[HPFGU-Movie] What one piece of information...

[Margaret Dean]

"Alexander W. Hertzog" wrote:
> 
> What I miss most is Snape's potion/logic puzzle at the end. I rememeber
> reading the book for the first time and being pleasantly surprised to
> see not one, but two challenges that had nothing to do with the magical
> world, but just brain power (the other being the chess game). I know
> it's a longshot, but knowing how popular the books are, I hope that
> perhaps an interest in mind games is sparked among the throngs of
> children reading these books.
> Also, without that logic puzzle, Hermione's bonus points at the very end
> seem much less justified. OK, so they rewrote the devil's snare scene to
> make her keep her cool and remember her herbology lessons, but why not
> keep the movie accurate to the book, especially when the book's version
> was better?

I suspect it's because it's a scene that works much better in a
book than it would on film.  Visually it would pretty much amount
to Harry and Hermione standing in front of the row of bottles and
talking.  Also, without the verse to refer back to (most people
wouldn't retain it after listening to it read =once=), the viewer
wouldn't really have the opportunity to try to solve the puzzle
along with Hermione, which is part of the fun of the written
version.

Same reason in reverse is, I suspect, why much of Lee Jordan's
commentary is left out of the Quidditch match.  Rowling uses the
device in print to convey information about the game to the
reader in a fun way.  On film, you can SEE the match (boy howdy!)
and don't need the information; in fact the visuals are so
riveting that too much commentary might be perceived as an
unwelcome distraction.


--Margaret Dean
  <margdean at erols.com>