor even cinematographer Eduardo Serra could be considered the cinema's answer to Van Gough), but it truly was awe-inspiring to see this time of pain portrayed accurately and yet with so much beauty.
And finally, keep your eyes peeled for a jaw-dropping example of animation genius. This particular sequence had better win some awards, or I'm going to seriously consider writing a letter to someone to complain. :)
As I said above, the film was extremely true to canon, far more so than any of the others since perhaps the first movie. (Although I actually have critiques about the methods Columbus used in being true to canon back then.) As with any film adaptation, there are elements that are missing or modified in order to transition to a different story-telling medium, But because this book is being presented with what I predict will end up being about 5 hours of screen time by the time DH: Part II is released, Steve Kloves had the luxury of taking his time and include everything that was important. So while there are a few minor elements or scenes missing, I had nothing to complain about in that regard. In addition, there were several spots where Kloves' script attempts to fix the problems caused by leaving out elements in previous films by putting in extra scenes or elements in this script (E.g., Dobby is given more time in this movie than in the book in order to help us bond with him, since the last four movies ignored him.). Again, nothing that a canon purist would be upset about.
That’s about all I can say without spoilers. If you want a spoiler-y explanation of a particular scene or element, click on the chapter title below. In order to avoid spoiling y'all, I'm using all of the book's chapter titles as my LJ-cuts, so you can't tell where the film ends or what is or isn't included in the movie without clicking. Or, feel free to message me your questions, so long as you tell me what the limits are to what you want to know, so I don't accidentally spoil you.
How The Film Opens: The film opens with a study in contrasts as the trio are at their separate homes, preparing for battle. Harry is packing up his life and saying goodbye to the hell-hole he called home. Ron is gazing out onto the horizon, the Burrow at his back. But what tore me up was the scene where Hermione curses her own parents into forgetting her. I bawled my eyes out, and we were barely 2-minutes into the film. Emma Watson did an absolutely amazing job on that scene. Even now a I write about it, it brings tears to my eyes.
The Dark Lord Ascending: The scene with Snape (minus Yaxley) striding into Malfoy manner is included, along with Charity Burbage’s murder. It is far better than the preview clip I saw last week led me to believe, as it left out a lot. Tom Felton does a great job here. Helena Bonham Carter actually struck me as a bit over-the-top, even for Bellatrix, but it’s a brief moment. Mostly I was struck by the great job Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton and Alan Rickman did here, along with Carolyn Pickles as the suffering, soon-to-die Muggle Studies professor.
In Memoriam through The Dursleys Departing: The incidents of "In Memoriam" are covered above under "How the Film Opens." The Dursley’s departure was barely touched upon. We didn’t see their goodbye with Harry - just a brief, outside shot of them packing their car. To be honest, I didn’t even notice Dudley or Petunia - just Vernon.
The Seven Potters: The Seven Potters was a great scene. Nice mixture of humor and fear there. The twins were in their element here, as was Mad-Eye Moody.
The departure was a bit different, but not dramatically so. I was very happy with it overall. Hedwig wasn’t in the cage - Harry released her to fly to the Burrow (Not the Tonks home) before they departed, something I always wished Harry would’ve done in Book 7, as he had done before in previous books. However, she still doesn’t survive, as she sacrifices her life for Harry, taking an Avada Kedavra to save him, and alerting the DE’s to the real Harry’s identity. The scene with Harry’s wand acting on its own was included and was very nicely done. Hagrid does not fall off the bike, though, nor do we see Stan Shunpike. Harry does shoot stunners at the Death Eaters, but it is not as obvious that it would be a fatal shot, since they are lower to the ground, albeit in the middle of highway traffic and multiple car accidents when Harry hits them.
Fallen Warrior: The arrival at the Burrow was very, very well done and is an emotionally powerful scene. Molly’s bravery is clearly evident here. We get to see the Order members challenge each other with their secret questions, just as in the book, clearly driving home the fear of betrayal that is already seeping into the members of the Order. I found it particularly striking to see Lupin dealing with the realization that they have already been betrayed again. Another moment that choked me up was when George is laying on the couch, the side of his head bloodied from his missing ear. The scene plays out much the way it does in the book, with a mountain of fear and distress in the room dissipating as George cracks his “saint-like” joke.
