A Few Issues With Harry Potter 8

Now, before you read the title of this post and go all Avada Kedavra on me, let me just say: I loved Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows.  I loved the book, and I thought that the two-parter adaptation was pretty spectacular.  But as I was watching the final instalment in the cinema tonight, I couldn't help but feel that the film was a little uneven.  Below are some of my personal best and worst bits.  Please be warned, SPOILERS abound!

Best: The film was in two parts.  I'd cynically assumed it was a money-making ploy on the parts of the studio, but having watched both films back to back, there really was enough going on to carry over four hours of action.

Worst: The film did not need to be in 3D.  I've always been a little sceptical on this matter, but apart from a few specific effects (the magical shield around Hogwarts, the ripples in the Pensieve), it felt gimmicky and largely unnecessary.

Best: The scene where Harry is surrounded by the ghosts of his loved ones in the Forbidden Forest.  Yes, some of the dialogue was heavy handed, and the resurrection stone could be seen as a simple rehash of the Mirror of Erised from book one.  But as somebody who has lost a parent, I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed at the late Lily Potter's line "we never left".  It is well documented that Harry's life as an orphan stemmed from JK Rowling's own grief following her mother's death.  It is in scenes like this that her storytelling feels most authentic.

Worst: The "limbo" scene at King's Cross.  It was fairly faithfully adapted from the book, but even on the page it seemed nowhere near as original as Rowling's other ideas.  Obviously Christian metaphors abound, and while I have no problem with allegory, the ghost of Dumbledore was far too similar to transparent Obi-Wan from the second and third Star Wars films.  It has to be said though, the vile mini-Voldemort was a gruesome success.

Best: Bellatrix Lestrange's death.  After dancing around like Morticia Addams on crystal meth for a couple of years, it was nice to see Molly Weasley take her down with that immortal line; "not my daughter, you bitch!"

Worst: Bellatrix Lestrange's death.  It should have been Neville to take her down.  Don't you think?  After Bellatrix tortured his parents until they lost their minds, I'd have quite liked to see him skewer her with that magic sword.  (Having just read the last part of that sentence back, it sounds a lot dirtier than intended.)


Best: Young love.  I always thought that the romantic relationships appeared out of nowhere in the book, but on-screen they have taken the care to develop chemistry between pairs.  Ron and Hermione's soaking-wet first kiss down in the Chamber of Secrets made a number of people in the audience cheer.  Harry and Ginny didn't get much screen time together, but I liked how they portrayed her as his equal.  And Neville's mid-battle line "Have you seen Luna? I'm mad for her!" was a little bit glorious.

Worst: The epilogue. I was never truly comfortable with the way Rowling tied up her story in a big neat bow by writing the "19 Years Later" segment.  Yes, it was comforting to know that Harry grew up and married Ginny and stayed life-long friends with his school companions, but the whole naming of the offspring after every last dead character felt a tad twee.  But that's my problem with the book.  My problem with the film's version of the epilogue is: if you want to make these young stars look older, try doing a bit more than giving them all bad hair and making them look a bit fat.

Oh, and before I forget.  Just a few more tiny annoyances...

The trio's heist at Gringott's and escape via dragon seemed like it belonged in one of the earlier, more childish books.  Perhaps this was intended as a callback, but did anyone else feel that it just didn't fit the tone of the film?

The constant slow-motion, hissing moments where Harry sees a glimpse of Voldemort's mind.  This became more and more repetitive, much like the scenes in Lord of the Rings when Frodo would become entranced by Sauran and/or the ring.

Whatever happened to Tonks and Lupin's baby?  When the Order of the Phoenix converged at Harry's House in Part 1, Tonks tried to deliver some good news, but Mad-Eye interrupted.  This is never mentioned again.  Did the film-makers decide that killing off a new mother was just too depressing?  (Even though that is exactly how the saga began...)  I expect this will be explained in some deleted scene.  On another note, who else choked on their own tears, seeing the bodies of Lupin and Tonks very nearly holding hands, like they did in the tower? Sob!

Voldemort's death.  I much preferred the book's climax, where Harry's defensive magic wins over Voldemort's aggressive curse (which I am sure is a statement on the power of pacifism or some such).  It just said more about the characters than the film's fancy magic lightshow and weak explanation of how the elder wand switched owners.  In fact, I was so expecting this scenario that when Voldemort died and began to fall apart, I thought No, this isn't it. He must have something up his sleeve...

Rant over.  These points aside, I really did love this film.  Alan Rickman steals every single scene he is in as the tragic Snape, the Battle of Hogwarts did not disappoint, and even some of the best secondary characters got a moment to shine (I'm thinking specifically of McGonagall and Neville, for both of whom I have a soft spot).

And as strange as it sounds, I felt something akin to pride by the time the credits rolled.  Having first read a book about a little boy wizard ten whole years ago, it was nice to wave him off tonight.  I reckon a lot of people feel that way, feel that Harry Potter and his story belongs to them.  And in a way he does.  As that wise man Neville Longbottom says at a crucial moment in the final film: "Harry lives on in us."

