SS/PS MOVIE DISCUSSION

[Carol]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:
>
> SS/PS MOVIE DISCUSSION
> 
> An orphan discovers he is really a wizard and leaves his abusive 
> family to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he 
> makes friends and enemies, meets magical creatures and survives an 
> ordeal.
> 
> Summarizing the movie was more difficult than I expected. So I gave 
> up. Reading a full summary would take longer than it would to watch 
> the movie. So, go watch the movie. That's more fun anyway.

Carol responds:

I think we could divide it up into scenes, though. From memory, it
would start off something like:

Prologue: Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid leave Baby Harry at the
Dursleys; Lily's death
Harry at the Dursleys' (owls)
Hagrid and the Hut on the Rock
Diagon Alley
Hogwarts Express (Harry meets Ron)
The Sorting
Classes (Snape, Flitwick, McGonagall)
The Flying Lesson
Halloween and the Troll

And so on--I've forgotten some scenes and I see what you mean. the
list is getting long even in outline form.
> 
> 
> QUESTIONS
> 
> 1. Do you remember the first time you saw SS/PS? What was your 
impression? Had you read any of the books? How did the movie affect 
your HP experience?  Do you experience the movie differently now? How
long has it been since you last really watched SS/PS?

Carol responds:

Yes, I remember it well. I remember being pleasantly surprised that I
liked it but thinking that the opening scene with McGonagall's
transformation could have been handled better. I loved Rickman!Snape
except for the "as such" line, which still bugs me. I didn't like the
leaving out of his riddle and the curtains of black and purple fire in
the part where HRH are trying to keep "Snape" from stealing the Stone
or the way that Harry turns Quirrell to powder, which makes him look
like a murderer, but otherwise I was pleased by its closeness to the
book. Most of the actors were well cast (though the kids weren't
exactly seasoned pros!) and Hogwarts itself was perfect, just as I
imagined it. It's been a couple of months since I watched it.
> 
> 2. Harry's birthday begins moments after midnight when Hagrid
arrives and ends after the Welcoming Feast as Harry sits in the window
petting Hedwig. What do you think of this time line? 

Carol:
I didn't think about it, but now that you mention it, I don't like it
at all!
> 
> 3. What's the chance that Neville was learning to fly on the same 
broom that young Severus used? What's the difference between what 
happens to Neville on this broom and what happens to Harry in the
Quidditch game?

Carol:
Well, filmgoers won't know about the broom that young Severus used. (I
always thought the broom in Severus's memory was his mom's, which she
had hexed to prevent him from riding. I don't think it was a school
broom, or he'd have done fine, and Lily wouldn't just be standing
there laughing; she'd be trying to ride a broom, too.) What happens to
Neville is, I think, that an old school broom senses an inexperienced
and terrified rider. It's like a horse running away with an
inexperienced rider (which, I can say from experience, is not fun!).
Harry's broom, in contrast, is a brand-new Nimbus 2000, which normally
obeys his every wish. Unfortunately, in this case, it's being
controlled by a Dark Wizard who wants to throw Harry off (and would
have done so if not for Snape's countercurse).
> 
> 4. Harry receives the Invisibility Cloak for Christmas. It's our 
first sight of a Deathly Hallow. Does knowing what you know now 
change your thoughts about the Invisibility Cloak?

Carol:
Not really, except that I always thought that James had willingly
placed it in DD's keeping to give to Harry when the time was right.
It's still just a fabulous magical cloak without which Harry could not
have had some of his adventures.
> 
> 5. The director takes a long time with visuals. For example, we get
a good, slow look at the mirror of Erised before we even see what it
does. What do you think of this technique? Does it work well in this 
movie? Do we see this style continuing in later HP movies?

Carol:
Good question, but I'd have to watch the films with visual technique
in mind to answer.
> 
> 6. It does not appear that the Mirror tempted DD. Are you surprised?
He says something along the line of "Many men have wasted away in 
front of it." Does the Mirror remind you of anything in the RW?

