Ewan/Lupin's ages; Atkinson; Snape's OOC scene

[Hillman, Lee]

Hey, all, it's Gwen, who really should be working on her thesis, but is
writing this quickly instead...

Regarding Ewan as Lupin: Personally, I picture the Marauder group to have
been born in 1958-59 range, making them 35-36 at the book 3/book 4 time
period. So even if principle photography on PoA begins in 2003 (more likely
2002), Ewan would still be a scosh young for the role.

HOWEVER, I also believe that none of the guys--Snape, Lupin, Black, or
Pettigrew--are looking too young these days. They've all had hard lives.
Lupin's described as being prematurely grey and looking very tired and
frail. I wouldn't be surprised if he also looked more like a man ten years
his senior. And that may also be a reason behind choosing Rickman--to go
with an "older" look to show that none of these folks have had an easy time
of it.

As for Rowan as either Lupin or Pettigrew, I honestly don't see it. Not
because I doubt Rowan's ability to play it straight, but because he has
neither the look I picture for Lupin (sort of soft, but at the same time
no-nonsense, and with a mild humour lurking underneath) nor the sad
desperation of Pettigrew. Peter's described as a man who looked like he
might have been fat, but had lost lots of weight. Atkinson is a bean pole
and always has been. He can do the crawling on his knees bit, but I  think
there's the danger there that he might seem more silly than pathetic.

MMM Fanfic asked:
 
> Snape would 
> never, ever under any circumstances, wish Harry Potter luck.  Would 
> anyone care to defend that scene?
> 

Well, I can only defend it up to a point. I agree it was overall out of
place and awkward. I have two things to offer that *might* mitigate it,
mostly because I had to find some way to justify it to myself to avoid
hurling the second time. Note that neither one has to do with the script;
it's all Alan's wonderful delivery.

First point is, the look he has on his face just before he says those two
awful little words, "Good luck." It's like there's this moment of, "I can't
*believe* I'm going to say this." Like his brain and his mouth got
temporarily disconnected.

Second is, because of that, he puts the little dig in at the end, which
makes me think maybe, just possibly, he's performing a little service for
Slytherin here, trying to psych Harry out before the big game. The problem
with it is that Snape is still way too nice about it and his attempt to make
Harry feel uncomfortable, if that's what it was, was much too incompetent
for our potions master.

But whaddaya gonna do? As an actor, I can vouch for the fact that many,
many, too many times to count, scripts force characters to do things that
don't make sense. The only thing we can do is try to reconcile it somehow.

> Physically, Rickman fits my mental image of Snape.  Not perfectly -- 
> the robes are too aristocratic and elaborate.  I have always imagined 
> Snape to wear plainest possible robes.  

Actually, I loved the palate for his costumes. The robe really was a simple
"choir robe" type, it had been slit and embellished with the arm slits and
the bifurcated train/hem (heh!). I thought his mufti at the Quidditch game
was actually kinda old-fashioned, but not particularly aristocratic. Those
little fingerless gloves and the buttons on his trouser cuffs. Dickensian.
But that fits with my view of the character--I do not think he came from an
old weathy family, so I think he is always careful to make sure he has the
'right' clothes--not flashy, or vain, like Dumbledore, but 'appropriate.'

The undertunic effect reminded me of clothing from the 12th century. Again,
very proper, very imposing.

Did anyone else find themselves in a love/hate relationship with the
confused looks he gives the kids, especially after the troll scene? I loved
that he was looking at them like he was sure they were lying/trying to
figure out wtf, but at the same time, I hated the looks 'cause they were
slightly goofy.

Oh, well. Even he can't do everything with just a few seconds of screen
time.

Oh, and Tabouli, yes. I agree that the ideal staging would have been a
little slower for his speech, a little less Boom! you're there, but what I
_did_ like was that he made it sound like wand-waving wasn't just absent, it
was a no-no!

Anyway, I have _got_ to go write thesis now.

Cheers,

Gwen