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Jun. 17th, 2004 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pandonkeySome thoughts on Prisoner of Azkaban, reposted from a comment I made in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ursulav's journal entry on the film:
This movie is by far my favorite of the three, because they finally loosened the death grip on the books a little bit. Make no mistake -- first and foremost, I love the books. But books and movies are not and can NEVER be identical. Where a book will have greater depth of detail and elaboration of emotion and motivation, a movie will have visual appeal and a greater sense of immediacy. The PoA movie was a movie through and through, and was so much more interesting to watch as a result. I loved that they included little bits of humor that could never be pulled off in text, like the Whomping Willow season-change gags.
I did very much miss the explanation about the Marauders, but I can understand why it was left out. (Like many people have speculated, I half expect to find it as a deleted scene on the DVD.) That and the entire scene in the Shrieking Shack are enough to make any screenwriter weep tears of frustration. That much pure explanation can work in a book (slows it down, but there's enough tension by that point in the book that it works), but in a movie, it's a death knell.
Things I particularly liked:
1. The Whomping Willow season-changes.
2. Buckbeak and his gorgeous wings! I could see the film again and again, just for the flight scene.
3. Professor R.J. Lupin. He didn't match my original mental image, but by the end of the film, Thewlis had settled quite nicely into the "Lupin" niche in my head. (I'll admit my original image of Lupin was a trifle...romanticized.)
4. The werewolf design. It wasn't at all what I pictured, nor what is described in the book, but it was much, much creepier than a regular, overlarge wolf would've been. It was a much more sensible werewolf design than those big fluffballs in Van Helsing, too.
5. The new Dumbledore. I loved Richard Harris in the role, and I think he was perfect for the first two films, but I think Michael Gambon fits the changing image of Dumbledore the kids would have. There's more wisdom and power behind the twinkle in his eye (although they do still have him saying some fluffy things -- what was with that line about flying above the clouds in dreams? Huh?).
6. The new Hogwarts grounds! Complain about changes all you like, but they looked both more real and more magical to me. That did have something to do with...
7. ...Mmmmm, cinematoooooooooography. I loved the way this film was shot. It had more realism and grit to it than the gold-tinged look of the first two movies. For the first time, the whole magical world didn't feel like some kind of sparkly fantasyland, but like the hidden part of the real world it's supposed to be in the books. And yet it still had sparkle and mystery and the appeal of the unreal. I never get tired of the great hall.
8. The sense of real danger. I think it was due in part to the style in which the film was shot, as discussed above, because all of the threats in this movie seemed so much more immediate and genuine. Did anyone manage not to physically flinch during Harry and Hermione's encounter with the Whomping Willow? And the train scene with the Dementors was wonderfully ominous.
9. Oh yeah, the Marauder's Map! Very nifty-looking.
Things I didn't particularly like:
1. Like everyone else on the planet, I really missed the explanation of the Marauders and the significance of Harry's Patronus. But, as I said earlier, I think I have an inkling of why it was cut, and I hope to see it in a deleted scene.
2. I didn't care for the shrunken heads, but eh. They didn't hurt the movie any.
3. SCARY SCARY CLOWN HEAD!
Overall, a fantastic film, and my favorite so far. While I'm sorry Cuaron won't be coming back, I'm looking forward to seeing what a new director will do with the next movie.
P.S. - Was it just me, or was Lupin's explanation to Harry about why he was leaving just a trifle intentionally vague? "Someone let slip about my...condition. They don't want someone like me teaching their children. Don't worry...I've become used to it." Between that and the "Old married couple" line and the transformation scene, I think someone involved in the production has a thing for Remus/Sirius.
ursulav's journal entry on the film:This movie is by far my favorite of the three, because they finally loosened the death grip on the books a little bit. Make no mistake -- first and foremost, I love the books. But books and movies are not and can NEVER be identical. Where a book will have greater depth of detail and elaboration of emotion and motivation, a movie will have visual appeal and a greater sense of immediacy. The PoA movie was a movie through and through, and was so much more interesting to watch as a result. I loved that they included little bits of humor that could never be pulled off in text, like the Whomping Willow season-change gags.
I did very much miss the explanation about the Marauders, but I can understand why it was left out. (Like many people have speculated, I half expect to find it as a deleted scene on the DVD.) That and the entire scene in the Shrieking Shack are enough to make any screenwriter weep tears of frustration. That much pure explanation can work in a book (slows it down, but there's enough tension by that point in the book that it works), but in a movie, it's a death knell.
Things I particularly liked:
1. The Whomping Willow season-changes.
2. Buckbeak and his gorgeous wings! I could see the film again and again, just for the flight scene.
3. Professor R.J. Lupin. He didn't match my original mental image, but by the end of the film, Thewlis had settled quite nicely into the "Lupin" niche in my head. (I'll admit my original image of Lupin was a trifle...romanticized.)