Carol responds:
I'll bet that DD was sorely tempted by it but either saw what it would
show and managed to pull himself away or knew what it would show and
was wise enough not to look in. The nice, warm socks always seemed to
me like a fib. DD could easily conjure a pair or ask the House Elves
to knit him one. Given his interest in knitting patterns, he could
probably knit them himself. (Okay, I'm getting away from the films
with that last one.) I can't think of anything in the RW that the
mirror reminds me of unless it's computers, which many men, women, and
children have wasted away in front of! Or maybe TV, which presents a
world that isn't real and can't be lived in.
> 
> 7. What do you think of the Weasley family from this movie? Ron
doesn't seem to mind that his parents suddenly decided to visit
Charlie for Christmas.

Carol:

I like bustling Mrs. Weasley and we get just a hint that Ginny may
become important. Ron is just cute (though I don't like the way Rupert
delivered a few of his lines--he improved greatly in the later films).
I think that Ron would have minded very much not going to Romania over
Christmas if Harry hadn't been staying, too--but, then, I'm sure that
his parents would have taken him along if that had been the case. It's
really just a plot device to keep him at school with Harry.
> 
> 8. Firenze identifies the creature in the Dark Forest as LV. So, he
knows LV is there. Does DD and Snape know? (Maybe I should ask, Does
DD or Snape know?)

Carol responds;
I can't remember whether Book!Firenze knows that the
unicorn-blood-drinking creature is LV or not. It's odd that a Centaur
would know something involving a specific wizard rather than just the
general state of affairs ("Mars is bright tonight" and what that
portends). But I don't think he's told Hagrid or that Hagrid has told
DD. Whether DD and Snape have figured it out on their own, I don't
know. Not in the film, apparently.
> 
> 9. After learning that DD is away from Hogwarts, the Trio run into
Snape. Does it look like Snape is using Legilimency on the Trio, or
particularly on Harry? 

Carol responds:
He certainly knows that they're )dramatic pause) "up to something,"
and I think he has a good idea what that "something" is. (It's
possible that Book!Snape summons Dumbledore back to Hogwarts. It seems
clear from the text that he's not alone when he finds Harry, and who
would be with him other than Snape?)
> 
> 10. When Neville challenges the Trio Hermione hexes him. Ron
responds with "You're a little scary sometimes. Brilliant, but scary."
Who does that remind you of? How does this scene begin to reveal 
something about Hermione's character? 

Carol:
"Brilliant but scary" could apply to either Snape or Dumbledore. )I
wish it applied better to Voldemort!) I suppose it means that she can
be a bit ruthless when she thinks it's necessary (Rita Skeeter or
Marietta, anybody?
> 
> 11. Ron comes into his own in the chess game--does he ever reach
this height again?

Carol:
Unfortunately, not for a long time. But he certainly comes through for
Harry in DH when he retrieves the Sword of Gryffindor.
> 
> 12. Hermione tells Harry that some things are more important than
books and cleverness---like friendship and bravery. Does this sum up 
the HP saga?

Carol:
I think it sums up JKR's philosophy, at any rate. (Hermione actually
takes quite awhile to completely learn this lesson.)
> 
> 13. Professor Quirrell does some amazing magic. Is it his ability or
does having LV in his head provide something extra. Do you think JKR 
got the idea of broomless flight from this scene?

Carol responds:
I think that the filmmakers took liberties with Quirrell in this scene
to make him scarier, just as they do with the DEs in OoP. But while I
think the broom hex is completely Quirrell's own idea and his own
power, I think that here he's aided (in both the book and the film) by
having LV inside him. Unless, of course, Snape is wrong in labeling
him a mediocre wizard, and I don't think that's the case.

<snip>

Yikes. I have to leave now, with the post unfinished and unproofread.
I'll come back if I have time.

Carol, exiting stage left