Dan vs. Harry's emotions

[susanbones2003]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, Valerie Flowe 
<valerie.flowe at v...> wrote:
> 
> I just finished reading GOF, which I had refused to read PRIOR to 
the movie.> I did not want to be disappointed at how much was 
changed/left off of the> book. There were many, many changes from 
the book, obviously for the sake of> time. After re-reading the book 
I do feel that the movie is not quite as> rich in story as the book. 
That¹s why if you become an HP fan as a RESULT of> watching the 
movies, you owe it to yourself to go back and read the books.
> That said, I was surprised when I re-read the Molly/Harry 
interaction at the> end. It was not as outwardly emotional as I 
recalled.> As we know it was changed in the movie to have Harry 
sobbing over Cedric> upon his return (very well done, Dan, as we¹ve 
all agreed!). In the book,> Harry DID NOT sob over Cedric.
> [He clutched Cedric to him more tightly...²Harry, let go of him ,² 
he heard> Fudge¹s voice say, and he felt fingers trying to pry him 
from Cedric¹s limp> body, but Harry wouldn¹t let him go. Then 
Dumbledore¹s face came closer.> ³Harry, you can¹t help him now. It¹s 
over. Let go.> ³He wanted me to bring him back,² Harry muttered ­ it 
seemed important to> explain this. ²He wanted me to bring him back 
to his parents²] then Moody> comes and drags him away...
> So in this regard the movie was MUCH more emotionally impactful 
than the> book. The movie audience was either tensely silent or 
sniffling during this> harrowing scene.
> 
> For some reason I thought that the Molly/Harry scene was when book 
Harry> broke down and sobbed. But he did not.
> [The thing against which he had been fighting on and off ever 
since he had> come out of the maze was threatening to overpower him. 
He could feel a> burning, prickling feeling in the inner corners of 
his eyes. He blinked/stared up at the ceiling. ³It wasn¹t your fault 
Harry,² Mrs. Weasley> whispered. ³I told him to take the cup with 
me,² Harry said> Now the burning feeling was in his throat too. He 
wished Ron would look> away. Mrs. W put her arms around Harry. He 
had no memory of ever being> hugged like this, as though by a mother 
(sniff!!! poor Harry, having just> seen the ghost of his mom!!!!) 
The full weight of everything he had seen> that night seemed to fall 
in upon him as Mrs. W held him to her. His> mother¹s face, his 
father¹s voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground
> all started spinning in his head until he could hardly bear it, 
until he was> screwing up his face against the howl of misery 
fighting to get out of him.> There was a loud slamming noise and 
Mrs. W and Harry broke apart. (Hermione> catching Rita-the-beetle).]
> So yes, there was a big difference in book Harry, who has a VERY 
hard time> letting his gut-wrenching emotions out, and movie Harry 
who cried in public> in GOF after the maze task. Both different, yet 
effective for their> respective mediums.
> I still love the movies, as a companion piece to the wonderful 
books!> 
> Valerie
> 
Valerie,
Don't know what part of that lovely post to snip so I left it all. I 
think what you have brought up is the essential component of GOF 
that makes it more like a HP book than POA was. (Not arguing whether 
POA was a good film, it just didn't catch the spirit of the book POA 
as well for me as the GOF film did). Mike Newell had 120 pages of 
script to give to Goblet. Now we know the book is substantially 
longer. He found a main thread, the thriller aspect, and he put 
everything at his disposal into telling that slice of the book. The 
last task, the events in the maze, the graveyard and the entire long 
series of events after Harry exits the maze could have easily taken 
the 120 pages. I was awfully sorry not to see Harry get a real 
motherly hug. But I think the director and script writers had a feel 
for what resonated with viewers. No, Harry didn't cry upon return 
with Cedric in the book, and the tears that threateded to overwhelm 
him with Molly didn't fall either. But Newell used that return scene 
to demonstrate the range of things that happened in the book, as a 
condensation without losting the spirit of the book. It never seemed 
forced or odd. It was a believable reaction to the events. 

Back in POA, Harry's crying under the cloak just didn't strike a 
believable note. Of course he was angry with Sirius for (he thought 
at the time) betraying his parents but I can't for the life of me 
see him crying in an audible way. Shouting, which he did, I can see. 
But no, the tears didn't make sense in that context. And at best, I 
still maintain, they'd have been silent tears. The return from the 
graveyard, the depth of the experience, torure and facing the most 
evil wizard in the world, then seeing his parents, being asked to 
return a body, the piling on of things, it is understandable that 
someone would experience a break. All in all, Newell had a feeling 
for Harry that wasn't quite there for me in POA. It won't stop me 
from digging into POA and reading good posts about the structure of 
the film (and maybe,hopefully writing a good post or two). So keep 
the thoughts coming!
Jen D