GoF and and the Spoiler Cut of Doom
Nov. 19th, 2005 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amanuensis1How about those Opening Credits? Should have called the film "Harry Potter and the Oh My God You Are So Fucked This Time Around, Kid".
Thought it was, well, to use a word I use a lot, splendid. I can't quite yet say if I liked it better than PoA; I'll need to see it again to get past the "Did they do it right, did they, huh huh huh?" that accompanies a first viewing of a beloved book and just go back and watch.
For me the last film showed how good these films can get, how viscerally they can grab you with the storytelling and not just be a parade of, "Look, it's this beloved character! And that one! And this scene, look, look how we did this scene!" PoA went beyond that and engaged me with the slickness of the storytelling, which I hadn't expected. And I thought GoF measured up to that again. For those who didn't like it: yes, something either engages you emotionally or it doesn't, and there's nothing that can be done about that to make you change your mind. Though I will say that if you were looking for something more from the books to be in this film and that's why you didn't like it overall, goodness, I can't think what would have helped you.
I thought the cast uniformly excellent. I want to spend a bit of time talking about Radcliffe, because he has to carry the film and he's a fifteen-year-old actor and I hear mixed reviews about Dan Radcliffe; that he's great or that he's not so great. Here's my take: I think the directors behind these films believe the Harry Potter stories not only need you to sympathize with the protagonist but to be the protagonist. This makes Harry into a creature who cannot have reactions that are too huge or too quirky, for fear of causing the viewer to stray. That's awfully limiting for an actor. Harry never gets to mug, or be too goofy--even when he's trying to shield his nekkid boyparts from a naughty-minded girl ghost he has to keep the reactions reigned in. Do I think, for example, that Grint has a larger range of emotions on the screen? Hell, yes. Because he's allowed to. Harry's not.
I think because this is a visual medium the films are unapologetic about using Harry's looks to further this Blank Slate Harry. Radcliffe done up as Harry is not only incredibly pretty, he's one of the effing cherubim descended to earth. Angelic and effectively androgenous with it when the make-up artists are at their most intense with him: Harry is pale of complexion and flushed at cheek and lip--hair as black as ebony, c'mon, harmonize with me here, guys. You've got the essence of innocence in Harry, something the viewer can slide into and fit over themselves without those poky itchy personality quirks bothering them much. Which makes it all the more endearing to watch Harry trying to slip free of that and just be a Real Boy, as he goes all teen in this. That's the performance they've asked of Radcliffe. 'S a bit thankless, isn't it?
So the question becomes not so much is he a strong actor, but can he carry the film in the way it is meant to be carried. Yeah, I think he does. Radcliffe's called on to do "anxious" a lot in this film and he's excellent at it; I adored watching him on the verge of puking before and during every Tournament Task. But we still have that "sense of wonder and joy" Harry that made Harry so much the Dickensian orphan in the first two films, and when that does get used it's used great. Oh, Harry, you had me at "I love magic," you really did, in this film.
What did I miss from the books? While the film was going on, I missed nothing. I mean, that's awesome, isn't it? Yes, I would have liked to have had Snape's Dark Mark and just one cut back to Harry's face in the Courtroom scene when he hears about Snape's DE history (just one shot! That's all, Newell, c'mon!), but these were only afterthoughts. I didn't miss anything house elvish, or the actual World Cup game, or the Sphinx in the maze (bloody easy riddle that, anyway) or Barty Crouch Jr. getting the Dementor's kiss or Sirius in the cave--not while I was watching the film nor did I later wish any of those had ended up in the film. They'd have f***ed up the pacing.
And the pacing was great. Two-and-half hours and not a whit of numb-butt to be had. No slow bits at all, IMHO.
The film did manage to improve something from the book for me, and that was the Dragon Task. Action sequences in books don't usually do a lot for me; I skim them to find out the outcome. Suddenly the Dragon Task was cool. Woo.
