'finality' of cinema (was) Wood/Quidditch

[Petra Pan]

Steve:
> I want to give the Director the
> benefit of the doubt, but I confess
> myself worried. There are no retakes
> once the movie is release. When
> it's done, it's done forever.

True, that is, until it gets a remake.  <g>

Of course, to remake an entire franchise 
of seven movies would be much harder than 
remaking just one particular movie but I 
see the HP movies as being rather ripe for 
future remakes because

(1) the source material has such a strong 
hold on the imagination of so many that 
future generations of fans are very likely 
being bred and raised as we speak, possibly 
creating demand for new films that newly 
interpret HP for generations to come.

(2) the source material can be interpreted 
in so many ways that one version of the 
canon cannot possibly hope to plumb the 
depths definitively...especially a version 
conceived without full knowledge of the 
complete story.

(3) frankly, there's quite a bit of room 
for improvement in terms of plotting, 
character development and even the SFX.  
Canon sets a high bar for style and for 
substance and I don't think that either 
SS or CoS managed to deliver on the 
promises, so to speak, that the canon 
makes for the brand that is "Harry Potter."  
SOMEone, SOMEwhere, SOMEtime is surely 
going to be tempted to build on the first 
versions in hopes of topping them.

Will any of us be alive to see it?  <g>  
Who knows?

Having said that...

I'm of two minds in regards to our society's 
practice of capturing performances and 
storytelling on film.  On the one hand, it 
preserves important interpretations for 
later reference.  OTOH, this can also 
discourage the in-depth and personal 
examination of the story that makes it 
meaningful.  Once the universally true 
themes have been interpreted in the 
here-and-now, it somehow seem to touch 
the there-and-then of tomorrow with 
less strength.

It used to be that interpretations of 
stories in the here-and-now remain 
fleeting and exist only in the 
here-and-now.  Whether told by one bard 
by the hearth or by players on a stage, 
people's experience of stories performed 
evolve as the same stories are 
interpreted by different people.  Even 
the best and the most multi-layered 
interpretations of complex canon 
cannot be all things to all people.

With the ability to capture THE 
strongest interpretation of its time 
on film and video and audio etc., the 
idea that there can be one and only 
one definitive interpretation seems to 
be prevailing more often than not.  No 
'retake' is possible if we consider any 
film to be the now-and-FOREVER version. 
See, I'm not sure that the creation of 
dogma aids the development of our 
culture and society...

...nor, for that matter, am I sure that 
this is what Steve was originally 
talking about.  <g>

Petra
a
n  :)

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