Out-of-character moments (was Misc. on CoS)

[sophia mclaughlin]

Amy Z wrote:
HARRY. One--sorry, Sophia--is the confession to the Dursleys that
none of his friends has written to him. I'm sorry, I just can't see
Harry doing this. He's proud, and Vernon is the last person on earth
to whom he'd confess that the magical world thing wasn't working out
so well.

Me:
You are absolutely right. My comment on that line was on the emotion 
Radcliffe conveyed in delivering it--I hadn't even considered whether it was 
right for him to say such a thing in that particular scene. I agree with you 
that Harry would never express such personal concerns to Vernon. However, 
un-Harry like though the line may be, the feelings are all canon, of 
course--we all know Harry is hurting from not having received any letters 
from his friends. In the context of the conversation with Vernon, Harry is 
defending Hedwig for making too much noise. The letters-comment is a 
response to Vernon's reason for not allowing Harry to set Hedwig free. Harry 
is countering the "accusation" that he would only try to contact his friends 
with the fact that he has NOT had any contact...Well, even as I'm writing 
that argument for the existence of the line seems to crumble, so I'll say 
"uncle" and add this: Though the line is ostensibly directed at Vernon (who 
I don't perceive as really listening anyway), the way it trails off makes me 
feel that Harry is saying it to himself rather, as well as for our benefit. 
Yes, it's a story-telling device not entirely naturalistic, but even a line 
with that function doesn't bother me too much.


Amy Z wrote (on Harry flashing his ankle to Malfoy)
It was a small matter, but one that
irked. I think they could've accomplished what they needed to with a
zoom/cut to a cuff that was pushed up enough to show that he was, in
fact, barefoot. I.e., we need to see it; Lucius needs to see it;
Harry doesn't need to show it off.

Me again:
Two for two. Once again, I have to agree with you. I don't see Harry showing 
Malfoy his ankle either...But I don't think he is, really. He is showing US, 
the audience. It's one of those moments when the viewer is asked to suspend 
disbelief for the sake of a dramatic point to be made, even if it doesn't 
quite work naturalistically (but how many of the lines in CoS--the 
movie--work naturalistically? Goodness! As much as I love this movie, I have 
rarely seen one where so many lines seemed to come with script-writer 
subtitles, such as "THIS IS A FUNNY LINE" or "THIS IS A TRANSITION TO THE 
NEXT SCENE."), like an aside in the theatre, or a face or gesture being made 
when another character's back is turned. I haven't decided yet whether such 
devices belong in a movie, but I'm leaning towards allowing them.

BTW I can't believe the energy I put into working this out in my head, when 
I really should be working on a paper on lyrics-music congruence in the 
classical era....AAAAAAARGH!

Sophia



_________________________________________________________________
Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail