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Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | An in-depth discussion
I think this thread is long past overdue, but based on the discussion in the recent Heyman topic, it seems to me that people are ready.
We've had some time to digest Part 1. It's definitely a uniquely remarkable film. Ever since I saw Yates' Order of the Phoenix, I knew from that point that this was the right guy for the rest of the series. I'll try to keep this short, but what I love the most about this series is the characters. They're really the driving force here. It's not about action or spectacle, but how children and young adults are on the brink of having to serve a tyranny.
I think it's incredibly impressive of the studio and the filmmakers to allow a film like Part 1 to happen. In virtually any other situation, it would have been action focused, we wouldn't have gotten much character development and we certainly wouldn't have gotten sequences like The Tale of the Three Brothers. Looking back, I really, really wish I didn't know about that. To the studio's credit, they did keep it relatively hush-hush, but test screenings and advance screenings always kill surprises like that.
A lot of people nitpick about various things, but I think it's easy to lose sight of how much appreciation the filmmakers clearly have for the source material. Filmmaking is a very strict practice; for the most part it's done for money and studios are huge on the financial ramifications; that's their job. However, I also think that their job should also entail that they ensure that whatever project they're working on, that they give it the utmost respect and attention.
Many say "oh, well, they handled this wrong or left this out or didn't do this part justice." That's fine-- everyone has an opinion. However, speaking personally on the matter, I know how filmmaking works. I'm writing a screenplay for a horror film right now that is going to be shot on a $250,000 budget. I have some connections, I study film in college, and I have a firm grasp on how the process goes-- and I can absolutely tell each and every one of you right now that Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is something of a miracle.
It's a miracle because, while there are a few action scenes in the film, Part 1 does what most mega-franchise blockbusters tend to ignore: atmosphere, storytelling, and character development. It sounds like a negative in saying that WB took a "risk" by splitting the last book into two films. But sometimes, risk is good, and risk also tells me that they had full, complete faith in not only David Yates and the other filmmakers, but with the source material as well. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Harry Potter is successful because so many people love the characters and universe. Keeping it as one film that mostly focuses on action and ends with the huge battles coming in Part 2 is what most studios would have done-- and I wouldn't even disagree that, from a marketing and financial standpoint, that it would have been the way to go.
The fact is, however, that WB didn't do this. They said, you know, this series is great because of its depth. Not because of its spectacle. The spectacle will come naturally because Rowling brilliantly weaved her action around the storytelling. Story comes first. It always should. Through Kloves' and Yates' care for the narrative, we got sequences like the Three Brothers, like Harry and Hermione sharing an innocent, non-romantic dance, the film opening with Hermione wiping herself from her parents' memory in an attempt to protect them through the best method she knows of-- this is the sign of a studio and of writers and filmmakers who understand what Harry Potter is, what makes Harry Potter fantastic and different from other huge franchises that are all about delivering nothing but entertainment value without much substance.
When Part 2 comes out and both parts are combined as one huge film, I suspect people will really be taken back by just how much effort and thought, and risk that went into this. Having all the scenes, character development, and plot progression from Part 1 combined with all the emotional intensity from Part 2 will come together to make a truly astonishing work of cinema, and an unforgettable closer to an unforgettable story that actually made it to film despite a few rough spots that will, I suspect, long be ignored in favor of everything that the filmmakers did right. When Harry is walking to his death, remember his dance with Hermione. That guy, dancing with her, sharing a warm moment, is about to be murdered.
It's been mentioned before by myself and a few others, but I want to remark about the Snatcher chase. In the previews, they made it out to be this huge, typical kind of chase sequence. Final film? Awesome, "Bourne" style cinematography from Eduardo Serra, and instead of a generic action sequence track, Alexandre Desplat applies this really suspenseful, building music that begins with the low breath of an exotic instrument-- that builds and grows faster as the chase nears its climax. The sequence is fantastic, but it really left me shocked and with a smile on my face because it was one of the most uniquely handled bits of action I've ever seen in any film, period.