~

Top 5... Children's Books

Here is my selection for the five best children's books.  I've cheated a bit, and entire series are listed under just one entry in some cases. 

5. The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper

Beginning with Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper's five-book series draws on Arthurian legend for its inspiration.  The first book begins innocently enough as a Famous Five-style adventure - a group of siblings find a treasure map while on holiday in Cornwall which might just lead them to the Holy Grail.  The second instalment, The Dark Is Rising, raises the stakes considerably - Merriman Lyon, the kindly uncle from the first book, arrives in the life of young Will and informs him that he is an Old One, and is charged with defending the earth from the forces of darkness.  I won't go into any more detail - suffice to say, Cooper invents a magical but dangerous world in which her young heroes and heroines fight for the triumph of the Light over the Dark.

4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman's imaginative, Gothic take on The Jungle Book centres on Bod, a toddler who wanders into a cemetery after his family is murdered.  While this motif of "the boy who lived" may smack of Harry Potter, that is where all similarities end.  For one, the villain in this single volume is more sinister than Voldemort manages to be over the course of seven.  Raised by ghosts, tutored by a werewolf and protected by what may or may not be a vampire, Bod soon learns a number of supernatural tricks that will ultimately help him track down his parents' killer.  There are also lighter elements, such as Scarlett, a young girl who befriends Bod, and Liza, the spirit of a witch who was buried just outside consecrated ground.  As is usual with Gaiman, the relationships and emotional lives of the characters are never compromised for the sake of plot - Bod grows from a confused and ignorant child into a young man wise beyond his years, and the final few pages gave me a lump in my throat.

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Okay, so this may not exactly be a children's book.  But it is a book about children, and a damn fine one at that.  Exploring the innately savage nature of Man through the prism of a group of marooned schoolboys, Golding realistically and grippingly details the decay of manners and civilisation, slowly at first, then with chilling rapidity.  Its denouement is one of the best things I have ever read, even as an adult.

2. Tales From The Wyrd Museum by Robin Jarvis

The Wyrd Museum is an antiquated crypt of a building, located within a labyrinth of side streets somewhere in London.  Owned by the mysterious Webster sisters, it houses a most unusual collection.  When young Neil Chapman and his little brother arrive at the museum, where their father has just accepted a job as caretaker, they have no idea what horrors lie in store.  This trilogy, composed of The Woven Path, The Raven's Knot and The Fatal Strand, mixes ancient mythology, modern humour and elements of genuine fear - the Valkyries in book two are particularly terrifying.  It is first inferred, then dramatically and compellingly revealed, that the museum's trio of elderly proprietresses are in fact the Nornir, embodiments of the Fates, and they have been guarding a secret beneath the Wyrd Museum for centuries.  Neil and the savage, elfin Edie Dorkins, find themselves in the middle of a battle between good and evil that will take them from the blitzed London of the 1940s to present day Glastonbury, and ultimately back to the heart of the Wyrd Museum.  Enjoyably dark and surreal elements include a possessed teddy bear, a pair of talking ravens and creepy-as-hell bird dolls that exert a malignant influence over their owners...

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling

It is hard to talk about this book in isolation from the rest of the series.  Like many others of my age, I grew up with Harry Potter - literally.  Initially, I began reading the books out of sequence; I picked up The Prisoner of Azkaban at the age of thirteen, the exact same age as Harry in the book.  After that, I read The Chamber of Secrets, which I found lightweight and disappointing (it is by far my least favourite of the entire series).  When I finally got around to reading the first novel, The Philosopher's Stone, I was under the impression that reading about eleven-year-old Potter's adventures would be fluffy and easy compared to the dark twists and turns of The Prisoner of Azkaban.  I was pleasantly surprised; the first book does the incredible job of creating the mythology of Rowling's wizard world with remarkable ease, as well as setting the young hero on his path from the very first chapter where he miraculously survives the death of his parents.  It doesn't get much darker than a double murder, not to mention the Roald Dahl-esque abomination of a family with which Harry endures his early childhood.  From the outset, Harry is an underdog, an everyman.  A hero with no outstanding personality traits, which meant that young boys could imprint their own personalities onto him, inserting themselves into the starring role.  After the third book in the series, events began to take epic, tragic turns.  Classmates are murdered, Voldemort's power grows, the delicate balance between the wizarding world and that of the muggles begins to blur... but it all begins with a baby on a doorstep in the suburbs.

Another trilogy by Robin Jarvis which I very nearly included in this list is The Whitby Witches, about a pair of orphaned siblings who are fostered by an elderly eccentric named Alice.  The youngest of the two, Ben, is cursed with second sight, a power that is greatly coveted by many in the small seaside town of Whitby.  I would also highly recommend Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Complete Works of Saki.