The Small Things They Got Right

[adorey1]

Not sure if this can be counted as a little thing, however i really appreciated how much effort the film makers put into showing the racism against Muggleborns; using examples from our own rather darker areas of history - in this case, 1930s Nazi Germany - to link the magical world to our own.

For me, it gave the the last two films a more darker and realistic undertone, that we as an audience could identify with, and in so doing, creating a more emotional response to the degradation of Muggleborns.

Rowling put an awful lot of description, particularly in the first half of the book, about the growing rascism against those like Hermione, what with the muggle-born register, and the macabre 'trials' of muggleborns headed by Umbridge, however when i read DH, i never automatically linked the idea that the Death Eaters were rather like Stormtroopers, which the movies portrayed very well.


Other small touches that the films included, which i particularly liked, was the moment in CoS, when Harry is introduced to the Burrow, and a pair of knitting needles were magically knitting something and a saucepan was washing itself in the sink.

Plus, i appreciated every line throughout the movies that was almost, if not, word-perfect to lines of dialogue written in the books, such as the infamous 'always the tone of surprise' and 'I'm going to bed before either of you can come up with another clever idea to get us all killed - or worse, expelled.'

[Martok]

Originally Posted by adorey1

Plus, i appreciated every line throughout the movies that was almost, if not, word-perfect to lines of dialogue written in the books, such as the infamous 'always the tone of surprise' and 'I'm going to bed before either of you can come up with another clever idea to get us all killed - or worse, expelled.'

Using lines from the books is fine, but it has to fit into the movie. In the last quote you mention, Hermiones sarcastic "clever idea" refers to something that's only happining in the book: Harry and Ron sneaking out after hours, locking out Hermione of Griffindor tower when she tries to stop them and running away from Filch who has been tipped off by Malfoy that someone might show up at the trophy room. So which "clever idea" is Hermione referring to? Following Harry and Ron around all day until they accidentally end up in the forbidden corridor?

Ron: "That's Dolohov. I recognise him from the Wanted Posters."
Nice quote from the book. The only problem is that Movie!Ron knows him from somwhere else. It's that same guy that threatened to kill Hermione unless Harry gave up the prophecy in OotP. Ron was in that scene as well and seen him up close. (In the book Ron didn't see Dolohov)

There are more examples of this, but since this thread is about what they did right, I like these lines:
Luna (to Harry): "Is it true that you can produce a patronus charm?"
Hermione: "Yes, I've seen it." (Ootp)
Yes, that's how you do it. The entire scene in the Hog's Head was written, performed and directed.

[Peakes]

There is a small Gryffindor sticker on Harry's cupboard door in his bedroom at the Dursley's in the opening scene of Prisoner of Azkaban.

[Peakes]

I had a stiff drink and forced myself to watch Goblet of Fire again... and you know what, it wasn't half as bad as I remember. If you ignore the first act, and start with the dragon task, it doesn't really put a foot wrong. All the bits in this film I disliked were in the first 20 minutes (Dumbledore the raving lunatic, and Ron being a complete A-hole to Harry for no sufficiently explained reason).

Back on topic though, one bit that I thought was really well visualised in the film was the Riddle grave, and the way the arm of the scythe locked Harry in place; in the book, he's simply bound to a regular gravestone with rope. One of those examples of how the visual medium really can add a new dimension to a story, and how much set design is just as vital as direction, music, editing, cinematography etc. to the overall success (or failure) of a film.

[Richard_Gambon]

Harry and Sirius' scene at the end of POA, when Sirius stares longingly at Hogwarts and comments "It'll be nice to walk back through doors a free man," sums up that dynamic, relationship, and character so well. I was absolutely stunned to reread and discover that was a movie creation.

Harry's scene on the bridge with Remus, the Window to the Past scene, makes me weep every time. So many things feel right about their relationship in that scene, the longing they both feel for things to be as they were pre-Voldemort.