[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Please, No....

[Amanda Geist]

> I hope Cuaron tells Rickman (though, I love him as an actor) to tone
> down the campiness and amp up the creep factor...
>
> The reason his character works so well in the books is that he seems
> so slimy, so hateful, and we don't know the whole story behind why.
> That's intriguing...
>
> In the films he just comes off, to me, as a generally strict teacher
> who favors his house...

My husband observed, after seeing the "full" potions scene from the first
movie, that Rickman is playing Snape with some clear overtones. He makes
very abrupt movements and gestures--and anyone who has seen Rickman in other
things knows that this is *absolutely* not the way he normally moves; he is
the essence of suave and smooth, ordinarily, in almost every other character
I've seen. He is doing this quite deliberately.

I get two "vibes" from this, which ring very true to my take on Snape:
(1) emotional suppression. Rickman's Snape is a pressure cooker; he's
holding so much in that his every movement is guarded and controlled, and
his responses come out abruptly, like little hisses of steam from under the
lid.
(2) predatory. Rickman's Snape is true to his House's character. The way he
maintains eye contact, the way he shifts his attention (by moving not only
his gaze but his head), the way he "stalked" Harry and Ron around his
desk...this is predatory, the attitude of one in control.

The way he's portraying Snape could be the result of direction; but Rickman
is nothing if not participatory in his roles, and JKR has given him extra
information about Snape to aid his characterization. I think he works *with*
the director, not *for* him.

~Amanda