Monday, May 17, 2010

One thumb up

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The movie

Most of my busy life has been to watch the movie, then maybe read the book. I have rarely done the opposite approach. I'm not defending that approach, it's more like I'm admitting it.

If Jeff was a masochist like Dobby, Jeff would get the books in hardback and beat himself over the head with them after such an admission. But I am neither house-elf nor masochist, so I will happily watch a movie before reading it in paperback in the future. (Just not the Harry Potter series.)

This time I am glad I read the book first. I know that movies cannot mirror books exactly, and that it's like comparing apples to oranges, or wizards to muggles, if you will, but the book is better.

A few observations from the extended version:
  • Less of the dreaded Dursleys is OK by me, but they are more obnoxious in the book than in the limited screen time they got. (I did laugh when Dudley fell into the snake's cage.)
  • Robbie Coltrane was well cast as Hagrid, but not as large as I imagined.
  • Alan Rickman was the perfect choice to play Snape.
  • Overall, the movie was well cast and the actors were largely true to Rowling's characters.
  • The action scenes were pretty good. Some things were added for visual reasons, which is fine.
  • I liked hearing things said that are verbatim, or at least close to it, from the book.
  • The Quidditch match could've been better. The shots of Harry seemed more artificial than the other parts of the match.
  • They explained some things after the fact in the movie, which tended to throw me off a little.
  • If I hadn't read the book, I would have been more surprised than I was when Ron made Hermione cry and take refuge in the restroom. Ron and Harry's early dislike of Hermione should have been played up a little more. (Though she was good at being obnoxious.)
  • Visually, things looked about like I imagined at Hogwarts. And Privet Drive was perfectly antiseptic. You would have no clue driving down that street what was going on in Number 4.
I believe if I had not read the book first, the movie would have been difficult to follow at times. If I was going to write a screenplay, I would make sure those who hadn't read the book got a clear picture of the story from reading the script from the first word to the last. Not an easy thing to do, but worth the effort.

Back to the "Chamber of Secrets." It's a rainy day in Jamestown. Perfect for reading.

2 comments:

  1. Jeff, your account fascinates me. I am now wondering how I would have felt about the first movie had my path of discovery mirrored yours.

    As it was, I discovered HP when the only thing "out" was books 1-3. No movies. My then eight year old son was in love with the books, having been turned on to them at school. I tried reading book one a number of times, but couldn't get past the odd names for people and places and the other made up words. In short, there was nothing to motivate me to delve deeper into Rowling's fantasy world. The first chapter just didn't draw me in like the "old" children's classics. I read to my kids from The Trumpeter Swan and Charlottes Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

    Harry Potter just didn't do it for me.

    Then we all went to see the first movie, and I was hooked! I wanted more. The quidditch scenes in particular, together with the general sense of wonderment, drew my attention and caught hold. I quickly read books 1-4 (Goblet of Fire/#4 had been released by the time I finished the first three). My sons and I really enjoyed listening to the first four books on tape - as Jim Dale's characters were colorful and drew us in further. We'd take long car rides heading to Little League All Star games at far flung ballparks, listening to the latest installment of Harry Potter as we rode.

    Interestingly, for me, the mental image of what each character should look like was established by the first film. So I still find it quite jarring to see a different Dumbledore on screen in later episodes, even though the replacement Headmaster has had far more screentime than the original. The new guy just doesn't seem like Dumbledore to me, if that makes any sense.

    Anyway, we are really getting a kick out of your posts. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Rick, thanks for the long comment. It's interesting how the movies hooked you. When I lived in the south I was told that the way to get hooked on NASCAR was go to a race. So I never went. While this schedule is a little demanding, I think I'm far enough along to say I'm hooked. But Chamber of Secrets is going to have to deliver.

    I hope this blog doesn't make the summer go to fast for us. Of course that's more of a problem in Ohio than in Florida. Maybe we'll be talking about the Rays vs. the Reds this fall.

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