Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt.1

[Larry_OHF]

I am surprised to be the first to start this thread. I have no other forums to talk about it on, and am itching to share my thoughts. I know we have fans on IW.

It's probably not an issue worrying about plot spoilers since the book has been out so long, but if by chance you do not know the general plot, then let me forewarn you of spoilers henceforth.



Overall movie experience
I have read and heard some fans call it a roller-coaster ride and that is a good summary. For me, there were no slow moments, even during the quiet times. The character exchanges still held me spell-bound. I did have issue with some of the fast-paced scenes where running through the forest or other highly intensive scenes required fast footage. It was blurred and hard to follow. I wanted to see facial expressions, see spells be fired off and land, see details...but details were extremely hard to pick up. I think that was done on the purpose of making you feel immersed in the heat of the moment and from the characters' points of view...action was a blur and made it feel more dangerous. However, I would have preferred seeing those intense moments more clearly if that makes sense.

Character portrayals
A lot of fans on other sites are handing the movie's success to Emma Watson's Hermoine and I agree whole-heartedly. When reading the books, you get a sense that Harry wants to do everything alone and has a problem accepting others' points of view and hates asking for help though help is very much needed. Ron is a great friend but lacks adding anything of value to the group other than just being there for moral support. It's Hermoine that always has a plan and rationally thinks her way through the dangers and issues. The movie I think really picked up on this and correctly portrays Hermoine as the trio's main hero. The movie shows her niche of fore-thought as she had planned for the trip with everything they might need in that little bag of hers. She was the one that had a plan to get everyone out of harm's way. She saved the day so many times. Yes, the other guys had their moments as well, but they pale in comparison to me. Now...moving away from the characters and on to the actors...Emma Watson played her part much more convincingly than the other co-stars. I believed her character more. In fact, during the now-infamous torture scene...what everybody is saying is REALLY TRUE...that scene is horrible to sit through without squirming in your seat. Hearing her scream was gut-wrenching. Yet while that it going on, I did not get a sense of absolute urgency from the two guys while they were in the dungeon. I did not see Ron losing his sanity over hearing his girlfriend scream like that. I saw him worried but not enough for me to believe he felt anything like I would have expected to have felt in the same situation. Harry seems more interested that he's found Luna, in fact. Now...switch to a previous scene where Ron had been seriously injured and it was because Hermoine had shifted them to another location while they were making a warp while escaping the Ministry of Magic. While Ron lay there in shock at the sudden intense pain of having his arm butchered by the spell's effects of transportion gone wrong...Hermoine's trembling voice and almost on the brink of tears while trying her best to hold onto her composure so she can think clearly and heal Ron was in itself heart-wrenching. She successfully made me think she was worried for him and feeling bad about having a hand in the cause of his pain. I felt so sorry for her. I did not see that level of acting with the other guys. Maybe it's because they're guys, right? I dunno. I just know that if anybody deserves an award-winning performance...it would be Emma Watson. She won me over.

Book Adaptation/Movie Additives
I am not a believer in having to follow a book to an exactness. I understand that some things have to be done visually in a few moments to get many pages of text covered in a way to help the viewer grasp the situation. Sometimes, words on a page cannot be put into a visual remake and has to be translated into a different scene to get more emotion out of it. I am fine with that. I enjoy the simplicity of that. However, I do have issue with one scene. The scene where the Horcrux is trying to defend itself and portrays a nude Hermoine and Harry making out so that it could defeat Ron. I think the visual portrayal of that went a little too far in an uncomfortable way. I am not even sure if that is in the book or not, but I don't think it added value to the movie. Just saying. Other things they did not include that I would have liked to have seen but I understand that to keep on topic and to preserve time they could not was more of Hogwarts and the happenings there. Snape was now Headmaster. I would have liked to seen him do Headmaster stuff. Just a scene or two. Maybe during the next one, they'll spend more time since we end up there.

[Bungleau]

Saw it last night with my daughter, and I concur with your analysis. Hermione was much better than Harry or Ron, and much more convincing.

I also found a number of things that just didn't seem... logical. Without going into spoilerish details, how could the ministry not be able to stop three junior wizards from leaving? And there was one character who showed up that I thought was killed off in a previous movie... and who I had hoped never to see again.

I agree on the shaky running scenes... too much movement. But at least in the movie, I could follow the reasons for the various changes of scenery. In the book, that was too hard to follow. I think the fact that they made every new place completely different - climate, season, surroundings - made it easier to follow.

My biggest regret... I don't have a time-spinner to go forward to July, for part 2

I do feel I need to reread the book now... if only to see where things were different.

[Wolf Rider2]

I agree with both of you. I always find camera work that looks like the cameraperson is running to be unnecessary and, at some points, slightly sickening.

