Harry Potter Marathon Part 7.1: The Beginning of the End

[aria624]

HP7: The Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

Man I'm still mad I wasn't able to do this all in one day.  Sigh. 
I was fantastically nervous for Deathly Hallows, and therefore really relieved when I heard they were splitting it, because there was no way you could fit all this content into one movie without drastically damaging the story.  But I was also afraid for Part 1, because after the pace of HP6, I was worried that the slow, often tedious nature of the story in Part 1 would turn some people off, and I was partly right.  Kudos though, to the three lead actors, who pulled of this film - they showed us all that not only have they matured as actors, they understand how their characters have matured.  This is remarkable, that a film this strong is led by such a young cast.  And while DH1 is not, by any means, perfect - or as good, IMO as OotP, it's still fantastically done, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

• Bill Nighy as Scrimgeour.  I love what he did with his voice here. 
• I knew that they were doing the obliviate scene.  And if you watch the deleted scenes, there is a lot more here with Harry and his aunt and cousin, that's pretty great.  But the Obliviate scene, this just was awful to watch.  Your heart just breaks for Hermione here, and my GOD, the music.  I was so worried about the loss of Hooper as composer, but Desplat did something wonderful here that underscores the danger and heartbreak of this sequence.
• Malfoy Manor.  Such a gorgeous set.  And I was actually REALLY suprised they kept in the Charity Burbage thing.  Well it did get a PG-13 rating this time, maybe I shouldn't have been suprised.  I like how Snape says "impractical" instead of "impossible" here.  And Malfoy.  You almost start to feel bad for Lucius, you can see how he's in danger of losing everything, and the toll it's taken.
• Seeing Privet Drive completely empty was strangely disconcerting.  And I love that the last thing Harry does is step into the cupboard.  He still remembers who he was, and who he is because of it. 
• Oh I love this scene so much.  Radcliffe does so well pretending to be all of these other people - copying mannerisms.  I laughed so hard at the sight of him in Fleur's bra. 
• I was like, watching this through my fingers.  They did a great job on the effects of this sequence, and making Hedwig be the key that gave Harry away instead of trying to explain the stunning thing - that was well chosen.  I could have done with a slightly shorter sequence with the motorbike, but I did like it.  I was so terrified in the books that Hagrid had died here, I had to go back and reread it to realize that the first casualty had actually been Hedwig.  Which is SO TRAGIC.  Like, his OWL really.  I had no idea I was so ATTACHED to that animal until you JUST NOW DID THAT.
• I never really understood the way Harry's wand just connected to Voldemort until they showed it here visually. 
• Really, they did this whole sequence complete justice.  The reunions.  "Saint-like."  Moody.  And it is totally in character for this Harry - movie Harry - to try to leave here. 
• I'm glad for this little Ginny/Harry moment.  I'm glad we got at least one moment of them before everything goes downhill.
• "Mister Potter...You can't fight this war on your own."  (The trailer used to play in Blockbuster.  I just love the way Nighy says this line.)
• Rhys Ifans.  Fantastic casting.  He and Luna are a perfectly eccentric set. 
• This conversation between Elphias and Muriel (?) is great, a great setup of Godrics Hollow and Bathilda and the history of Dumbledore.
• And just like that, all the good feelings are gone.  What was a moment of color and joy and light becomes terrifying, and we're thrown into modern London with this sense of utter confusion and waryness. 
• Watching Hermione do the memory charm here is once again, heartbreaking, cause you know what she's thinking, what she's remembering having done.
• I like that Ron figures out RAB, and they think to ask Kreacher.  I wish we'd gotten the whole transition of good Kreacher, cause I do really love it.  Did they ever explain in the films that Harry is now Kreacher's master?  I don't think they did.  
• YEAH you tell those Death Eaters Neville.
• OH the Magic is Might statue.  Is FANTASTIC.  OH HAI, UMBRIDGE.
• Ron and Hermione playing piano.  I couldn't take my eyes off Grint's face.  It's just flawless devotion.
• DOBBYYYYYYY.  DOBBY I LUV YOUUU.  I love Kreacher and Dobby in this sequence.  So hilarious.  
• Props to these adult actors, for being able to act like absolutely terrified 17-year old.  The man who plays Albert Runcorn does a fantastic impression of Daniel Radcliffe.  Although I didn't care for it at first, I'm glad now they decided that they kept their own voices, it would have been incredibly difficult to keep track of otherwise. 
• Decoy Detonators!  And the design of those pamphlets is fantastic, what a homage to WWII propaganda.  I loved that all of Umbridge's files had those little gold corners and violet backings, what a great touch.
• I love the quietness of this scene.  Mary Cattermole's voice is fantastic.  And then the chase throught the Ministry.  This was actually well done.  Again, it was hard for me to visualize how Yaxley was able to get inside the defenses of Grimmauld Place, and the SOUND they used for splinching was just awful.