The Ghoul in Pajamas and The Will of Albus Dumbledore: The kissing scene between Harry and Ginny is nicely done, with the sexual tension actually ratcheted up a notch when she approaches him to ask that he zip up her dress for the wedding. There’s an innocence there that keeps the scene from being so overtly sexual that it bothered me for my 8-year-old daughter to see it, but any adult or teenager would’ve felt it. I liked that, because it kept this film child-friendly, while still conveying the passion between Harry and Ginny that’s present in the book when she kisses him. The way they are interrupted in this scene is much funnier than in the book, but I won’t spoil you on that. Shortly thereafter, Scrimgeour shows up, portrayed with un-surprising artistic genius and skill by Bill Nighy. The bequest scene is cut down a bit more than I'd like, but all the important information is eventually conveyed elsewhere in the film.
The Wedding: The wedding is shot very closely to how it’s depicted in the book, including all the important elements, as well as a delightful moment with Luna and her father. Viktor Krum is not in the film, which was a disappointment to me, but not too shocking, as he really wasn’t essential here.
A Place To Hide: When the Trio escape the wedding and the Death Eater’s find them, the scene plays out much as it does in the book, including most of the essential elements. I didn't even catch them saying Voldemort’s name in the cafe scene (my husband caught it), but one thing that is not made clear in this film, though, is that Voldemort’s name is jinxed (though it’ll be obvious later in the film to those who have read the book).
Kreacher's Tale and The Bribe: The Grimmauld Place scenes are cut, but everything essential is included, along with a few additions that delighted me. The scene between Lupin and Harry in which Harry calls him a coward is left out, which disappointed me, but I can understand it isn’t essential here. Harry doesn’t find the picture and letter from Lily to Sirius which Snape had left behind, but we do get to see the dusty Dumbledore ghost-thing that Mad-Eye left, so that was cool. It was very effectively done. Kreacher is AWESOME. I love the actor (Simon McBurney) who does his voice. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see Kreacher learning to like Harry, and we don’t hear the whole story of Regulus and the inferi from Kreacher, but the essentials are conveyed. There is also a surprise inclusion when Kreacher delivers Mundungus, which I LOVED.
Magic Is Might and The Muggle-born Registration Commission: The scene at the Ministry is very, very well done. I won’t say a lot here because I don’t want to completely ruin the action and suspense. But it’s paced very well. I liked the fact that the statue at the ministry was discussed, not merely left in the background, in order to drive home the impact of its ugly message. And ever since we left the movie theater this evening, my 16-year-old son has not quit quoting one particular line that is directed at Umbridge with a humorous, Take-THAT!-you-toad kind of impact.
Camping Scenes: The Thief and The Goblin's Revenge: The camping scenes are everything you would want, with one possible exception. Phineus Nigelus’ portrait is not included in this film at all. But from the scary moment when they get there through the powerful, heart-wrenching scene of Ron’s angry departure, you’ll see some fantastic examples of how these three kids have grown as actors. Again, I think Emma Watson is brilliant here, but I was also really struck by how Rupert Grint has learned not to simply “mug it up,” as my husband said (in reference to Grint’s typically dramatic facial expressions). Grint’s timing, his poise, and his depiction of Ron’s inner torment are very, very well done in these scenes.
Godric's Hollow: The Christmas scene at Godric’s Hollow is heart-breaking. We don’t see the war memorial statue, unfortunately, but the mood is conveyed nonetheless. I like the line Harry gives about why he is not using polyjuice potion to visit his home. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of encouraging messages left for Harry at the ruins of his home, but I can understand why Yates didn’t want to interrupt the pacing of that scene by including it.