The Second Task, on the other hand, has always been my favorite in the book, and, oh, the moment when we saw R/H/C/G held hostage underwater? CREEPY AS F**K. I loved how the visuals did away with any need for exposition or inner monologue regarding Harry's fears that the hostages would be lost if they weren't all retrieved. As IF he could have left any one of them. *shudders delightedly*
The twins, oh, the twins. Best developed secondary characters in the film. You know what I loved best about that? It sets them up for their moment in OotP when they leave Hogwarts in gorgeous defiance. I so hope that's done right next film.
Neville! Do you know what they did with Neville? They made me like Ginny more. Because if BillyElliot!Neville chose her to dance with all night, she must be okay. How about that.
Voldemort: I'm dying even imagining anyone besides Ralph Fiennes in that role, now. Voldemort was man, and monster, and SEXAY as all get-out for being both. Oh, my god. No CGI creature could ever have been as wonderful.
LUCIUS. OH. Just...that...little...bit. Gave us everything. Every bit of history, of character... Lucius/Cane/Harry's Sleeve = OT3. My eyes rolled back in my head and I didn't hear another word for three minutes. &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts And the chemistry between Lucius and Voldemort was gorgeous; Wormtail can cut off his own hand for Voldemort's cause but it doesn't matter, Lucius is still Voldemort's #1 DE and no one's gonna forget it. Oh.
I loved how NOTHING WAS SPARKLY in the graveyard. The dark mark on Wormtail's arm didn't glow. The Morsmordre wasn't green and sparkly. Everything was just black on black. No pretty magic until we got to the PI.
I swore up and down that the Prefect's Bath scene would never end up in the film because it would be too giggle-worthy and just a bit racy for all those kid viewers to realize Harry's nekkid in that water. EXCUSE ME FOR BEING THE MOST NAÏVE ADULT IN THE WORLD; APPARENTLY I AM STILL LIVING IN THE LAST CENTURY. I write Harry Potter NC-17 smutfic and *I* was blushing, okay?
(Someone please get it over with right now and tell me that was a body double or major CGI touch-ups when Harry was just getting into the water in that scene. I know it's the most likely answer; break it to me now. Because my reaction to that physique was that it just emphasized the "angelic perfection and innocence" thing all over again--he was too beautiful to even drool at. Even if it was a body double that doesn't change the effect.)
I want to find someone who hasn't read the books but is seeing the films (and wasn't spoiled) to find out what they thought of the Crouch-as-Moody hints. I know there's, like, one such person max and I'm unlikely to get much of a sample size, but I'd like to know if they thought the twitch-tongue thing was a good hint or if it was too much. Personally I liked it because a good mystery should have hints that the audience could get, and I thought that Moody (Gleeson)'s bit of tongue-twitch wasn't too much and might give viewers just enough to say, "Was he baiting him about his son or something? Do they have more history beyond what we saw in that pensieve scene?" Or maybe it gave it away completely. I dunno; I need some viewers to ring in. Ask your "I don't read but I like movies" loved ones and let me know, willya?
The shot where Harry looks back toward Cedric struggling with the vines in the maze and they zoom in on Harry's eyes and that long awful moment of should-I-save-him-or-go-for-the-cup decision where viewer who knows what's coming thinks, "There. That's the moment when Harry kills Cedric, at least that's the way Harry will remember it. Oh."
Oh, the beauty/agony of Harry and Deadric portkeying back to the grounds of the Third Task and the spectators breaking into joyous ignorant applause, eee. Loved how it was Fleur's scream that broke it and not just some dawning hush over the crowd.
Okay. I used to say "AH-chee-oh" because it looked Italian but then Jim Dale said "AH-see-oh" so I changed and now Movie!Harry says "AH-kee-oh." I am a fangirl and therefore allowed to have a mini breakdown over such things, shut up.
When Barty Crouch was walking with Harry in the woods I couldn't help but MSTy, (Harry voice): "Sir, you're not nearly as pretty as Professor Lupin; could I have this nature walk with HIM again, please?"
Harry's handwriting IS the Lumos font! Didja see it, there on the letter to Sirius?