• The radio.  What a way to use a small detail to really hit home the mood of these scenes.  Ron's isolation, and anger, and the darkness of the world outside this quiet little clearing where they've hidden themselves.  Grint is spectacular here, and the scene where he turns off the lights in the tent is just some of the best acting I've seen of ANY of the trio in this whole series.  Radcliffe is great here, too, but Rupert Grint is perfect, and he sells this sequence, which is awful, and hurtful, and just brilliant. 
• The scene in the tent with Harry and Hermione has actually become kind of a favorite of mine.  It actually feels really nice for these two, to have this kind of moment.  I feel like it starts with Harry just trying to make her smile, and then there's this moment, with that question.  Could they?  They're best friends.  They mean so much to each other but...but she can't.  Maybe he could, but she can't.  It totally makes sense to me, because it's true.  And in the scene after, he starts to...apologize, or say something, and she just lets it go.  It's not canon, obviously.  In the books at this point, Harry finds himself obsessing over Ginny's name on the Marauder's map.  And you know beyond any doubt who his and her hearts belong to.  But in the movies, the line is blurrier, because of the chemistry of these actors, and I feel like they HAD to solidify this Hermione/Ron relationship for Harry/Ginny to work, because Radcliffe and Wright aren't as charismatic a pair as their counterparts in the books.  
• Right. I can unpause the movie now.  and put the book back on the shelf.
• I loved the quaintness of Godric's Hollow, but suprised at the fact that the Potter's house is RIGHT THERE.  The graveyard sequence is absolutely lovely, and transitions fantastically into the sequence with Bathilda. 
• WHO IS CREEPY AS HELL.  Whoever did her makeup is a master, those eyes CREEP.  ME.  OUT.
• The random brightly lit child's room here feels very strange.  Like, I mean, I know it's supposed to be Grindlewald's room or whatever, but it's so random, and I'm hoping it gets explained, because otherwise it's completely senseless.  And we're missing Harry's utter terror and awareness of Voldemort.
• Is it ever explained, how Harry got that piece of the mirror?  
• Ah, the silver doe.  What a well done sequence.  The locket trying to trap Harry under the ice was great.  And the locket.  Except for the whole Riddle Harry/Hermione making out, this was was kind amazingly well done.  I could have done without that, but whatever.
• "HARRY POTTER YOU GIVE ME MY WAND."  God I loved Hermione's rage.  Ron's speech in the books about the "ball of light" sounded so ridiculous and kind of silly, but Grint makes it sound...moving, and...romantic, and magical.  
• The Three Brothers sequence was SUCH a welcome surprise.  I loved the animation - it's fantastically done.  I remarked earlier that Death kind of looks like a dementor, which whether or not that was an artistic decision on the part of the animators I don't know, but it's fabulous.
• You kind of hate Xenophilius, and kind of feel bad for him at the same time. 
• Forest Chase Sequence!  I like that they shoot traps.
• Hermione being tortured.  I actually wasn't prepared for how disturbing this was.  DOBBY.  DOBBYYY Oh god it's almost time, isn't it.  "Sir!  I like her very much!"  Dobbyyyy oh sadness forever.  I love that slow moment of him undoing the chandelier.  "Dobby only meant to maim or seriously injure."  Oh they gave Dobby the BEST LINES in this moment just to BREAK YOUR HEART the next.
• Dooooobbbyyyyyyyy.  Tears.  Tears FOREVER.  Oh that tiny little voice...."Such a beautiful place...to be with friends..."  Dobby's death does something to Harry, and now, Voldemort has the Elder Wand.  But Harry has, more than ever, a powerful sense of right, because Dobby died to save them, and he was so innocent.  He might not seem like much, to people who didn't read the books, but I always love Dobby and what he meant to Harry, what he symbolized.  His powerful belief in freedom.  His fierce loyalty to Harry.  There were a lot of deaths in this book, especially in the later chapters, and in previous books, that made me sad.  But Dobby's, for me, was one of the most powerfully moving - because he was so funny, so sweet, and yet, the sort of character that you never thought they'd think to kill. 

This last step towards the series finale is a long one, not full of battles and bravery but full of heartbreak, anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of isolation.  It is the calm before the storm, the slow andante before the allegro, the ripples that spark the tidal wave that will be Part 2.  I cannot WAIT to see how they finish out this epic story, and from the looks and reviews I've read and seen, I am already sure I won't be disappointed.

Final Thoughts.
We've come a long way since Sorceror's Stone.  Those charming, little children are adults now, in every sense.  And for all of us who these books and films have impacted over the last fourteen years, it is the the end of a huge chapter in our lives.  But the beauty of books - and films - like Harry Potter is that they live on, to touch and to reach and inspire us in new ways, in new generations, and the rest of our lives.

Wow that was...sentimental and kind of cheesy.  But I stand by it.  Harry Potter did a wondrous thing for literature, in that it bridged the gap between child and adult story.  It grew with us, as we grew.  And we grew because of it.  What Rowling did, especially because of who she is and was, was amazing, and I am so inspired every day by her courage and her talent.  I hope someday I can count myself as an author worthy of being on the same bookshelf as her.