Bathilda's Secret: Bathilda Bagshot’s scene is very well done. I was afraid of how scary it might be for my daughter, knowing the potential for it to be rather grotesque, but they managed to convey all the horror without being gratuitously freaky. Voldemort did NOT appear in this scene. However, Harry still saw the importance of Grindelwald’s picture thanks to a series of visions he gets throughout the movie, as Voldemort obsesses over the Elder Wand.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore: I want to go re-watch this movie for several reasons, but a big one is that we whip through Dumbledore's background so fast, that I don't think it was explained in great detail, but I'm not positive. Perhaps the next film will get into this more, but the fact that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were childhood friends is only alluded to by the inclusion of a photo of Albus and Gellert together as boys. Ariana’s death is left out. The article that Elphias Doge writes is glimpsed and then alluded to again when Harry meets Doge at the wedding, but neither the details from that article nor the information from Rita Skeeter’s interview or book are included. If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand what’s being referenced, but Dumbledore’s past is really not discussed. In fact, the visions Harry gets from Voldemort are the main source of information and another example of elements which I think will be very confusing to those who have not read Book 7. The way they were included worked fine for me, but due to the rapid cuts and confusing, dream-like way they are shot and edited, I’d suggest you explain in advance the entire Grindlewald/Dumbledore connection to any of your friends who are going to watch this movie without having ever read the book.
The Silver Doe: The scene with the doe patronus, the Sword of Griffindor, and Ron’s return was fantastic. It was scary, it was exciting, and it was very emotional when we see Ron again. Even knowing how it would play out, I was still on the edge of my seat. But the scene with Ron destroying the Horcrux - WOW. It’s another great example of how visually stunning this movie is. The visions which torment Ron are heart-wrenching. All his jealousy, all his vulnerabilities, are laid bare here in away that is deeply moving, and which explain Ron’s character extremely well. Voldemort’s gift for really understanding people is made obvious here.
On a side note, in 2007, I believe, just before the Order of the Phoenix film was released, the three main actors did an interview in which Rupert Grint hilariously expressed his hope that either he or Emma Watson might die before they have to film any kissing scenes together, due to the anticipated weirdness. Here’s the interview. Skip to about 08:30 min in:
Now, keep that interview in mind when you watch this movie, particularly the above-mentioned, under-the-cut scene. Just do it, then come back and report your impressions to me after you watch the movie. ;-)
Xenophilius Lovegood and The Tale of the Three Brothers: The most surprising and stunning scene in the film for me was the animation sequence used when Hermione narrates The Tale of the Three Brothers while they are visiting Xenophilius Lovegood. I had wondered in advance how this would be portrayed, as neither a live-action re-enactment of the three brothers meeting Death, nor a simple scene of Hermione or Xenophilius reading the book, seemed to me to be a good way of maintaining the tension in that scene, keeping us inside the narrative, and yet conveying all the necessary details. The novel approach of depicting this scene through absolutely GORGEOUS animation, while Hermione narrates the tale, worked splendidly. The sepia-toned animation had a Tim Burton-esque feel to me (though my know-it-all hubby says he’s reminded of animators Jiri Barta or Jacque Drouin), with a gauze-like texture to Death’s robes, marionette-like movements from the characters, and a splendid, scary, strikingly beautiful look to the entire sequence. I was mesmerized. This film deserves a boat-load of awards for that one sequence alone.
The Deathly Hallows: The scene with the snatchers was set-up differently than it was in the book, but was no less frightening. And while I was very disappointed that the scene didn’t open with Pottercast (Pottercast was entirely omitted!), I can’t complain about the pure chaos and terror of their capture. Hermione’s hex is portrayed as the last possible spell she can cast before she is caught, seemingly sacrificing herself in order to save Harry.
Not particularly-spoiler-y observations about Hermione's characterization: Which brings up another point here. Hermione is shown repeatedly in this film as being particularly powerful as well as brilliant. Much as I love Hermione, I must admit that I think that was over-played a tad. Hermione was smart, and in Book 7 she really does come in to her own and is not as prone to panicked, flustered behavior as she was at times when younger. But JKR repeatedly emphasized that Harry was a more powerful wizard than Hermione was a witch. Yet time and again in this film we see Hermione as the one who is the best fighter. Ron even says to her, “You’re the best at casting spells” at one point. I’ll need to re-read the book again (I think it’s been about a year since my last read-through), but based on my recollection, I think Hermione’s strengths were over-emphasized at the expense of making Ron and Harry look like they are no-where near as skilled of fighters as she is.