4. The werewolf design. It wasn't at all what I pictured, nor what is described in the book, but it was much, much creepier than a regular, overlarge wolf would've been. It was a much more sensible werewolf design than those big fluffballs in Van Helsing, too.
5. The new Dumbledore. I loved Richard Harris in the role, and I think he was perfect for the first two films, but I think Michael Gambon fits the changing image of Dumbledore the kids would have. There's more wisdom and power behind the twinkle in his eye (although they do still have him saying some fluffy things -- what was with that line about flying above the clouds in dreams? Huh?).
6. The new Hogwarts grounds! Complain about changes all you like, but they looked both more real and more magical to me. That did have something to do with...
7. ...Mmmmm, cinematoooooooooography. I loved the way this film was shot. It had more realism and grit to it than the gold-tinged look of the first two movies. For the first time, the whole magical world didn't feel like some kind of sparkly fantasyland, but like the hidden part of the real world it's supposed to be in the books. And yet it still had sparkle and mystery and the appeal of the unreal. I never get tired of the great hall.
8. The sense of real danger. I think it was due in part to the style in which the film was shot, as discussed above, because all of the threats in this movie seemed so much more immediate and genuine. Did anyone manage not to physically flinch during Harry and Hermione's encounter with the Whomping Willow? And the train scene with the Dementors was wonderfully ominous.
9. Oh yeah, the Marauder's Map! Very nifty-looking.
Things I didn't particularly like:
1. Like everyone else on the planet, I really missed the explanation of the Marauders and the significance of Harry's Patronus. But, as I said earlier, I think I have an inkling of why it was cut, and I hope to see it in a deleted scene.
2. I didn't care for the shrunken heads, but eh. They didn't hurt the movie any.
3. SCARY SCARY CLOWN HEAD!
Overall, a fantastic film, and my favorite so far. While I'm sorry Cuaron won't be coming back, I'm looking forward to seeing what a new director will do with the next movie.
P.S. - Was it just me, or was Lupin's explanation to Harry about why he was leaving just a trifle intentionally vague? "Someone let slip about my...condition. They don't want someone like me teaching their children. Don't worry...I've become used to it." Between that and the "Old married couple" line and the transformation scene, I think someone involved in the production has a thing for Remus/Sirius.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-17 02:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-14 07:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-17 07:20 pm (UTC)This movie had a rather Tim Burton-ish feel to it. I'm no movietologist, but I know what I like, and the new darker and dangerous Hogwarts completely won me over, over the storybook fairytale hogwarts.
Things which I appreciated:
1. Wizard at leaky cauldron reading Stephen Hawking's History of Time
2. Boggart class (creepy clown included, sorry :) )
3. Lupin
4. Serene Shrieking Shack scene with Ron and Hermione. "Would you like to move closer?"
5. Minister's manservant and his BMW
6. Fat Lady breaking glass
7. Trelawney! From a horrible character in the book to a fantastic on screen gag.
8. Sirius. What I originally thought a horrible miscasting turned out better than I could have ever imagined.
Things I didn't exactly appreciate
1. Ring-wraiths.. I mean Dem--aw, nevermind, nobody was fooled anyway.
2. Radcliffe trying to act emotional, missing horribly. "HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!!!! KAAAAAHN!!!!"
3. Scenes which made no sense. Oh hello, the door opened for no reason. Now we will discuss how Sirius is Harry's godfather, and oh look! The door opened again for no reason. Surely doors flinging open during conversations is a common occurence in the wizarding world?
4. Every 3D generated beast must have at least one roaring scene in which they dispense copious amounts of saliva at the camera.
5. Pettigrew morphs into a human with clothes, yet when he morphs back his clothes stay the same size.
I nitpick a lot, but I hope that just means I'm paying attention. I loved the movie. This one literally and completely blew Columbus' work out of the water for me. The darker the better.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-14 07:39 pm (UTC)Anyway, a hearty squeal to the "Brief History of Time" mention -- I actually pointed at it on the screen the first time I saw the movie. I'm a dork! I agree about Trelawney and Sirius. I thought both were miscast, but how could I have doubted them? As always, every actor fit perfectly.
The Pettigrew thing...ugh. Dear Continuity Department, please have your resignations on my desk tomorrow morning.
I agree with you completely on the darkness. I wish Cuaron would come back and do Order of the Phoenix, but I'm pretty sure he's had his fill of Pottermania, unfortunately.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-17 07:22 pm (UTC)AHOY THAR CB!!!!
Date: 2004-07-14 07:26 pm (UTC)WHAR BE THE RUM?!??!! Ye wouldn't be hidin from ole rotty would ya??? *grins*
Also.... you know any swarthy sea salts that might be able to git me a new leg? This ole rotten one is gittin a wee bit close to fallin' off....
Re: AHOY THAR CB!!!!
Date: 2004-07-14 07:32 pm (UTC)That be a fancy patch ye've set yersel' up with, I might add. I think ye're just puttin' on airs wi' it, though -- ye need both good eyes fer the kind of rum-scavagin' ye get up to.