I was struck less by the 'shippiness in this than I was by the Trio-ness. The need for the Trio to be together no matter whom they're romantically entangled with. It would have been okay for Hermione to be with Krum if only Ron didn't make it all "fraternizing with the enemy" ugly--it wasn't that she wanted to be asked by Ron as much as she wanted her best friends to be okay with her and Krum.
Tell me, though, that I'm not the only one who saw this film as innuendo paradise, despite what I say about Angelic!Harry. It was like a dirty version of Clue: It was Rita with in the broom cupboard with Harry, it was Snape in the potions storeroom with Harry, it was Cedric in the Prefect's Bath with Harry. Every moment was just waiting for the bau-chick-a-bau-bau track.
Best Intentionally Fabulous Moment: Snape rolling up his sleeves prior to grabbing Harry and Ron's heads.
Best Spontaneously Fabulous Moment: Ron's aborted bird-flip towards the twins when they're joshing him when he goes to dance with McGonagall.
Most Evil Line Ever: "It's a broom cupboard." "Well, then you should feel right at home." Didja hear that "AH!" scream from the woman in the tenth row? Then you were in my theatre and that was me.
Moment Where I Choked Up: Dumbledore's "I always hated these drapes." It all just...came home to me. Cedric's death, everything.
Most perfect line: "Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Oh, my god. That delivery, that "Oh, god, I don't want to cry and if I don't smile I will cry" rictus of bravery on Hermione's face--yeah. Whoever made the decision on that one, I kiss you.
I need to see it again and just perv. Eee, Lucius.
Last, I have a drabble for you.
*****
"I waited three hours."
Cedric looked up. "...Sorry?"
"I waited three hours. My fingers still haven't de-pruned," Harry said, holding up the offending digits and leaning in so close Cedric could smell the bacon on his breath. "And you never came."
Cedric felt himself flush down to his knees. "Harry, I--"
Then he realized that the flush wasn't all embarrassment.
"Um." Well. Yes, why not? "I'm really sorry. Got detained. Can I make it up to you tonight?"
As the pout on Harry's face changed to a slow smile, Cedric realized he wasn't sure he could wait until night.
*****
Thought it was, well, to use a word I use a lot, splendid. I can't quite yet say if I liked it better than PoA; I'll need to see it again to get past the "Did they do it right, did they, huh huh huh?" that accompanies a first viewing of a beloved book and just go back and watch.
For me the last film showed how good these films can get, how viscerally they can grab you with the storytelling and not just be a parade of, "Look, it's this beloved character! And that one! And this scene, look, look how we did this scene!" PoA went beyond that and engaged me with the slickness of the storytelling, which I hadn't expected. And I thought GoF measured up to that again. For those who didn't like it: yes, something either engages you emotionally or it doesn't, and there's nothing that can be done about that to make you change your mind. Though I will say that if you were looking for something more from the books to be in this film and that's why you didn't like it overall, goodness, I can't think what would have helped you.
I thought the cast uniformly excellent. I want to spend a bit of time talking about Radcliffe, because he has to carry the film and he's a fifteen-year-old actor and I hear mixed reviews about Dan Radcliffe; that he's great or that he's not so great. Here's my take: I think the directors behind these films believe the Harry Potter stories not only need you to sympathize with the protagonist but to be the protagonist. This makes Harry into a creature who cannot have reactions that are too huge or too quirky, for fear of causing the viewer to stray. That's awfully limiting for an actor. Harry never gets to mug, or be too goofy--even when he's trying to shield his nekkid boyparts from a naughty-minded girl ghost he has to keep the reactions reigned in. Do I think, for example, that Grint has a larger range of emotions on the screen? Hell, yes. Because he's allowed to. Harry's not.
I think because this is a visual medium the films are unapologetic about using Harry's looks to further this Blank Slate Harry. Radcliffe done up as Harry is not only incredibly pretty, he's one of the effing cherubim descended to earth. Angelic and effectively androgenous with it when the make-up artists are at their most intense with him: Harry is pale of complexion and flushed at cheek and lip--hair as black as ebony, c'mon, harmonize with me here, guys. You've got the essence of innocence in Harry, something the viewer can slide into and fit over themselves without those poky itchy personality quirks bothering them much. Which makes it all the more endearing to watch Harry trying to slip free of that and just be a Real Boy, as he goes all teen in this. That's the performance they've asked of Radcliffe. 'S a bit thankless, isn't it?