Malfoy Manor: I’ve only two complaints about the scenes at Malfoy Manor. First, while Hermione’s torture at the hands of Bellatrix is a very powerful, frightening moment which made me cry yet again, it didn’t include Ron nearly mad with desperation as he screams for her and tries to reach her. In fact, while Ron is shown as screaming for her, the overall mood in the dungeon did not at all convey that frantic, struggle to reach Hermione which was depicted in the book both through Ron's frenzy and Harry's pained, driven actions. My second complaint is that Pettigrew doesn’t choke himself to death. In both cases, I wonder if concerns about keeping this film kid-friendly came into play in those decisions, though my resident film snob hubby doesn't think so.
Otherwise, everything at Malfoy Manor was very well done. But my favorite element here is Tom Felton’s acting. In the book we see that he doesn’t want to nark on the Trio, but it’s conveyed a bit differently. Here, Draco is more visibly torn between his family and between what he knows to be right, and it’s all shown in his eyes. There’s a long moment when he is nose-to-nose with Harry, and the two of them are speaking very eloquently with only their eyes.
Dobby’s heroic rescue and subsequent death are included with such poignant emotion that my 16-year-old son admitted to crying.
The Wandmaker: (no comments about this chapter)
Shell Cottage: (no comments about this chapter)
Gringotts: (no comments about this chapter)
The Final Hiding Place: (no comments about this chapter)
The Missing Mirror: (no comments about this chapter)
The Lost Diadem: (no comments about this chapter)
Seriously? You think the first of the two movies will go this far into canon?? (no comments about this chapter)
Okay, now you're just deluding yourself. (no comments about this chapter)
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Deathly Hallows: Part I ends with two scenes. Harry sits at Dobby’s grave, crying, while Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore’s tomb and steals the Elder Wand. Cutting this film off at that moment works well, I think, because the rest of the story is going to flow so fast. From the time they break into Gringotts until the end of the film, everything is going to go so fast that there would not have been a good time to cut. And this moment, when Voldemort seems to be more powerful than ever and Harry has just lost a dear friend and ally has an Empire Strikes Back sort of feeling to it.
Again, I loved it. Come back here when y’all watch it and let me know your thoughts!
Tonight my family and I got to see an early screening of Deathly Hallows, thanks to my husband’s job as a film critic. (I’ll post a link to his review in a day or two after he writes it and edits the video package.) I had the chance to see a lot of advance promo clips from the film's electronic press kit, and my expectations weren't that high as a result, because I didn't realize how much those advance clips have been edited up, with the best parts saved for the movie. So if you've been watching any of those clips on youtube, don't make any negative assumptions about the movie based solely on what you see there.
Because - Wow! Was this ever amazing! I have griped about David Yates in the past, but I’m definitely eating crow. I never would’ve thought Yates would be capable of surpassing Alfonso Cuarón’s artistry in the third movie. And the acting - again: Wow. I was blown away by Emma Watson in particular. But the acting experience that all three kids have gained over the last few years was really evident in the phenomenal jobs they did.
One thing that really stood out to me about this movie is that it’s the first film of the series which cannot be watched without having watched the previous movies. In the past, it seemed as if a concerted effort was made to make each film "noob"-friendly. That is, one could watch any one of the films in the series without having seen the previous ones or read any of the books and yet still be able to follow along and enjoy the movie (though I hear that's debated re: the 5th and 6th movies). That is not the case here. The pacing is so fast, and yet so richly detailed, that it will be completely impossible for one to keep up with the plot without having watched the previous movies. In fact, I really think that one would have a difficult time understanding this movie if they have not read all the books. There are certain elements (such as the shard of glass from Sirius’ mirror) included in this movie which carry over from the books and which did not appear in the previous films. My 8-year-old daughter, who has only ever watched the movies, required a constant stream of explanations in order to keep up with this movie. Fast-paced editing and a huge information dump (just as in the book) exacerbates that dependency on the previous films or books in order to understand this film. Personally, I loved how heavily dependent this film is upon the books. I think it is extremely true to canon and subsequently in keeping with the way that Book 7 really couldn’t be appreciated without having read the previous books. But some may not like that.