And then you have the ending, with the truly special directing of Dobby's death. Most of the time, cinematography during special effects sequences lives and breathes on the actual effects-- you usually get stationary shots so that it's easier for the animators to apply CGI characters and such without worrying about the camera moving around, the lighting changing too much, etc. But what happened? Dobby was treated like he was a real, physical character. Serra's camerawork and Yates' direction made no apologies nor cut any corners for the effects animators-- they shot that like it was a real person dying. There was a bit of shaky cam and that's usually a big no-no for shots that have a CGI character because it turns it into a nightmare for the effects house.
That's all I'll say for now. I want this to be a great discussion. It doesn't have to be all positive because a great discussion can't just consist of nothing but positivity. Nothing is ever, ever perfect. I want this to promote some deep discussion so if you don't intend on contributing something worthwhile, frankly put I'd rather you not post at all. But no matter what your stance on the film is, I'm sure that you can find something to say, whether it's good or bad-- I just really want this to be about the artistic choices made for Part 1 and how it bodes for Part 2 as well as the combination of both films, which will be an especially exciting venture when we get to that point.
Part 1 is a miracle. And you should be thankful for that.
We've had some time to digest Part 1. It's definitely a uniquely remarkable film. Ever since I saw Yates' Order of the Phoenix, I knew from that point that this was the right guy for the rest of the series. I'll try to keep this short, but what I love the most about this series is the characters. They're really the driving force here. It's not about action or spectacle, but how children and young adults are on the brink of having to serve a tyranny.
I think it's incredibly impressive of the studio and the filmmakers to allow a film like Part 1 to happen. In virtually any other situation, it would have been action focused, we wouldn't have gotten much character development and we certainly wouldn't have gotten sequences like The Tale of the Three Brothers. Looking back, I really, really wish I didn't know about that. To the studio's credit, they did keep it relatively hush-hush, but test screenings and advance screenings always kill surprises like that.
A lot of people nitpick about various things, but I think it's easy to lose sight of how much appreciation the filmmakers clearly have for the source material. Filmmaking is a very strict practice; for the most part it's done for money and studios are huge on the financial ramifications; that's their job. However, I also think that their job should also entail that they ensure that whatever project they're working on, that they give it the utmost respect and attention.
Many say "oh, well, they handled this wrong or left this out or didn't do this part justice." That's fine-- everyone has an opinion. However, speaking personally on the matter, I know how filmmaking works. I'm writing a screenplay for a horror film right now that is going to be shot on a $250,000 budget. I have some connections, I study film in college, and I have a firm grasp on how the process goes-- and I can absolutely tell each and every one of you right now that Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is something of a miracle.
It's a miracle because, while there are a few action scenes in the film, Part 1 does what most mega-franchise blockbusters tend to ignore: atmosphere, storytelling, and character development. It sounds like a negative in saying that WB took a "risk" by splitting the last book into two films. But sometimes, risk is good, and risk also tells me that they had full, complete faith in not only David Yates and the other filmmakers, but with the source material as well. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Harry Potter is successful because so many people love the characters and universe. Keeping it as one film that mostly focuses on action and ends with the huge battles coming in Part 2 is what most studios would have done-- and I wouldn't even disagree that, from a marketing and financial standpoint, that it would have been the way to go.
The fact is, however, that WB didn't do this. They said, you know, this series is great because of its depth. Not because of its spectacle. The spectacle will come naturally because Rowling brilliantly weaved her action around the storytelling. Story comes first. It always should. Through Kloves' and Yates' care for the narrative, we got sequences like the Three Brothers, like Harry and Hermione sharing an innocent, non-romantic dance, the film opening with Hermione wiping herself from her parents' memory in an attempt to protect them through the best method she knows of-- this is the sign of a studio and of writers and filmmakers who understand what Harry Potter is, what makes Harry Potter fantastic and different from other huge franchises that are all about delivering nothing but entertainment value without much substance.