So the question becomes not so much is he a strong actor, but can he carry the film in the way it is meant to be carried. Yeah, I think he does. Radcliffe's called on to do "anxious" a lot in this film and he's excellent at it; I adored watching him on the verge of puking before and during every Tournament Task. But we still have that "sense of wonder and joy" Harry that made Harry so much the Dickensian orphan in the first two films, and when that does get used it's used great. Oh, Harry, you had me at "I love magic," you really did, in this film.
What did I miss from the books? While the film was going on, I missed nothing. I mean, that's awesome, isn't it? Yes, I would have liked to have had Snape's Dark Mark and just one cut back to Harry's face in the Courtroom scene when he hears about Snape's DE history (just one shot! That's all, Newell, c'mon!), but these were only afterthoughts. I didn't miss anything house elvish, or the actual World Cup game, or the Sphinx in the maze (bloody easy riddle that, anyway) or Barty Crouch Jr. getting the Dementor's kiss or Sirius in the cave--not while I was watching the film nor did I later wish any of those had ended up in the film. They'd have f***ed up the pacing.
And the pacing was great. Two-and-half hours and not a whit of numb-butt to be had. No slow bits at all, IMHO.
The film did manage to improve something from the book for me, and that was the Dragon Task. Action sequences in books don't usually do a lot for me; I skim them to find out the outcome. Suddenly the Dragon Task was cool. Woo.
The Second Task, on the other hand, has always been my favorite in the book, and, oh, the moment when we saw R/H/C/G held hostage underwater? CREEPY AS F**K. I loved how the visuals did away with any need for exposition or inner monologue regarding Harry's fears that the hostages would be lost if they weren't all retrieved. As IF he could have left any one of them. *shudders delightedly*
The twins, oh, the twins. Best developed secondary characters in the film. You know what I loved best about that? It sets them up for their moment in OotP when they leave Hogwarts in gorgeous defiance. I so hope that's done right next film.
Neville! Do you know what they did with Neville? They made me like Ginny more. Because if BillyElliot!Neville chose her to dance with all night, she must be okay. How about that.
Voldemort: I'm dying even imagining anyone besides Ralph Fiennes in that role, now. Voldemort was man, and monster, and SEXAY as all get-out for being both. Oh, my god. No CGI creature could ever have been as wonderful.
LUCIUS. OH. Just...that...little...bit. Gave us everything. Every bit of history, of character... Lucius/Cane/Harry's Sleeve = OT3. My eyes rolled back in my head and I didn't hear another word for three minutes. &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts &hearts And the chemistry between Lucius and Voldemort was gorgeous; Wormtail can cut off his own hand for Voldemort's cause but it doesn't matter, Lucius is still Voldemort's #1 DE and no one's gonna forget it. Oh.
I loved how NOTHING WAS SPARKLY in the graveyard. The dark mark on Wormtail's arm didn't glow. The Morsmordre wasn't green and sparkly. Everything was just black on black. No pretty magic until we got to the PI.
I swore up and down that the Prefect's Bath scene would never end up in the film because it would be too giggle-worthy and just a bit racy for all those kid viewers to realize Harry's nekkid in that water. EXCUSE ME FOR BEING THE MOST NAÏVE ADULT IN THE WORLD; APPARENTLY I AM STILL LIVING IN THE LAST CENTURY. I write Harry Potter NC-17 smutfic and *I* was blushing, okay?
(Someone please get it over with right now and tell me that was a body double or major CGI touch-ups when Harry was just getting into the water in that scene. I know it's the most likely answer; break it to me now. Because my reaction to that physique was that it just emphasized the "angelic perfection and innocence" thing all over again--he was too beautiful to even drool at. Even if it was a body double that doesn't change the effect.)