Visually, my only complaint was that I really am not a fan of using a hand-held camera, and that technique was over-used in my opinion on several occasions, particularly in moments of high stress or action. But given how gorgeous the cinematography was as a whole, that’s a pretty minor quibble.
Chris Columbus was very dependent upon the special effects and beautiful Hogwarts set during the first 2 films. Alfonso Cuarón was my favorite director partly because of how great a job he did in making the look of the films be about more than just the cool-looking castle (as well as how great he directed the kids). I enjoyed but haven’t been overly impressed with the looks of the subsequent films, and really didn’t have high expectations for the aesthetics in this film. In addition, consider the fact that Deathly Hallows is set in a despondent, desolate time period. The world is cast in darkness, the Trio is despairing, and they’re living a pretty miserable existence. For the filmmakers to accurately portray all of that and yet really knock us out of the park with the look of this film was quite impressive.
The locations were gorgeous, with wide shots that made the Trio look very small in comparison to this huge world outside of Hogwarts. I was reminded of what Bill Nighy said in the Doctor Who episode “Vincent and the Doctor,” “Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world…” Not a great comparison, I know (neither David Yates nor even cinematographer Eduardo Serra could be considered the cinema's answer to Van Gough), but it truly was awe-inspiring to see this time of pain portrayed accurately and yet with so much beauty.
And finally, keep your eyes peeled for a jaw-dropping example of animation genius. This particular sequence had better win some awards, or I'm going to seriously consider writing a letter to someone to complain. :)
As I said above, the film was extremely true to canon, far more so than any of the others since perhaps the first movie. (Although I actually have critiques about the methods Columbus used in being true to canon back then.) As with any film adaptation, there are elements that are missing or modified in order to transition to a different story-telling medium, But because this book is being presented with what I predict will end up being about 5 hours of screen time by the time DH: Part II is released, Steve Kloves had the luxury of taking his time and include everything that was important. So while there are a few minor elements or scenes missing, I had nothing to complain about in that regard. In addition, there were several spots where Kloves' script attempts to fix the problems caused by leaving out elements in previous films by putting in extra scenes or elements in this script (E.g., Dobby is given more time in this movie than in the book in order to help us bond with him, since the last four movies ignored him.). Again, nothing that a canon purist would be upset about.
That’s about all I can say without spoilers. If you want a spoiler-y explanation of a particular scene or element, click on the chapter title below. In order to avoid spoiling y'all, I'm using all of the book's chapter titles as my LJ-cuts, so you can't tell where the film ends or what is or isn't included in the movie without clicking. Or, feel free to message me your questions, so long as you tell me what the limits are to what you want to know, so I don't accidentally spoil you.
How The Film Opens: The film opens with a study in contrasts as the trio are at their separate homes, preparing for battle. Harry is packing up his life and saying goodbye to the hell-hole he called home. Ron is gazing out onto the horizon, the Burrow at his back. But what tore me up was the scene where Hermione curses her own parents into forgetting her. I bawled my eyes out, and we were barely 2-minutes into the film. Emma Watson did an absolutely amazing job on that scene. Even now a I write about it, it brings tears to my eyes.
The Dark Lord Ascending: The scene with Snape (minus Yaxley) striding into Malfoy manner is included, along with Charity Burbage’s murder. It is far better than the preview clip I saw last week led me to believe, as it left out a lot. Tom Felton does a great job here. Helena Bonham Carter actually struck me as a bit over-the-top, even for Bellatrix, but it’s a brief moment. Mostly I was struck by the great job Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton and Alan Rickman did here, along with Carolyn Pickles as the suffering, soon-to-die Muggle Studies professor.
