[HPFGU-Movie] Reflections of PoA (Spoilers)

[GulPlum]

At 23:22 13/06/04 , Nicholas wrote:

<big snip>

I'm a bit peeved at you, Nick. I had been planning to write up this topic 
myself, but you beat me to it. :-) Nevertheless, I still have a few things 
to add.

>-In the DADA class with the Boggart, the scene ends with Harry staring at
>his reflection in the cupboard door.

Small note: the scene also starts with a "reverse reflection" shot (it 
seems as if the camera comes from out of the wardrobe through the mirror).

<more great observations snipped>

"Reflections" seem to be one of Cuaron's stocks-in-trade. He also has a 
thing about looking at people through windows, etc., or otherwise 
physically separated from the camera, especially during intimate scenes. An 
example: one of the most intimate scenes in PoA is Harry and Lupin on the 
bridge talking about James and Lily: they are on opposite sides of the 
walkway and we're looking at them through the arches. I interpret this kind 
of shot, as I've already said elsewhere, as Cuaron's way of saying "look, 
these people are 'doing' *personal* stuff. We shouldn't really be watching 
them". (This is a far cry from Columbus's way, which is to draw in 
ultra-close and cut between the faces.)

I (re)watched Y Tu Mama the other day, and both elements recur several 
times. I'm running his version of Great Expectations (which I've not 
watched for ages) as I type and the same thing is true. There's one 
sequence in particular when Finn (aka Pip) is drawing a picture of Estella. 
We see his finished picture which is then superimposed not on Gwynneth 
Paltrow's face (which is a fairly cliched cinematic move) but on her 
reflection. (There is a theory in behavioural science that one measure of 
"beauty" is how close a face comes to being perfectly symmetrical; I think 
that was one of the points Alfonso was making here.)

I really must get my hands on A Little Princess...

Widening the "reflection" theme, PoA is full of various kinds of "pairs", 
some more subtle than others. One which jumped out at me (mainly because 
neither event appears to serve any narrative or cinematic purpose) is that 
during the COMC lesson, Malfoy munches on an apple; during the Boggart 
lesson, Lupin is eating one as well. Any theories as to a possible 
significance? Is he being Biblical ("the forbidden fruit"), or what?

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, with only 159 messages to go before being caught up 
with *this* list (and several hundred more on other lists)...