One Scene from POA

[laurenmcoakley]

> > bboyminn says:
> > 
> > I think it's a matter of expedience and time compression. When 
you are racing the clock to squeeze a four hour movie into 2.5hrs, 
you take shortcuts. 
> > 
> > This scene would have played out more believably if the Director 
> had taken some time to establish the mood, time for emotions to 
build, time for Daniel to get into the character and reflect his 
emotions. Unfortunately time was one thing they didn't have. So, 
they started from a wide angle with Harry sobbing, no explanation 
needed, then zoomed in on Hermione pulling Harry's I-Cloak, Harry 
yells, then we're
> > off to a new scene. Short, quick, and off you go.
> > 
> > Simple as that.
> > 
> > Steve/bboyminn

And then Jen D says:
> Simple as that, I agree, but totally out of character for Harry. 
And 
> totally weird for a director to choose such an odd way to 
> demonstrate emotion. I agree again with you that a film can only 
do 
> so much but look at that film! We took lots and lots of time to 
> establish the whimsy of the Whomping Willow. It got lots more 
> character development than Harry did at the moment he had to do 
> something he'd never do in the books, i.e. cry in front of anyone. 
> Even Dumbledore had the civility to contemplate other things 
whilst 
> Harry shed tears in the wrap up of Philospher's Stone. And now you 
> will tell me that Cuaron never read any HP. Alrighty. I can grasp 
> that but he's the artiste of that coming of age film about you 
> guessed it ! Teen age boys! How could he get it so wrong? He's 
> supposed to have feeling for that age group! I don't think the 
> motivation for tears is there, I don't think tears were in 
> character. And I don't think Cuaron is a sloppy director. I don't 
> know how he came to give Harry the short shrift there. My only 
> explanation is that he cares less for Harry than for visual 
impact. 
> Breath-taking shots. Nice little sepia moments. I just can't 
explain it any other way.
> But thanks for your thoughts, Steve.
> Jen D


And now Lauren says:

JenD-
I'm sorry, but I think I am having trouble with what you keep 
calling "a weird/odd way" to express emotion.  Harry is 13 years old 
in this film for heaven's sakes!  I'm not sure how mature the 13 
year-olds you hang around with are, but I think crying as a way to 
express emotion is perfectly acceptable! (Even for those of us way 
way waaaay older than 13!) :-)

And the debate about the necessity of the emotion-showing at all?!  
Does it HAVE to be word-for-word in the book to make it appropriate?

And, as I've mentioned before, there are other themes that are 
reinforced by this very scene.  I just love the FRIENDSHIP the 
children have.  I think the director even takes advantage of the 
real-life friendships these children have with each other.  And how 
wonderful it is to be able to see it and believe it, both as actors 
and as the characters they play.

And to Steve-
I believe, in general, the films don't receive enough respect.  It's 
very popular to bash the films in comparison to the books.  But, 
they are clearly two different mediums.  (as other people have often 
said on this board).  Why do you feel that moods weren't able to 
properly develop and the movie had to rush through ?  Like I 
mentioned in my previous post, I saw this movie BEFORE I read the 
book, and I never felt confused about what what going on with Harry 
or his emotions.  The only issue I had with not reading the book 
beforehand was the background to the patronus.  I'm curious- did you 
read the books before seeing the films?  JK, while clearly talented 
in her writing does have a tendency to be "too wordy".  Does the 
movie feel rushed because what took you an hour to read only plays 
out in a movie to be a fraction of that?  I'm just asking, because 
I'm having trouble understanding your point of view on this.

And to both, and everyone else reading this-
Please excuse me if I seem confrontational- It's really not my 
style, but I am a little tired of reading such negativity about the 
films.  I am making my stand.  I love Harry Potter, the books, and 
the movies too.  Flaws and all.  And by the way, the books have 
flaws too!