In Memoriam through The Dursleys Departing: The incidents of "In Memoriam" are covered above under "How the Film Opens." The Dursley’s departure was barely touched upon. We didn’t see their goodbye with Harry - just a brief, outside shot of them packing their car. To be honest, I didn’t even notice Dudley or Petunia - just Vernon.
The Seven Potters: The Seven Potters was a great scene. Nice mixture of humor and fear there. The twins were in their element here, as was Mad-Eye Moody.
The departure was a bit different, but not dramatically so. I was very happy with it overall. Hedwig wasn’t in the cage - Harry released her to fly to the Burrow (Not the Tonks home) before they departed, something I always wished Harry would’ve done in Book 7, as he had done before in previous books. However, she still doesn’t survive, as she sacrifices her life for Harry, taking an Avada Kedavra to save him, and alerting the DE’s to the real Harry’s identity. The scene with Harry’s wand acting on its own was included and was very nicely done. Hagrid does not fall off the bike, though, nor do we see Stan Shunpike. Harry does shoot stunners at the Death Eaters, but it is not as obvious that it would be a fatal shot, since they are lower to the ground, albeit in the middle of highway traffic and multiple car accidents when Harry hits them.
Fallen Warrior: The arrival at the Burrow was very, very well done and is an emotionally powerful scene. Molly’s bravery is clearly evident here. We get to see the Order members challenge each other with their secret questions, just as in the book, clearly driving home the fear of betrayal that is already seeping into the members of the Order. I found it particularly striking to see Lupin dealing with the realization that they have already been betrayed again. Another moment that choked me up was when George is laying on the couch, the side of his head bloodied from his missing ear. The scene plays out much the way it does in the book, with a mountain of fear and distress in the room dissipating as George cracks his “saint-like” joke.
The Ghoul in Pajamas and The Will of Albus Dumbledore: The kissing scene between Harry and Ginny is nicely done, with the sexual tension actually ratcheted up a notch when she approaches him to ask that he zip up her dress for the wedding. There’s an innocence there that keeps the scene from being so overtly sexual that it bothered me for my 8-year-old daughter to see it, but any adult or teenager would’ve felt it. I liked that, because it kept this film child-friendly, while still conveying the passion between Harry and Ginny that’s present in the book when she kisses him. The way they are interrupted in this scene is much funnier than in the book, but I won’t spoil you on that. Shortly thereafter, Scrimgeour shows up, portrayed with un-surprising artistic genius and skill by Bill Nighy. The bequest scene is cut down a bit more than I'd like, but all the important information is eventually conveyed elsewhere in the film.
The Wedding: The wedding is shot very closely to how it’s depicted in the book, including all the important elements, as well as a delightful moment with Luna and her father. Viktor Krum is not in the film, which was a disappointment to me, but not too shocking, as he really wasn’t essential here.
A Place To Hide: When the Trio escape the wedding and the Death Eater’s find them, the scene plays out much as it does in the book, including most of the essential elements. I didn't even catch them saying Voldemort’s name in the cafe scene (my husband caught it), but one thing that is not made clear in this film, though, is that Voldemort’s name is jinxed (though it’ll be obvious later in the film to those who have read the book).
Kreacher's Tale and The Bribe: The Grimmauld Place scenes are cut, but everything essential is included, along with a few additions that delighted me. The scene between Lupin and Harry in which Harry calls him a coward is left out, which disappointed me, but I can understand it isn’t essential here. Harry doesn’t find the picture and letter from Lily to Sirius which Snape had left behind, but we do get to see the dusty Dumbledore ghost-thing that Mad-Eye left, so that was cool. It was very effectively done. Kreacher is AWESOME. I love the actor (Simon McBurney) who does his voice. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see Kreacher learning to like Harry, and we don’t hear the whole story of Regulus and the inferi from Kreacher, but the essentials are conveyed. There is also a surprise inclusion when Kreacher delivers Mundungus, which I LOVED.