The nudity scene between Harry and Hermione was not in the book. It merely said they were kissing. Also unnecessary.

The torture scene: did anybody else believe that Bellatrix was drinking Hermione's blood? I thought so at first, but soon after realised that her doing that wouldn't make sense, as she wouldn't want to taint herself with a muggle's blood, but still... It did look a little bit like she was...

Emma Watson's acting was the best out of the three. I was also sad to see Dobby die. He was one of my favourite characters, despite his self-harming tendencies.

I thought they cut it off at a good spot. It seemed like a good place to leave it, between movies.

[Hindsight]

I have not seen it, but I will. I'll wait a bit for the insanity to die odd a bit at the theatre.

I think all of the movies have been excellent so far. I can't really put one ahead of another. The performances by most have been great as well. Like Professor Umbridge for example. I can hardly watch that one. She just makes you hate her so much!

I have a feeling this one will surpass them though. It's a pity about the fast scenes. I find this happens all too often these days.

[Cerek]

I've never read the books and have only seen 1 or 2 of the previous movies. Last year, my 8-yr old decided he wanted to see The Half-Blood Prince. I'm not even sure what number that is in the series. We went to the local video store the day before the movie and rented a couple of the earlier ones, just to have SOME context of what was going on.

Even though I've not seen any of the other movies from start to finish (at least not at one sitting), The Half-Blood Prince was still enjoyable and the plot was self-contained enough to make sense. I suppose I should buy the books (or at least the movies) and actually follow the series from start-to-finish, but I'm only about a decade late to be getting into the Harry-Potter-craze.

One thing I do find interesting about the character summaries; do you think it's possible Hermoine is the real "hero" of the group because the authoress is also female? Does it send the subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) message that a male may have world-changing power, but he would be dead many times over on his own if he didn't have the wiser and more intelligent female helping him out, thinking things through and maintaining her calm composure when his over-abundance of power suddenly isn't enough to handle the situation?

Just wondering if others see this or not?

[Luvian]

I can't wait to go see it next weekend. I'll let you guys what I thought of it then. I hope it's good!

[Gabrielles blades]

if you had read the books, then you would also note that it is the 'power of love' which saved harry from death at the start of the series. So yea, i would have to agree that female empowerment is a significant part of the overall style of writing.

Overall i liked the movie, but i thought the previous ones were better done.

[Larry_OHF]

Originally Posted by Gabrielles blades ...i thought the previous ones were better done.

Reflecting upon that, I wonder if what the reason for it is because the others seemed more story-intensive and this was more of an action/adventure.

if you had read the books, then you would also note that it is the 'power of love' which saved harry from death at the start of the series. So yea, i would have to agree that female empowerment is a significant part of the overall style of writing.

As Cerek and you point out, the women's roles shine well in these stories (let's not forget Mrs. Weasley), and whether or not that was done intentionally or sub-consciously, I do not know but I wonder if Rowling has addressed it somewhere. Surely others have picked up on it and inquired and maybe she's answered it already. What I do know is that today's culture in the media leans that way already so this is not a new idea. Nor an incorrect one, for that matter.

Let me take it a bit further and point out that the smart one, gender aside, is the one who is taunted for being muggle-born and supposedly impure and non-deserving of the gift of magic, yet we know her to deserve her place in the magic realm moreso than most of her classmates. Her parents are good non-magic folk who believe in and love their child, even if she is different than themselves They don't fear her like the Durslesys do those of magic.

One more thing about the female role...Bellatrix. She's stands out for her evil desires moreso than the men. If Malfoy is lawful evil by design, Bellatrix is chaotic evil, and that's along the lines of Voldemort himself. She's the second most dangerous character I think.

[Bungleau]

I have to mention that I found the initial scene with Hermione and her parents to be extremely touching and moving, and one of the greatest sacrifices I have ever seen portrayed. It barely gets mentioned after that, but it was... emotionally-laden.

As for the books, I suggest you head over to your local library, Cerek. You can pick all of them up there to see how they interest you. I'd start with number one, Sorcerer's Stone, just because I'm finicky that way. And they truly do build on each other, even as each can stand alone.

[Larry_OHF]

Yes, I had read about that scene at the opening where usually it's Harry that we see in some poor situation at his house. This time, with Hermoine...almost as though the director wants us to realize that the movie may be more about her this time...or at least highlights the sacrifices that she makes for her friend's sake. She casts the Obliviate spell and suddenly every picture in the house starts losing the image of Hermoine. Was that in the book? If so, I don't remember it standing out the way it did on the screen.

Oh yeah...something I did not like about the opening...the very first scene, you hear tht Minister of Magic talking,,,but you only see his eye! What was that about? It was almost comical.