When Part 2 comes out and both parts are combined as one huge film, I suspect people will really be taken back by just how much effort and thought, and risk that went into this. Having all the scenes, character development, and plot progression from Part 1 combined with all the emotional intensity from Part 2 will come together to make a truly astonishing work of cinema, and an unforgettable closer to an unforgettable story that actually made it to film despite a few rough spots that will, I suspect, long be ignored in favor of everything that the filmmakers did right. When Harry is walking to his death, remember his dance with Hermione. That guy, dancing with her, sharing a warm moment, is about to be murdered.
It's been mentioned before by myself and a few others, but I want to remark about the Snatcher chase. In the previews, they made it out to be this huge, typical kind of chase sequence. Final film? Awesome, "Bourne" style cinematography from Eduardo Serra, and instead of a generic action sequence track, Alexandre Desplat applies this really suspenseful, building music that begins with the low breath of an exotic instrument-- that builds and grows faster as the chase nears its climax. The sequence is fantastic, but it really left me shocked and with a smile on my face because it was one of the most uniquely handled bits of action I've ever seen in any film, period.
And then you have the ending, with the truly special directing of Dobby's death. Most of the time, cinematography during special effects sequences lives and breathes on the actual effects-- you usually get stationary shots so that it's easier for the animators to apply CGI characters and such without worrying about the camera moving around, the lighting changing too much, etc. But what happened? Dobby was treated like he was a real, physical character. Serra's camerawork and Yates' direction made no apologies nor cut any corners for the effects animators-- they shot that like it was a real person dying. There was a bit of shaky cam and that's usually a big no-no for shots that have a CGI character because it turns it into a nightmare for the effects house.
That's all I'll say for now. I want this to be a great discussion. It doesn't have to be all positive because a great discussion can't just consist of nothing but positivity. Nothing is ever, ever perfect. I want this to promote some deep discussion so if you don't intend on contributing something worthwhile, frankly put I'd rather you not post at all. But no matter what your stance on the film is, I'm sure that you can find something to say, whether it's good or bad-- I just really want this to be about the artistic choices made for Part 1 and how it bodes for Part 2 as well as the combination of both films, which will be an especially exciting venture when we get to that point.
Part 1 is a miracle. And you should be thankful for that.
Comments
GOOD REVIEW
i agree witth alot of it!
I liked how you really focused on everything in the movie.
Quite amazing actually =D>
Mysterious thing time.
I just did this to get people thinking and analyzing the film. That's all I want. This thing deserves to be picked apart.
My favorite ascpects in it were the movie to book likeness and the acting
first the acting
where to start. there were so many new, memorable, quite epic characters in this one, Scabior, Yaxley, Bathilda, Rufus, Xeno,
They did a great job introducing all of these characters,the right, proper way.
My favorite newie is BY FAR Peter Mullan as Yaxley, from the moment he spoke, i thought to myself, wow!
The scene with him chasing the trio is epic beyound words.
Getting off track
how do people say this one had too much humor!
Hedwigs Death
Sky battle
Wedding Attack
Cafe Fight
Ministry sequence and chase
Scene with Hermione and the Snatchers
Trio trying to destroy the locket
Rons transformation
Harry Ron fight
Godrics Hallows
Silver Doe
Snatcher Chase
Manor!
I MEAN THIS FILM WAS THE PERFECT MOOD, dobby had a foolishT line.so what? He haasnt been in the films since COS let him speak!
A scene i take example from is the scene where They all arrive at the burrow after sky battle, it is exactly liike the book, even down to the exact line!
This is just my little input, the movie, i could go and on about, was fantastic. 10/10 Beautiful Ensemble, Magnificent Score, Stunning Cinematography, Raw, Gritty Action(Snatcher Chase). There was never a doubt this movie was gonna be anything than great in my eyes
I mean dobbys speech only made his death moreheartbreaking
The Snatcher chase was really rough (in a good way) and I think it was such a unique scene for an HP movie.