Magic Is Might and The Muggle-born Registration Commission: The scene at the Ministry is very, very well done. I won’t say a lot here because I don’t want to completely ruin the action and suspense. But it’s paced very well. I liked the fact that the statue at the ministry was discussed, not merely left in the background, in order to drive home the impact of its ugly message. And ever since we left the movie theater this evening, my 16-year-old son has not quit quoting one particular line that is directed at Umbridge with a humorous, Take-THAT!-you-toad kind of impact.
Camping Scenes: The Thief and The Goblin's Revenge: The camping scenes are everything you would want, with one possible exception. Phineus Nigelus’ portrait is not included in this film at all. But from the scary moment when they get there through the powerful, heart-wrenching scene of Ron’s angry departure, you’ll see some fantastic examples of how these three kids have grown as actors. Again, I think Emma Watson is brilliant here, but I was also really struck by how Rupert Grint has learned not to simply “mug it up,” as my husband said (in reference to Grint’s typically dramatic facial expressions). Grint’s timing, his poise, and his depiction of Ron’s inner torment are very, very well done in these scenes.
Godric's Hollow: The Christmas scene at Godric’s Hollow is heart-breaking. We don’t see the war memorial statue, unfortunately, but the mood is conveyed nonetheless. I like the line Harry gives about why he is not using polyjuice potion to visit his home. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of encouraging messages left for Harry at the ruins of his home, but I can understand why Yates didn’t want to interrupt the pacing of that scene by including it.
Bathilda's Secret: Bathilda Bagshot’s scene is very well done. I was afraid of how scary it might be for my daughter, knowing the potential for it to be rather grotesque, but they managed to convey all the horror without being gratuitously freaky. Voldemort did NOT appear in this scene. However, Harry still saw the importance of Grindelwald’s picture thanks to a series of visions he gets throughout the movie, as Voldemort obsesses over the Elder Wand.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore: I want to go re-watch this movie for several reasons, but a big one is that we whip through Dumbledore's background so fast, that I don't think it was explained in great detail, but I'm not positive. Perhaps the next film will get into this more, but the fact that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were childhood friends is only alluded to by the inclusion of a photo of Albus and Gellert together as boys. Ariana’s death is left out. The article that Elphias Doge writes is glimpsed and then alluded to again when Harry meets Doge at the wedding, but neither the details from that article nor the information from Rita Skeeter’s interview or book are included. If you’ve read the book, you’ll understand what’s being referenced, but Dumbledore’s past is really not discussed. In fact, the visions Harry gets from Voldemort are the main source of information and another example of elements which I think will be very confusing to those who have not read Book 7. The way they were included worked fine for me, but due to the rapid cuts and confusing, dream-like way they are shot and edited, I’d suggest you explain in advance the entire Grindlewald/Dumbledore connection to any of your friends who are going to watch this movie without having ever read the book.
The Silver Doe: The scene with the doe patronus, the Sword of Griffindor, and Ron’s return was fantastic. It was scary, it was exciting, and it was very emotional when we see Ron again. Even knowing how it would play out, I was still on the edge of my seat. But the scene with Ron destroying the Horcrux - WOW. It’s another great example of how visually stunning this movie is. The visions which torment Ron are heart-wrenching. All his jealousy, all his vulnerabilities, are laid bare here in away that is deeply moving, and which explain Ron’s character extremely well. Voldemort’s gift for really understanding people is made obvious here.
On a side note, in 2007, I believe, just before the Order of the Phoenix film was released, the three main actors did an interview in which Rupert Grint hilariously expressed his hope that either he or Emma Watson might die before they have to film any kissing scenes together, due to the anticipated weirdness. Here’s the interview. Skip to about 08:30 min in:
Click to viewNow, keep that interview in mind when you watch this movie, particularly the above-mentioned, under-the-cut scene. Just do it, then come back and report your impressions to me after you watch the movie. ;-)
Xenophilius Lovegood and The Tale of the Three Brothers: The most surprising and stunning scene in the film for me was the animation sequence used when Hermione narrates The Tale of the Three Brothers while they are visiting Xenophilius Lovegood. I had wondered in advance how this would be portrayed, as neither a live-action re-enactment of the three brothers meeting Death, nor a simple scene of Hermione or Xenophilius reading the book, seemed to me to be a good way of maintaining the tension in that scene, keeping us inside the narrative, and yet conveying all the necessary details. The novel approach of depicting this scene through absolutely GORGEOUS animation, while Hermione narrates the tale, worked splendidly. The sepia-toned animation had a Tim Burton-esque feel to me (though my know-it-all hubby says he’s reminded of animators Jiri Barta or Jacque Drouin), with a gauze-like texture to Death’s robes, marionette-like movements from the characters, and a splendid, scary, strikingly beautiful look to the entire sequence. I was mesmerized. This film deserves a boat-load of awards for that one sequence alone.
