Film Thoughts

[Joywitch M. Curmudgeon]

I'm not going to review the movie (I hear that collective sigh of 
relief) since you've all done it so well before me, but I would like 
to share some impressions and thoughts.

First, I really enjoyed the movie because it brought back some of the 
magic (no pun intended) of the books for me.  I have been so busy 
dissecting and nitpicking and analyizing the books for the last year 
or so that I think I had lost sight of the sheer plesure of the 
story, and the movie brought that back for me.  Overall, I thought 
that the movie was a wonderful visual depiction of a great book, but 
not a great movie in its own right.

The movie also clarified a few things about the books that to me had 
never made sense, and added to my understanding of others:

1.  The Hogwarts Express ticket.  We've had some discussion on the 
main group about why Harry needs a ticket, since no one ever collects 
them, and can anyone get thru the barrier, or only wizards, etc.  The 
way Hagrid says to Harry  "Hold on to your ticket, that's very 
important" or something like that implied to me that it was the 
ticket that made it so you could get thru the barrier.  That would 
explain why the students need the ticket, and would also explain how 
Dobby prevents Harry from getting onto Platform 9 3/4 in CoS -- he 
simply steals Harry's ticket.  It would not, however, explain how 
Molly and Ginny in SS/PS and Molly and Arthur in PoA get on the 
platform, but maybe if you go at the same time as someone with a 
ticket?

2.  I agree with those who said that the winged keys made a lot more 
sense in the movie, especially having them swarm as soon as the broom 
was touched.

3.  Like Ebony, I now understand what Amanda and her ilk see in 
Snape.  While I am still a card-carrying member of SUAVE (Snape's 
Unquestionably A Vampire Evil)  I will now admit, publically, that 
Snape (at least when portrayed by Rickman) is also very sexy.  The 
way he swoops into the Potions classroom and makes his speech took my 
breath away.

4.  Mirror of Erised.  I never got why this scene was supposed to be 
so emotional in the book, or why JKR said that she put a lot of her 
feelings about her mother's death into that chapter.  Reading it 
never affected me but seeing that scene in the movie made me cry, 
especially when Lily puts her hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry 
touches his shoulder.  (sob!)

5.  The movie made me understand more about Harry and Ron's 
relationship.  There have been times, in the book, when I've wondered 
about how Ron could stand always being Harry's sidekick but in the 
movie the balance between them and the development of their 
relationship makes it clearer exactly how they offer each other 
something special.  I thought there was great chemistry between the 
kid actors and that they were all wonderful, but unlike many others 
on this group I like Emma Watson the best.

6.  The Dursleys were just perfect.  The stuff that was added for the 
film were so good -- as others have pointed out having Dursley steal 
the cake made the pig magic more understandable, and having Dursley 
stuck in the snake cage was a nice touch, as was Dudley's jumping on 
the stairs.

7.  I also loved the little detail, as Peg mentioned, of having Harry 
draw a birthday cake in the dirt at the Hut on the Rock.  It was a 
nice touch in the way it added to the feeling of solitude and 
loneliness that Harry feels with the Dursleys.

8.  I agree with everyone's comments about the terrific job Sean 
Biggerstaff does as Oliver Wood, especially the bit where he's 
putting the Bludger back in the box, but I also think that Catherine 
is correct in pointing out that the movie does not quite capture 
Wood's fanatical devotion to Quidditch.  Did you all catch the little 
noises that the Bludgers make?  Very cool.

Oh, and here's another nitpick to add to the list -- the twins in the 
movie are TALLER than Percy, whereas in the books Ron and Percy are 
tall and the twins and Charlie are more stocky.

--Joywitch