Revisiting the movies

[Elwen]

Well, let me do a bit of calling in the desert....

I recently found a 20 pound box set of all five films (without the extras), and finally decided to get them.... I had resisted so far because while I think they are good entertainment I don't consider them films I couldn't do without... but at that price....


Anyway... I found it much more intriguing to watch them than I thought, and I am only up to POA.


I think the series as a whole is better than its constituent part because it is wonderful to watch them as a continuous story. It isn't like LotR, of course, because they weren't planned as one film divided in managable bites, but the effect is still good.


I am amazed how many actors they managed to keep over all five films 9and presumably another two?).

There are a few changes, of course, but I found them less distracting than I thought I would when watching the films in short succession. For example, Hagriod's hut got moved, but somehow it doesn't matter much. And it took me half a film to realise that we had switched from one Dumbledore to another. I dunno - people make such a BIG deal about that - but really, the transition is incredibly smooth.


What I find most intriguing is to watch these films with the hindsight granted by book 7. I am SURE that they must have had a tip-off about Snape. The way Rickman plays him .... once you know where he stands it makes absolute sense, and I can't believe that it is accident.

Some of the foreshadowing of various relationships is also absolutely there, I thought. Very interesting, and I found it quite a rewarding experience. :)

[Reba]

I watch the DVDs every now and again on weekends when I have nothing else to do. I like watching them all together, to keep the story going.

I haven't watched any though since I've read the last book, and since Rowling outed Dumbledore. I wonder though if the actors will play the roles differently in movie 6 & 7, now that they have this information from book 7 and since?

[Elwen]

I wonder about gay Dumbledore.... but then, Dumbledore is pretty camp anyway, and always was. I think this is ebcause he has something 'theatrical' about him. I thought about the way in which he was portrayed, and I don't think the actors did know.

But I am sure Rickman and/or the script writers must have known something about Snape's real leanings. It is funny now, watching it again - in the films it seems so much clearer that Snape is actually trying to protect harrya lthough he doesn't like him. But it must have been subtle enough at the time because it didn't give the game away too much.

I do think, however, that a lot of the 'Snape is good' camp was partly convinced by the movies that this must be the case.... so perhaps there was an influence. Films simpy can't easily be as multi-layered as books are, and perhaps the movie Snape is a bit more transparent than the book version after all.....

It will be interesting, however, to see how the ending will influence the last two films.



There was another scene I was quite taken by - and i am sure it wasn't deliberate - that is the scene where Malfoy gets bitten by Buckbeak and hagrid carries him off the the hospital wing. I am pretty sure they would have done that scene a bit differently if they had known the end.....

[Re-reader]

One thing in the movies that strikes me now as foreshadowing is when Lupin and Harry are talking on the bridge in PoA, Lupin says he knew Lilly, and he described her as (can't recall the exact words) someone who could see the goodness in people even when they couldn't could see it in themselves. At the time I think Lupin is talking about himself, but he could also be talking about Snape.

[Elwen]

That's a great point..... Yes, you are right...... I wonder whether the script writers knew?