A few notes on Deathly Hallows part 1

[mollyringle]

Finally got around to seeing this on DVD. I thought it quite good, one of the best so far, though my heart may always give the true "favorite" label to Goblet of Fire with its bubbly rom-com feel. Anyway, notes follow, with spoilers for part 1 if you care.

Yes, that was a totally random Ginny/Harry make-out scene (the "zip me up" bit). But it was worth it for George sneaking around the kitchen in the background in order to position himself at the sink, leering, sipping from his mug, and drawling, "Morning."

Harry/Hermione awkward dancing in the tent was awkward. Subtext conversation as they stared at each other afterward:
Harry: So, you know, do you wanna...(eyebrow lift of innuendo)
Hermione: Eh...maybe?
Harry: Just to pass the time, as it were? You think? No?
Hermione: Nah. Headache. Plus you're scruffy-looking lately.
Harry: 'Kay. Go mope about Ron some more.
Hermione: 'Kay.

Never expected to say, "That guy in the bit part as the snatcher Scabior was strangely hot," but he was. In a 1980s-Adam-Ant kind of way.

I never liked Dobby much until he was within minutes of getting killed. Only intending "to maim or seriously injure"--hee! So after that, his death scene was quite sad.

I still wish Rowling had done more with Draco rather than reducing him to quivering uncertainty for the entire 7th (and much of the 6th) installment. Oh well. Nothing to be done about it now.

Comments

[matildafilch.livejournal.com]

I am totally with you on Scabior's hotness, and also Rowling's Draco. A real missed opportunity to make him a great character. I don't mean good necessarily, but just a bit more interesting and complex. Heigh-ho. I gave up on Rowling a long time ago.

I couldn't watch the dancing the second time around and actually had to close my eyes, as if it was, you know, a horror film :|

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Some awkwardness scenes are harder to watch than actual horror scenes.

I can see the real-life truth in a bully like Draco turning into a cowering nothing by adulthood, but HP isn't supposed to be about real-life truths exactly, I thought. Regardless, the author in me wants to do more for Draco's arc.

At least we have Scabior's hotly smudged eyeliner to soothe us. I did a Google image search on "Scabior Nick Moran" (the actor's name), and WHOA. A nearly-nude shot of the guy, from a few years back, crops up first thing. So you wouldn't want to run that search or anything. Just warning you. ;)

[archersangel.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was a totally random Ginny/Harry make-out scene (the "zip me up" bit). But it was worth it for George sneaking around the kitchen in the background in order to position himself at the sink, leering, sipping from his mug, and drawling, "Morning."

with a toothbrush stuck in the bandage covering what was his ear no less.

and yeah, the dance scene was awkward. i can understand them leaving stuff out from the book, but not adding it.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

The toothbrush--hee, exactly. How I love the twins. A head wound dressing merely becomes an accessory within the day.

[in.shusu (from livejournal.com)]

It's weird, as I don't ship H/Hr or really much HP het for that matter, but I really liked the dancing scene on the big screen. There was something deliberately awkward about it, like I know you're not thinking of me, but it still kept a foot in the door for those shippers. It wasn't cute or comfortable or even romantic... I found it haunting.

And though I skipped a lot of the HP films in theaters, I'm glad I saw this one. Those landscapes were just stunning, no tv of mine would do it justice.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I think keeping the foot in the door the shippers is the likeliest explanation for the dancing scene. As such, I don't mind letting it stay. I'm soft on the feelings of shippers, of nearly all types. Or, as a moment of actual friendship in a hard time, it sort of works too.

Yeah, the landscapes were much better than I expected! So frosty and chilly and gorgeous. Brr.

[mariole.livejournal.com]

I actually liked the Draco character arc. For me, he was one of the false villains-- like his stepbrother-- I forget his name. Dudley? As our hero Harry grows, he grows out of the childhood intimidation and these guys who used to make him miserable just fade into insignificance. No victory needed because they aren't even worth a battle. Of course, when you've decided your goal is to take down the Dark Lord, you're aiming pretty high-- which is what I love about it!

I like how Draco is such a weak character-- bullies usually are-- but his family dynamics are interesting and that saves him for me. Harry's choices in how to deal with him are also interesting, and I think speak to the growth (or lack of it) in both characters. I never got into HP fanfic, so I never saw Draco as more than a minor character (although, with Rowling's huge cast, almost everyone is a minor character). Neville was more interesting to me than Draco; I hope he gets a good moment in #7!

GoF is my favorite of the series, also. It was still fun and playful, colorful and wondrous. The latter books got too grim; I watched #6 lately and noticed that they had even color desaturated it, so the whole film is gray. Just... not an exciting cinema choice. It was adventure with a dark edge, vs. hideous darkness with a few weak chuckles of comic relief. That said, I intend to enjoy the final movie thoroughly! I think it will have enough spectacle to please me.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

You make a good point, which occurred to me as a defense of the Draco arc--it echoes the real-life truth of bullies often being cowering nothings when you test their true strength. But we already did that with Dudley (kind of--actually, Dudley went so far as to thank Harry), and the writer in me can't help itching to do something more dramatic with Draco. Maybe he'll get his own spin-off series. (Heh. No, Rowling, don't do it, probably not the best idea.)

