Harry Potter 7b

Though it feels like I recapped the first seven Harry Potter movies a long time ago, it's only been about six weeks. Other things have been on my mind and my to-do list. It also took me a whie to put together what I wanted to talk about because, frankly, the last movie was altogether much of what I expected - apart from one huge flaw in my own reasoning. The pacing of 7a was such that I thought we'd get a continued slowburn for 7b, but that was completely wrong, and if I'd thought more about the way Rowling structures book 7, I would have realized it ahead of watching the last movie: after a brief opening interlude at Shell Cottage, the last twelve chapters zip at a breakneck pace, with pauses only around Snape's and Harry's deaths. So the last movie is similarly paced, which likely pleased most who found 7a too slow.

However, since the film is basically a series of action sequences, there's very little character development apart from a few secondary characters (Neville and Draco), and of course for Harry's coming to realize the extent of who Snape is. The succession of Snape's memories as presented through the Pensieve is perhaps the strongest section of the movie. That Harry collects these memories through Snape's tears instead of the usual way is, I'd argue, a key for understanding who Snape is and the part he's played in Harry's life for longer than Harry realizes. (And in the book, the "silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid" came from his mouth and ears as well as his eyes, and Rowling never describes it as tears.) Much was made, when book 7 came out, of Harry's resurrection, but if you want a Christ-figure who fits the role better, despite not coming back from the dead, Snape is your guy. That said, the whole section involving Harry's walking into the forest; the resurrection stone and talking with his parents, Sirius, and Lupin; his death at Voldemort's hand; and the conversation with Dumbledore somewhere that looks like King's Cross station (some nicely done symbolism in multiple ways on Rowling's part) is filmed with care and makes use of some great cinematography. The forest, for example, had never looked so drab to me before, the aural background sounds almost deadened. There's some excellent blocking as Harry speaks with the spirits. Most impressively, from the wide "establishing" shots which actually destabilize the frame, to the strong use of lighting to evoke placelessness, the fetus-shaped and withered "soul" of Tom Riddle, and the pov shots from Harry's perspective which actually ground the viewer, the King's Cross sequence is in many ways a textbook example of how to make the purely imaginative believable.

The sequence is certainly more visually memorable than the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort, but unlike those who criticized the latter as not flashy enough, I actually liked how the showdown and Voldemort's death was handled, for two reasons. Firstly, it has to be remembered that Rowling has taken the reader on a predominantly emotional journey in the last chapters of book 7, after a long physical journey in the majority of the book. I'll still argue that the film of 7a captures that journey better than Rowling does, but 7b takes Rowling at her word and the final moments of our main antagonists sinply happen: Harry just dies at Voldemort's Killing Curse in the forest (as did Cedric in book/film 4); Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounds on him as the Elder Wand shifts its loyalty to Harry, its rightful owner, and he disintigrates. That the film uses a shimmering white substance - snow? sand? skin? - floating away on the wind is actually rather good, something silent and even peaceful. But it is still simple and bare: Voldemort just dies. No pyrotechnics (e.g. his attack on Harry in Hagrid's motorcycle in 7a), no roars of powerful magic (think of the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Ministry at the end of book/film 5), not even a peal of thunder and the natural elements in turmoil (like the restoration of Voldemort at the graveyard in book/film 4). Granted, the film doesn't do what the book does, with its 6+ pages of dialogue between Harry and Voldemort before they fight, but when the moment comes, Rowling puts Voldemort's death into a single paragraph of five sentences. Both she and the filmmakers understand that death, whenever it happens, happens at a moment. Drawn-out, slow-motion death throes are often mocked in movies because of their unreality; even moreso in books. Rowling and the filmmakers are right to present both Harry and Voldemort's deaths as they do.

Secondly, it's simply a good surprise for an audience; who expected that kind of end, really, for Voldemort in a big-budget action movie? It's entirely possible I'm the only reviewer who will ever bring the '80s teen vampire flick The Lost Boys into a discussion of Harry Potter, but when it comes to death scenes that movie is more instructive for storytelling than you'd think. Early in the narrative the protagonists are told that you never really know how a vampire will die: some melt, or dissipate, or explode; some die without a sound. And the ostensible leader of the vampire clan does indeed just curl up and die and that's it. Of course, then the protagonists find out he wasn't really the leader, just the second-in-command, and the leader basically causes an earthquake when he's killed... but you get the point. Underplaying the expected climax can be very effective.