The 3 Brothers animation was amazing. It had that Tim Burton feel.
The 7 Potters Chase was epic, but too short.
The scene when Hermione and Scabior are face to face was outstanding! Loved it!
Overall, I liked DH1 because it was unique and took a step further (H/Hr kiss, animation, Snatcher chase, Bellatrix w/ whip, torture, obliviation, etc.).
I think that Deathly Hallows is a truly fantastic film with very few drawbacks. It is undoubtedly slow-paced-not on CoS or HBP's level-but it is visually stunning.
First of all, the acting. Everything stepped up here. Emma Watson had some pretty brilliant moments I never expected to see from her. Obliviate, Ron's splinching and departure, Forest of Dean and the Torture in Malfoy Manor proved that she is a truly talented girl. I loved her in Philosopher's Stone. I also appreciated her in Prisoner of Azkaban (despite the PinkPowerRanger approach to the character). She was kind of bad in Goblet of Fire and pretty average in Order of the Phoenix, and I blame this mostly to the direction of Newell-who, admittedly, brought the worst performances with the exception of Smith, Gleeson, Fiennes and Richardson-and the awkward directing of Yates in Order of the Phoenix. She greatly improved in Half-Blood Prince but she was still reduced to just a meaty supporting role with very little character development. The scene that earned me was when she shed that tear when Dumbledore died. Yes. These 5 seconds are some of her best in the series.
But in Deathly Hallows, boy, she was fantastic. I found only 3 average and awkward scenes: Seven Potters, leaving the cafe (Harry's birthday) and the talk about the Sword of Gryffindor before Ron's leaving. Still, I don't really blame her but the directing, the editing and the script. Unfortunately all these factors are reflected on her performance and she does have these few weak moments. Except for them, everything else was solid and sometimes truly spectacular. Her Obliviate scene and torture scene are fans' favorites and I understand why. But it's the whole lonely camping section which made me love her. When she cries after Ron's departure and when she's talking about the Forest of Dean...oh boy, she was stunning.
Furthermore, I came to appreciate Daniel Radcliffe a bit more. He was average and quite bland in the first three films. He somehow became better in Goblet of Fire, but the script had way too many cringe-worthy lines so I couldn't take him seriously. His best film remained Order of the Phoenix, probably due to specific scenes: his outbursts, 'Look at me!', Sirius' death and the Possession. In 'Prince', he was a bit disappointing but the character was as bland as in the book. He was just there and he was quite an uninteresting character in the story. In 'Deathly Hallows', he was good. Seven Potters anyone? Godric's Hollow? Dobby's death? The influence of the Locket in the forests? He did some lovely work here. He took the nice comedy elements from Half-Blood Prince and the anger/fury from Order of the Phoenix and created a nice blend. I can't wait to see what he has done in Part II. The role is far more demanding.
Rupert Grint was still slightly underused, but he had some powerhouse moments. Especially his departure. What a scene. HI think he's the only one who has never disappointed. He had way too many comic moments in the films, but at least he has always been a good actor. And here, he takes it one step further.
There may have been a tremendous lack of adult supporting performances in the film, but they were all scene-stealers when they appeared on the screen. Fiona Shaw had only 5 seconds and she's still haunting me with that look. Alan Rickman's delivery, walk and fantastic facial expression during the Malfoy Manor sequence are brilliant, as always. Ralph Fiennes had some solid screentime (terribly underused in Phoenix) and he was more evilly humane and less weirdo (cough Goblet of Fire cough). Helena Bonham Carter made the most of her scenes. Her screaming to the Snatchers and Hermione was splendid. She was seriously nuts. Jason Isaacs created a multi-dimensional character in less than 10 minutes of screentime. Same thing goes to Tom Felton who kept showing Draco's internal conflict beautifully with few close-ups. Amazing work. Rhys Ifans was lovely as Xenophilius Lovegood. Quirky but not ridiculous, as I feared he would have been. His scene of desperation was lovely as well. Brendan Gleeson and David Thewlis were scene-stealers in their respective scenes, as well as the new additions: Nick Moran, Peter Mullan and the lady who portrayed Bathilda Bagshot. Perfect casting. Moran brought the Jack Sparrow influences but he created a portrait of a sadistic prick. Mullan was a revelation. He is my best supporting actor win for the film. By far. Just his line delivery. Amazing. I forgot the Ministry trio, who all did a lovely job. Though some of their moments were a bit too humorous, I wasn't bothered. They were really good. Kudos to Imelda Staunton and her brilliant performance yet again. In 6 minutes, she managed to break my nerves in a pleasant way. Umbridge was spectacular, as she was in Phoenix.