True on the family dynamics, however. I did like how Narcissa ended up being the one to turn in a move for the good side, in the name of love for her son (telling Voldemort that Harry was dead when she knew he wasn't).

Neville is a fantastic example of the reverse arc, the heroic one. Sword of Gryffindor and all! I liked that they gave him a small but brave moment in this latest movie--telling off the Death Eaters searching the train for Harry.

Given how much of book 7 they already covered in part 1 of the movie finale, I'm assuming the Battle for Hogwarts alone will take up 1 hour and 36 minutes, at least. And I will cling sadly to Fred for as long as I can. *unhappy sigh*

[mariole.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am expecting a long gee-whiz battle. I'm glad they're doing it that way; it would have been way too crowded, otherwise. Get the back story out of the way in #7 and pull out the blasters in #8! It will be a grand romp.

I'm also expecting (a certainty beyond hope) that we'll see some of the deaths played the way I wish they'd been in the book. No spoilers, just to say I was particularly unhappy that some beloved characters were killed offscreen and their loss mentioned as a footnote. I expect the movie to do justice to these unseen deaths, particularly as the writers can go wild and imagine what they like!

I don't think we'll ever get more Rowling-produced Draco fic. It will be up to the fans to make his story arc what it ought to be. Have at it, ficwriters! I swear, the fandom can really kick ass in this regard. My friends and I worked out the solution to Matrix 3 that blew the doors off the thing the official guys produced. Go, fandom!

[kiralamouse]

I know that at least one of the characters I was most upset about being footnoted is featured in the trailers for the movie in a way that gives them a bit more dignity. I have high hopes that I will not miss over their contribution in the confusion the way I did when I read the book the first time and was racing to find out what happens, what happens?!?!

[mariole.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think we won't be disappointed. As I said, I'm _expecting_ the movie to do justice to all our HP friends.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am almost certain we'll get heartbreaking, slow-mo, in-person looks at certain deaths. And perhaps a hint of funerals/memorials afterward, rather than the complete lack of them as in the book. (Except in epilogue baby names, if that counts.)

Thank goodness for fandom! It's kind of sad, but mostly awesome, how some fanfic, in all fandoms, transcends the quality of the canon material by an order of magnitude. And sometimes it allows for the expansion of a plot thread that couldn't be expanded in the canon without messing up the pacing, so that's always a cool feature. I actually find myself thinking when facing some lost possibility in my own writing lately, "Eh, I'll just let the fanfic tackle that." I'm mostly being facetious, since I'd have to get fabulously famous before anyone will write fanfic for me, but if I do get that famous, I hope the fans take the material and run with it.

If Hollywood had one-tenth the brains they ought to, they'd hire a handful of fanfic writers to make all their movies a hundred times better. The Matrix series--oy. Good example. The second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies, too. (Haven't seen the latest, so can't remark.)

[mariole.livejournal.com]

Some of the best stuff is fanfic. Think of Emma Thompson's "Sense and Sensibility" -- a "Best Adapted Screenplay" award-winning adaptation of Austen's novel, plus other noms and awards. Or "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" by Nicholas Meyer, that spawned a movie and got a Golden Dagger award. (Meyer also did the best Star Trek movies.)

When people like us write it, unpaid, the establishment tends to snear. It's completely ridiculous; fanfic has a long and successful history, starting with Shakespeare ripping off other people's plots. You can get "inspired by" fiction that is not only fabulous, but award winning, and by the Establishment as well. It's a funny business.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Indeed indeed! Or when people get hired to write episodes for TV shows, they're pretty much turning out fanfic, and that makes them eligible for awards too. (See the many writers for Doctor Who episodes and such.) Truly, a fine line out there.

[naill-renfro.livejournal.com]

"Nothing to be done about it now?" That's the reason fanfic was invented!

/Although in that particular case it's been done, done, redone, and overdone.

//I never really got the whole Draco thing, esp. if you leave movie-Draco out of it. I look at Draco and (like pretty much everyone else) see an overprivileged, whining bully) with (in contrast to what so many fanfic writers see) no potential to become Good, or Great, or Romantic, or Tragic, or even Interesting. (Ducks and covers) But there are plenty of other characters who had great potential and ended up getting a raw deal from JKR. (Nymphadora Tonks! Can we call Tonks/Fred/George a OTP, or is it an O-T-Trebling, or something of that sort?)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yes, I fully expect fanfic to take care of things; and indeed they already have been doing so for years. :)

As to Draco: I felt exactly the same way up till book 6. I never got the obsession and the crushes and the shipping people did with him. In fact, I still don't. My interest doesn't extend that far. But when he had his big conflicted sobbing-in-the-mirror scene, my writer brain got interested at this crack in the shallow characterization and glimpse of something deeper, and ever since, has wished Rowling would have actually taken it somewhere deeper.

Amen to the other slighted characters, for sure. I think I would make my HP fanfic twin-centric, if I were to write it. (Not twincest, just twin-centric.) Fred and George are the funniest and much smarter than most other characters give them credit for, so naturally I love them the most.