The Deathly Hallows: The scene with the snatchers was set-up differently than it was in the book, but was no less frightening. And while I was very disappointed that the scene didn’t open with Pottercast (Pottercast was entirely omitted!), I can’t complain about the pure chaos and terror of their capture. Hermione’s hex is portrayed as the last possible spell she can cast before she is caught, seemingly sacrificing herself in order to save Harry.
Not particularly-spoiler-y observations about Hermione's characterization: Which brings up another point here. Hermione is shown repeatedly in this film as being particularly powerful as well as brilliant. Much as I love Hermione, I must admit that I think that was over-played a tad. Hermione was smart, and in Book 7 she really does come in to her own and is not as prone to panicked, flustered behavior as she was at times when younger. But JKR repeatedly emphasized that Harry was a more powerful wizard than Hermione was a witch. Yet time and again in this film we see Hermione as the one who is the best fighter. Ron even says to her, “You’re the best at casting spells” at one point. I’ll need to re-read the book again (I think it’s been about a year since my last read-through), but based on my recollection, I think Hermione’s strengths were over-emphasized at the expense of making Ron and Harry look like they are no-where near as skilled of fighters as she is.
Malfoy Manor: I’ve only two complaints about the scenes at Malfoy Manor. First, while Hermione’s torture at the hands of Bellatrix is a very powerful, frightening moment which made me cry yet again, it didn’t include Ron nearly mad with desperation as he screams for her and tries to reach her. In fact, while Ron is shown as screaming for her, the overall mood in the dungeon did not at all convey that frantic, struggle to reach Hermione which was depicted in the book both through Ron's frenzy and Harry's pained, driven actions. My second complaint is that Pettigrew doesn’t choke himself to death. In both cases, I wonder if concerns about keeping this film kid-friendly came into play in those decisions, though my resident film snob hubby doesn't think so.
Otherwise, everything at Malfoy Manor was very well done. But my favorite element here is Tom Felton’s acting. In the book we see that he doesn’t want to nark on the Trio, but it’s conveyed a bit differently. Here, Draco is more visibly torn between his family and between what he knows to be right, and it’s all shown in his eyes. There’s a long moment when he is nose-to-nose with Harry, and the two of them are speaking very eloquently with only their eyes.
Dobby’s heroic rescue and subsequent death are included with such poignant emotion that my 16-year-old son admitted to crying.
The Wandmaker: (no comments about this chapter)
Shell Cottage: (no comments about this chapter)
Gringotts: (no comments about this chapter)
The Final Hiding Place: (no comments about this chapter)
The Missing Mirror: (no comments about this chapter)
The Lost Diadem: (no comments about this chapter)
Seriously? You think the first of the two movies will go this far into canon?? (no comments about this chapter)
Okay, now you're just deluding yourself. (no comments about this chapter)
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Deathly Hallows: Part I ends with two scenes. Harry sits at Dobby’s grave, crying, while Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore’s tomb and steals the Elder Wand. Cutting this film off at that moment works well, I think, because the rest of the story is going to flow so fast. From the time they break into Gringotts until the end of the film, everything is going to go so fast that there would not have been a good time to cut. And this moment, when Voldemort seems to be more powerful than ever and Harry has just lost a dear friend and ally has an Empire Strikes Back sort of feeling to it.
Again, I loved it. Come back here when y’all watch it and let me know your thoughts!