Last but not least, I have to mention Dobby and Kreacher. Toby Jones and Simon McBurney did a fantastic job and the visual effects brought the characters on the big screen beautifully. Seriously, Kreacher is the best CGI creature I've ever seen. Dobby was brilliant as well. He was far more fantasy-like so it was more difficult to create him. His death scene was touching.
P.S. The only acting parts that I didn't like were Bill Nighy's scenes, the talk with Elphias Doge, tidbits of the Seven Potters scene and little bits of Emma and Dan, which I have already mentioned. The actor who was cast as Doge was weird. Not bad, but weird. Same thing goes to Nighy. He's a lovely actor, I don't get why his scenes were so...bland. I didn't really care for him and he is one of the main reasons why the Will sequence is one of my least favorites in the film.
But despite these little things, the film is the best when it comes to the acting. I can see people saying that Philosopher's Stone had all the big names with much more prominent screentime (Smith, Harris, Rickman, Coltrane), Azkaban, Prisoner and Goblet had scene-stealers (Thewlis, Oldman, Fiennes, Richardson, Gleeson, Staunton, Carter and Oldman again), but Deathly Hallows has to do with the three leads. And they are the ones who improved vastly. The supporting actors have always been splendid, but Deathly Hallows achieved to create three solid and acclaimed performances. Add the fact that all supporting characters had 5-10 minutes each and they managed to steal the show, so I guess this is the reason why DH1 is the better film when it comes to the acting.
Half-Blood Prince remains second. Jim Broadbent, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon and Alan Rickman gave meaty performances that can't be forgotten easily.
I'm going to keep on posting my thoughts about the rest of the film's aspects. But when it comes to the acting, Deathly Hallows is the best film, by far.
As a fellow filmmaker, I too know and recognize how wonderfully made this film was, purely from strictly my background knowledge of film. I was blown away in all aspects of this film, and even though that yes, there were things that I either would have done differently or that I thought were off, they were so minor that I was just in awe of the film from start to finish.
The only thing that I don't think that they're going to do is combine the films into one film. (I could be wrong, but I thought you mentioned something similar to that?) Heyman and Yates have been saying all along that these are two completely different films, they were shot differently, (including changing lights and filters so the second film is going to have a completely different color pallete), they were written differently, so that the films are two completely separate entities and should be treated as such. However, I might be wrong.
My only minor complaints with this film were I still have difficulty, and I've seen the film three times now, in understanding Mundungus during the Grimmauld Place scene, and I was hoping for more Greyback. However, Nick Moran was wonderful as Scabior, and I'm just wondering if Dave Legeno isn't that strong of an actor, which is possible. I thought that Nagini looked a bit off in a couple scenes, mainly in Godric's Hollow, and, to me, at least, Dobby looked blurry, almost like he was out of focus, and I have no idea why. Other than that, really, I have no complaints. To me, the film is almost a perfect HP film, and I'm so excited for number 2, I almost can't stand it.
When I have time, if you're all interested, I'd love to go into detail about the things I loved and why, and keep this in-depth discussion going.
I agree with you concerning the WB logo. Though the whole rusting thing was a great touch, along with the sound of the Locket scratching, the whole background was pretty generic and similar to OotP's. HBP has the best logo, by far. I have a feeling that the title of DH we saw in the teaser trailer is DH2's one. Seems quite possible.
