[HPFGU-Movie] I think I understand...

[clshannon at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/17/04 10:29:54 AM, hp at plum.cream.org writes:


> 
> I thought that this group was set up for the discussion of the HP movies on
> an adult level. Not just as adaptations (although of course that too), but
> as MOVIES. I spent the whole of Tuesday and most of yesterday (until I
> suddenly and unavoidably had to go out) trying to discuss the movies as
> cinematic entities and have had no reaction.
> 

I don't think you're wasting your time Richard - I agree with 99% of what 
your post said <g> 
I too, thought we could discuss the movie on cinematic terms, but like you 
said, it's more of a 'they left that out,' type of discussion.
I won't go point by point thru your wonderful post because it would consist 
mostly of 'yes, I agree' type of answers, but I will say that your overall 
conclusion about the mystery vs coming of age story really resonanted with me. I 
am glad that you could phrase it so eloquently because I would have rambled on 
and on, never really coming to that conclusion as concisely as you did <g> 
Thank you for that post - I'm saving it ;-)

I do agree with your conclusion and thank you for illuminating it. It makes 
so much sense and gives a logical reason for the so-called changes that other 
arguments don't come close to. Cuaron and/or Kloves had reasons behind their 
decisions, reasons that make POA a film, not a reading of a book.

And finally, thank you for mentioning the freeze frame at the end! I loved 
it, as I said in another post (although it might have been to another list, my 
head is spinning with all this discussion) and my friend who saw the movie with 
me liked it as well. Much snappier, as I said before, and more befitting a 
movie about Harry Potter. They are his stories, after all, and I think COS 
specifically, forgot that at the end.   And it is certainly more inventive and 
creative than a simple pulling shot up and out of the Great Hall ;-) And I may be 
just a sap, but I actually got a small lump in my throat at the pure joy that 
Harry exhibited at the end - the kid deserved to feel like that and he took me 
right with him.

Anyway, I do hope you don't disappear into the ether. This comparison that 
you made in the post about the choices made in POA makes perfect sense to me and 
finally puts a lot of chaotic thoughts in order, at least in my head ;-)

I would love to discuss the movie   on cinematic terms - something that I 
wanted to do since I first left the theater feeling exhiliarated, which I don't 
remember feeling after seeing COS in the theater. You have the same history as 
I do in regards to this whole thing - I saw PS/SS first, then started reading 
the books. I was halfway thru POA when COS came out in the theaters. I 
finished Book 3 and 4 shortly afterwards. So, maybe we see it from a film standpoint 
more than the folks who read all 4 books at least a year before the first 
movie even came out. I don't know, I can't speak for those folks since I had the 
images of the first film in my head as I read the first book for the first 
time.
And maybe some people are just more into the artform of film than others. Who 
knows?
But I do know that I agree with you and thank you for the post ;-)
Cindy


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