I want to find someone who hasn't read the books but is seeing the films (and wasn't spoiled) to find out what they thought of the Crouch-as-Moody hints. I know there's, like, one such person max and I'm unlikely to get much of a sample size, but I'd like to know if they thought the twitch-tongue thing was a good hint or if it was too much. Personally I liked it because a good mystery should have hints that the audience could get, and I thought that Moody (Gleeson)'s bit of tongue-twitch wasn't too much and might give viewers just enough to say, "Was he baiting him about his son or something? Do they have more history beyond what we saw in that pensieve scene?" Or maybe it gave it away completely. I dunno; I need some viewers to ring in. Ask your "I don't read but I like movies" loved ones and let me know, willya?
The shot where Harry looks back toward Cedric struggling with the vines in the maze and they zoom in on Harry's eyes and that long awful moment of should-I-save-him-or-go-for-the-cup decision where viewer who knows what's coming thinks, "There. That's the moment when Harry kills Cedric, at least that's the way Harry will remember it. Oh."
Oh, the beauty/agony of Harry and Deadric portkeying back to the grounds of the Third Task and the spectators breaking into joyous ignorant applause, eee. Loved how it was Fleur's scream that broke it and not just some dawning hush over the crowd.
Okay. I used to say "AH-chee-oh" because it looked Italian but then Jim Dale said "AH-see-oh" so I changed and now Movie!Harry says "AH-kee-oh." I am a fangirl and therefore allowed to have a mini breakdown over such things, shut up.
When Barty Crouch was walking with Harry in the woods I couldn't help but MSTy, (Harry voice): "Sir, you're not nearly as pretty as Professor Lupin; could I have this nature walk with HIM again, please?"
Harry's handwriting IS the Lumos font! Didja see it, there on the letter to Sirius?
I was struck less by the 'shippiness in this than I was by the Trio-ness. The need for the Trio to be together no matter whom they're romantically entangled with. It would have been okay for Hermione to be with Krum if only Ron didn't make it all "fraternizing with the enemy" ugly--it wasn't that she wanted to be asked by Ron as much as she wanted her best friends to be okay with her and Krum.
Tell me, though, that I'm not the only one who saw this film as innuendo paradise, despite what I say about Angelic!Harry. It was like a dirty version of Clue: It was Rita with in the broom cupboard with Harry, it was Snape in the potions storeroom with Harry, it was Cedric in the Prefect's Bath with Harry. Every moment was just waiting for the bau-chick-a-bau-bau track.
Best Intentionally Fabulous Moment: Snape rolling up his sleeves prior to grabbing Harry and Ron's heads.
Best Spontaneously Fabulous Moment: Ron's aborted bird-flip towards the twins when they're joshing him when he goes to dance with McGonagall.
Most Evil Line Ever: "It's a broom cupboard." "Well, then you should feel right at home." Didja hear that "AH!" scream from the woman in the tenth row? Then you were in my theatre and that was me.
Moment Where I Choked Up: Dumbledore's "I always hated these drapes." It all just...came home to me. Cedric's death, everything.
Most perfect line: "Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Oh, my god. That delivery, that "Oh, god, I don't want to cry and if I don't smile I will cry" rictus of bravery on Hermione's face--yeah. Whoever made the decision on that one, I kiss you.
I need to see it again and just perv. Eee, Lucius.
Last, I have a drabble for you.
*****
"I waited three hours."
Cedric looked up. "...Sorry?"
"I waited three hours. My fingers still haven't de-pruned," Harry said, holding up the offending digits and leaning in so close Cedric could smell the bacon on his breath. "And you never came."
Cedric felt himself flush down to his knees. "Harry, I--"
Then he realized that the flush wasn't all embarrassment.
"Um." Well. Yes, why not? "I'm really sorry. Got detained. Can I make it up to you tonight?"
As the pout on Harry's face changed to a slow smile, Cedric realized he wasn't sure he could wait until night.
*****
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Date: 2005-11-19 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-25 09:37 am (UTC)