Movie: Harry's Wand in the Forbidden Forest and Big-V's Death

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 191016

I'm a little unsure just exactly how we are suppose to discuss the movies, and hopefully I sufficiently tie my points back to the actual books to justify commenting in the Main group.

There is one tiny little point in the movies that irritates me more than any other, and to some extent, it is probably more of a continuity error than bad judgment on the part of the Producer/Director/Writer. 

MOVIE SPOILER:
,
,
,
,
,
,
,

In the scene where Harry appears before Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, Harry is holding his wand in his HAND. The books make it very clear that Harry stashes his wand so he is not tempted to defend himself. He understands, though the movie makers apparently do not, that he must meet his end willingly and without resistance. I think that is one of the keys to how and why this whole situation works. 

The Protection that Harry extends to everyone else is based on his own willing sacrifice for the others. But taking that one step further, on a more mundane basis, what happens to his wand if he is holding it in his hand, and is then hit with the killing curse. Would any of the Death Eaters be so foolish as to think he could be dead and still maintain his grip on his wand? 

Now, like so many aspects of the stories we have discussed, when something appears not to make sense, you have one of two choices, you can make up a backstory that confirms that this does not make sense, or you can make up a different backstory that reasonably explains how it does make sense. 

I can do that with this scene, but I don't really think I should have to. 

I don't know why I'm so fixated on this one point, as there are certainly many other points that bother me, but this one point, Harry not stashing his wand, does bother me more than the others. I think partly because it is so important to that scene in the books.  

In a sense, it is a dramatic moment lost to the movies. Part of what is going on here is Harry's willingness to go to his death, and Voldemort constant fear of death. If Harry had walked up, and when Voldemort first sees him, Harry had stashed his wand in his coat, I think that could have had a effect on Voldemort, it could have gotten a momentary reflexive reaction from him. Just a brief wave of fear and doubt before he composed himself.

Trying to pull this back to canon, JKR makes a very solid and strong point of just what I am saying. Harry realizes he must go willingly, that he must offer no resistance, and I think it is equally important that he convey that to Voldemort. 

Once additional point that bothered me - How did Voldemort die?

Was it because Neville killed Nagini, and that alone? 

Did Harry kill him?

Did his own rebounding curse kill him?

Did anything that can be seen in the movie kill him? 

We know what happens in the books. But in the movie, after spending millions on special effects, they couldn't have added one more flash of light to indicate that at least something happened. 

MOVIE SPOILER:
,
,
,
,
,

Yes, we see his body disintegrate, and by extension we assume that means he is dead. But what caused it? That part is so severely underplayed in the movie as to make it completely ambiguous. 

Now in the movies, that have the wand connect again, I'm OK with that, it does add some drama to the moment. And the movies doesn't have the long exposition that the books have, I'm OK with that to a limited extent. 

There were many changes to the storyline, but we expected that. There were a few areas where I thought they had absolutely painted themselves into a corner plot-wise, but they managed to pull those aspects off reasonably well. 

But the two points I've made here I just can't get around. They are small picky points that I should just forget about and enjoy the movie, but for some reason they really annoy me.

And by the way, I did enjoy the movie, a very satisfying ending to the series.  

Bring it all back to the books, I think there is sufficient precedence in the books for both these scenes to have played out differently. I think Harry's willingness to go to his death without resistance, and the precise means and circumstances of Voldemort's death are sufficiently emphasized in the books, that they should also have been emphasized in the movies. Oh well, too late now.

Steve/bluewizard