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

[Elfnorc]

Greetings;  I decided to come out of mostly lurking to respond as I have
been enjoying your posts and have been too busy to write and say so. 
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to think about this through your
view point.  
     I found your discussion interesting and agree that the difference
between POA being a mystery and being a rite of passage makes sense. 
There also seems to be a large issue of peole being disappointed with
their favorite scene(s) being left out which people are reacting to.
     I share a rather different opinion than a lot of people who have
posted.  POA is not my favorite book but it is my favorite movie.  It is
the first of the 3 that has actually felt like a movie in itself to me.
 It was the first 2 that felt like cliffnote versions and I think that
was because they seemed so similar to the books to me.  
     I am enjoying the posts that don't feel this way as it is giving me
the chance to think about the movie from another perspective.      
     I did make it a point not to read POA again before seeing the movie
and that also helped.  There is no way that all of the sub-plots and
nuances of POA could have been left in and the movie not be hours
longer.  Given this, I thought Cuaron did a good job of picking out
parts of the story and doing a good job of developing those. 
     I have also gone back and am watching COS again and am realizing
that the background scenes are not as different as I had thought.  You
just don't see as much of the landscape in the foreground.  An example
of this is in the quiditch match that if you look into the distance you
do see the hills and the lake.  The area is not as flat as I would have
thought. 
     As far as GoF I think it will be even harder to make everyone (or
most people) happy.  I can see it working as a thriller but given that
it will only be one regular length movie there is going to have to be so
much left out that it can only be a part of the book.  
     In any event I do think it makes it easier if you can separate your
feelings for the books from those of any movies based on them.  I just
discovered Jane Austin and love Pride and Prejudice.  There have been 3
major adaptations of that so far.  One I can't watch because it
resembles the book so little and as a movie it doesn't work for me, the
second is OK and the 3rd was a 6 hour adaptation done by A&E.  Even with
6 hours to fill things were left out and changed but the movie works as
a movie for me all on its own.  
Tina in Michigan

  
 
> In the meantime, here's a thought which I am surprised only occurred
to me last night as I was falling asleep. I think I finally understand
the main difference between PoA the Movie and PoA the Book, which has
caused a polarisation of the fandom. Actually, it's not so much that I
understand it (it's pretty obvious), but I have finally realised how to
put it into words.<BR>
> The book is essentially a mystery story. Several mysteries are
introduced and it is those mysteries which drive the plot. The
conclusion of the book, is, therefore, the resolution of all of those
mysteries: why's Scabbers behaving so strangely and why did he suddenly
fall ill? Why won't anyone tell Harry what's going on with Sirius Black?
Who is Lupin and what's he about? How does he know about the Map? Why is
Hermione so frazzled and why does she appear in strange places out of
the blue? There are several others, but I'll stop there.<BR>
> <BR>
> The movie, on the other hand, downplays the "mystery" elements and
becomes a  rites of passage/character study - Cuaron has admitted as
much, and changed the focus from the mysteries to Harry and Co hitting
adolescence.<BR>

> As the saying goes, "you can't please all of the people all of the
time; <BR>
> the best you can hope for is to please some of the people some of the <BR>
> time". Personally, I think that Cuaron has decided to please himself
rather <BR>
> than the "literalists", and he certainly pleased me.<BR>
> <BR>
> Interestingly, Mike Newell is on record as saying that he sees GoF as
a <BR>
> thriller. It's a fair comment and perhaps will mean that those who
dislike <BR>
> PoA's change in structure from the book may well be appeased...<BR>
> GulPlum AKA Richard, expecting more reaction this time. ;-) <BR>