(hopefully new) Movie Comments

[codex79 at yahoo.com]

I watched the movie Wednesday afternoon and wanted to share some 
comments with the group. However, I thought it best to go through the 
archives first to avoid repetition. Anyway, here goes:

The strangest part about the movie was perhaps the supposed 'Snape 
the villain' role. He most certainly did not seem half as nasty as 
the Snape in the books (and while reading posts from Snape fans on 
the main list practically convinced me that he's just a 
misunderstood, socially inept man, a rereading of the books totally 
dispels that view for me). In the potions class, Snape doesn't appear 
arbitrary in picking on Harry ... after all, he's the only one who 
looks like he isn't paying attention. Snape's action seems completely 
justified.

And speaking of potions class ... what on earth was that grand 
entrance about?! It was positively fake, overly dramatic, and the 
lines Rickman delivered seemed incongruous and lacking in context. I 
always imagined him menacingly whispering those lines, not raging and 
half-shouting. Alright, I do admit it was darned cool though. And 
that part where he favours Malfoy with a glance - was it to make up 
for all the cut-out scenes where he displays favouritism or to set up 
for the plot in later films?

Another aspect that served to confuse Snape's relationship to Harry 
are his expressions. When he runs into the trio outside McGonagall's 
office, he delivers a short reprimand and turns to look at Harry. 
However, the expression on his face seemed to convey more confusion - 
and if I didn't know the character better, pain or hurt - at Harry's 
rather antagonistic stare. I thought, 'HUH?' (Again, the part when he 
walks away from the trio with his cloak billowing theatrically behind 
him ... cool but totally unnecessary; is Snape a closet drama queen?)

Perhaps we should assume that the movies are setting up a slightly 
different persona from Snape. Perhaps, as other people mentioned 
earlier, Rickman had studied the post-GOF Snape persona and tried to 
hint at it in his role.

Like others, I also noticed the use of first names during the 'Dark' 
Forest segment. I am not too surprised though, if this was done 
deliberately rather than through neglect. Human nature being what it 
is, we often see our differences as a source of contention and 
conflict. However, when faced with greater differences and challenges 
(i.e. the werewolves and assorted unknowns of the Forest), the 
differences that we perceive between each other dwindle in their 
significance (i.e. we see the whole world uniting against alien 
invaders in 'Independence Day') and barriers are broken down. Harry 
and Draco Malfoy are on the same side in that moment, united in their 
fear and their common experience.

The ending was incredibly ... strange. I really did not like the part 
where Voldemort tries to sweet-talk Harry into joining him. Perhaps 
it reflects some post-book 4 plot ... or not. In any case, I was too 
strongly reminded of Star Wars when that plot segment and the music 
was combined, and I felt that such a parallel was rather out of place 
in the Harry Potter universe.

Overall, the movie was darker and more grown-up than I expected, 
especially for book 1. I was surprised to see Lily's death scene, and 
I am sure many of the parents who were there with their small kids 
were too. With the start of the Forest scene, I saw some parents 
walking out with their younger children ... it was probably a good 
idea too; the atmosphere and the slinking Quirrell were things that 
chilren's nightmares are made of.

A final comment I would like to offer is that the movie was, in a 
way, Rowling's opportunity to go over the material in PS/SS and make 
any changes she may have wanted to make in light of how she had 
further developed her characters. I am, for one, glad that they took 
out Dumbledore's "Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak" line. It was fine 
when PS/SS was a stand-alone and Dumbledore was described by everyone 
as a mad genius, but when later books came along, he came across in 
the nonconformist-sense of 'eccentric', not weird and nonsensical. 
For what ever reason the line was omitted, it would have been strange 
in light of Harris' portrayal of Dumbledore in any case.

Now for the Nitpicking:

Someone mentioned the strips hanging from the Sorting Hat ... in my 
opinion, it made the hat seem rather feminine, when it was supposed 
to be Gryffindor's hat. I thought that the students' hats, which 
didn't have brims, made them look like Santa's elves =P. Also, I 
didn't see the point of having the witches and wizards dress in 
rather medieval (or was it Victorian?) Muggle clothing.

And yes, the centaur was AWFUL. I was imagining that it would be a 
torso of a person CG-ed onto the torso of a horse. I most certainly 
didn't expect it to be a demonic-looking beast that would probably 
tower over even Madame Maxime's giant steeds. 

Then there was the Quidditch game, when Harry's broom was bewitched. 
For some reason, I always imagined Snape and Quirrell to be on almost 
opposite sides of the pitch, so that Snape could keep an eye on 
Quirrell. How would Snape know what's up if Quirrell was all the way 
behind him? He couldn't possibly have heard the spell, because other 
professors would hear it too. 

And the chess game ... yeah, I loved it too. But, doesn't the chess 
board seem much smaller than normal (i.e. fewer squares between the 
two sides)? And, while the destruction is certainly impressive and 
all, I preferred the book-version where they just get knocked down. 
After all, if the chess pieces destroy each other, how do you play a 
second game? Where's the litter after Quirrell was done with the game?
And I guess, in the movie, some positions were already empty so the 
challenger couldn't choose their own piece?

To end on a positive note, I was very happy with the wand selection 
scene. I always thought that Ollivander was a perfectly decent 
fellow, and I was sorry that his intensity was interpreted as 
'creepy' by Harry, who consequently 'wasn't sure he liked 
Mr.Ollivander too much'. I'm glad he didn't come across as such in 
the movie. Bravo, John Hurt.

Codex