I also think that, despite the cutting of the monument in Godric's Hollow, the entire scene was such an emotional and haunting sequence. From the moment they arrive at the village to the apparition from Bathilda's house, this entire sequence is my favorite in the film. It blends emotion with thrilling and haunting atmosphere. The score helped a lot, as well.
:-?
Lord Stafford.
Lord Stafford.
Lord Stafford.
Hey, this thread is fabulous. Let's keep it active guys. :-)
Mysterious thing time.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" is such a WONDERFUL and MIND-BLOWING film, and just like Darth said-
it deserves to be discussed and thoroughly analyzed.
Without a doubt, it became my favourite film in the franchise upon MY FIRST VIEWING at the midnight premiere. I was
absolutely shocked by the QUALITY and ELABORATION that was put into this masterpiece of film-making, as it is.
Almost EVERYTHING in the film was AMAZING! And I am so very grateful that - just like Brandon said- Warner Brothers
and the filmmakers decided to make this cinematic experience a TOUR-DE-FORCE for our beloved characters and having
them evolve in a dangerous, but also - ARTISTIC environment. THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL BLOCKBUSTER.
In this first part of my analysis I'll be exploring the performances and overall FEEL of the film.
The performances were simply OUTSTANDING. I mean, who'd expect that acting could ever get THIS good in a fantasy
series?! And yes, I'm looking at you Lord of the Rings- performances were very underwhelming except for a very select few.
In Deathly Hallows we see these teenagers that we've watched mature and develop over the course of nine years, embrace
their characters and make their emotions feel REAL AND TRULY EMOTIONAL. I was able to embrace these performances and
relate to them in my own life- even though in different types of circumstances.
I'll be posting the rest of my analysis SOON!
G.G.
Now, I think that, after 3 months and a half, I can score the film's scenes a bit better. Though I must see the film ASAP and I think that it'll be great, once the DVD is out, to start analyzing it fully with screencaps and everything, I can still make this list of scenes and rate them.
01. 'The Ministry Remains Strong' (3/5)
02. 'Preparing for the Journey' (4.5/5)
03. 'The Dark Lord Ascending' (4.5/5)
04. 'Recollecting the Past' (4/5)
05. 'Seven Potters' (3.5/5)
06. 'Sky Battle' (4/5)
07. 'Return to the Burrow' (4/5)
08. 'No One Else is going to Die' (4/5)
09. 'Dumbledore's Will' (3/5)
10. 'The Wedding Attack' (3.5/5)
11. 'Place to Hide' (4/5)
12. 'Hiding in Grimmauld Place' (3.5/5)
13. 'Kreacher's Tale' (4/5)
14. 'Elf Tails' (4/5)
15. 'Magic is Might' (3.5/5)
16. 'Decoy Detonators' (4/5)
17. 'Fireplaces Escape' (4.5/5)
18. 'The Locket' (4.5/5)
19. 'The Exodus' (4.5/5)
20. 'Hermione's Despair' (4.5/5)
21. 'Godric's Hollow Graveyard' (5/5)
22. 'Bathilda Bagshot' (4.5/5)
23. 'Forest of Dean' (4.5/5)
24. 'The Silver Doe' (4.5/5)
25. 'Ron's Return' (4/5)
26. 'The Tale of Three Brothers' (4.5/5)
27. 'The Deathly Hallows' (4/5)
28. 'The Snatchers' (4/5)
29. 'Captured and Tortured' (4.5/5)
30. 'Escape from Malfoy Manor' (3.5/5)
31. 'The Burial/The Elder Wand' (4.5/5)
Total: 4.1/5
Previous ratings:
Half-Blood Prince: 4/5
Order of the Phoenix: 3.3/5
Goblet of Fire: 3.7/5
Prisoner of Azkaban: 3.8/5
Chamber of Secrets: 3.2/5
Philosopher's Stone: 3.5/5