As with most good action films, 7b has some nicely done funny moments, usually one-liners or visual gags, and this will please those who found 7a too stark for their taste. As the romantic humor breaks up the tension in film 6, so the quips and gags offer needed catharsis during the battle scenes. Matthew Lewis as Neville gets more than a fair share of these, and excels with them; I was also quite happy to see Neville and Luna together by the end of the film, and that they're presented in a simultaneously awkward and tender moment is pitch perfect. Actually, with Neville's coming of age in rallying the DA while Harry & Co. have been away, and his killing of Nagini in the Battle of Hogwarts, it would have been nice if film 5 had included a little more than a throwaway line about the possibility that he, not Harry, was the subject of Trelawney's prophecy. Ron and Hermione get some good comedy monents as well; their first kiss, in the Chamber of Secrets after Hermione destroys the cup Horcrux is hilarious and well-earned. Though I can't believe Rowling passed up the opportunity to show Hermione destroying the horcrux; in the book she and Ron relate the story to Harry after it's happened. Most of the fighting scenes are also well-earned, especially the Tower sequence, McGonagall's whupping of Snape, and Molly becoming a mama bear against Bellatrix. (There's another good indication, in my opinion, that some people haven't really thought through the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort; Bellatrix has a death scene, set up cinematically as a one-two punch at Molly's hands; Voldemort's death has to be both simpler and weightier than that.)

Helena Bonham-Carter once again steals the show, especially in her brilliant performance as Hermione-pretending-to-be-Bellatrix at Gringotts. While the bank and vault sequence was nicely done, I didn't get much out of the dragon, though the special effects were fine enough. I think I've just seen dragons done much better in other visual contexts. No big deal, though. However, the effects used in the destruction of Hogwarts are quite effective, and in some cases emotionally charged; that the main battle happens there and the castle is largely destroyed by it is entirely fitting. It was disappointing to not see the Ravenclaw digs, or have Alecto and Amycus Carrow as actual baddies; if I remember correctly we see them but they don't even get any lines. On the other hand, the fight/rescue with Draco and his cronies in the Room of Requirement was very satisfying, as was the pointed departure of the Malfoys, at Cissy's command, from the ranks of the Death-Eaters. (My friend Pinky writes an insightful analysis of that change from Rowling's text in a review here; her thoughts on Snape are likewise worth reading.)

I also found the changes made to the Grey Lady and her interaction with Harry well considered, though I should also admit Kelly Macdonald has been a favorite of mine ever since the original "State of Play" series, so perhaps I'm biased. The aftermath of the battle is also treated well, with very little dialogue and again a focus on Harry's perspective, as the Weasleys and others grieve their lost family and friends. The obligatory explanation-after-it's-all-over scene is mercifully short, as Harry explains to Hermione and Ron how the Elder Wand was his instead of Snape's, and then breaks it in half, a much more satisfying denouement than in the book, where he returns it to Dumbledore's tomb. The epilogue scene is also treated well, though inexplicably there's no glance shared between Harry & Co. and Draco in the film, which I had especially liked in the book.

A friend commented to me that it's too bad there won't be more Harry Potter films (or books) but I would have to disagree. For me, these seven books and eight films are enough. I've enjoyed them and the world they've created, and I'm sure I'll revisit them again someday, but usually the best things we have in books and cinema and other media are made better by coming to a close, by having a moment of "the end" where the book is shut and film stops. That all seven books were made into films, with the same cast, in the course of a decade is a remarkable achievement in Hollywood to begin with; that the films are, in my opinion, by and large quality entertainment and reasonably faithful to the strengths of their source material is the mark of a job well done by the entire roster of cast and crew. There will of course be box sets and "extended versions" (the latter already exist for films 1 & 2), and the Hollywood machine will seek to squeeze as much money from every stone they can grab. That's par for the course. The art in itself is the achievement, what should be celebrated and what will remain. Nox.