MOVIE: Sorry for the Rant - PU to DH2

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 191275



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff" <geoffbannister123 at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lkotur" <lkotur@> wrote:
> 
> Larry:
> > Saw DH2 again just to see if my first impression was influenced by it being the final chapter.  Nope!  Again the movie was great to the point of Harry falling out of Hagrid's arms to reveal he was still alive. ....
> 
> Geoff:
> As something of a sophisticated "me too", ....
> 
> I can only agree with you Larry; that would have been electric.
> Well, we can always turn off the DVD at this point and read the
> last bit from the book, can't we.?
> :-))
> 
> 

Steve:

We must ask ourselves, how do we see the movies and books? That is, what genre do they fit into.

Action/Adventure?

Thriller?

Suspense? 

Drama? 

Comedy? 

Rom/Com? 

...???

I think the books are Thriller/Suspense, but I think the directors saw the movie they were making as a Action Movie. So, they made the movie they saw in their mind; action packed, adventure, blockbuster war movie. And they made their choice accordingly. 

I'm not saying that was the right choice, simply saying that I think that was the choice they made. 

The burst of action, followed by confusion, followed by the slow suspense of Harry and Voldemort facing off, that worked in the books. But it simply doesn't work in the Producer/Directors vision of the heart of the movie. 

I've often liked converting a book into a movie as trimming the tops off of mountains (metaphorically, the mountains are the book). The mountain, and the story in the book are both wide and deep (or are, as you please). 

The Producer/Director/Writer have to find a way to navigate through those mountains. Trimming off and using the tip that represent their vision of the central story line. Some mountain tops (plot points/subplots) simply don't reach high enough to be included. 

But as the mountain peaks have varying height, the mountain range is also wide. You find what you believe is the central story line, and you bypass all the other mountain peaks. 

In doing so, far more is lost than is saved. If we assume the average movie is 2.5 hours long, and for Stephen Fry or Jim Dale take about 25 hours to read the book, in the movie, we get about 1/10th of the story.

There are plenty of things to criticize, but it is what it is. I'm sure the Producer/Director/Writer consider many possible methods to tell the story, but at some point, you have to stop discussing and make the best decision you can. You can't agonize over every little detail, not when delays are costing MANY thousands of Dollars/Pounds an hour. 

So, the framework was determined - Action/War movie, and that drove the decisions from that point onward. 

While I too can find things to complain about, this is the movie we have, whether it lives in Fame or Infamy, it is done. Again, I can see things to complain about, but at the same time, I have sympathy, and am glad I wasn't the one having to make those hard decisions.

And yes, I really can find things to complain about.

Steve/bboyminn