30 Days of HP Meme - Day 4
01. Discuss how you got into Harry Potter
02. Your favorite book
03. What house would you be in?
04. Your favorite movie
05. Wizard Rock: discuss
06. Your favorite character(s)
07. Song that reminds you of HP
08. Your favorite ship(s)
09. Fanfiction: discuss
10. Favorite book moment(s)
11. Character you're crushing on
12. Favorite movie scene
13. Least favorite character(s)
14. Moments in the books/movies that made you cry
15. Whatever tickles your fancy
16. How have you participated in the fandom over the years?
17. Your favorite celebs from the movies or fandom
18. If you could change one thing about canon, what would it be?
19. A favorite fanart
20. A favorite quote
21. How has the HP fandom connected you to other fandoms, interests, or people?
22. Your favorite villain
23. Share some HP icons
24. Rant about Steve Kloves something
25. Song that reminds you of HP
26. What aspect of the books has been best translated to film?
27. What aspect of the books has been most poorly translated to film?
28. Hogwarts subject you would most like to take
29. Favorite location
30. Whatever tickles your fancy
04. Your favorite movie
Well, I know that there are a lot of folks for whom this is their *least* favorite of the films, but my personal top choice is actually Prisoner of Azkaban. Yes, there are small things that bug me - such as a certain redheaded someone's lines being given away to a certain someone else, and therefore changing certain crucial moments, but I shall save that for Day 24. Overall, this is the film that made me really "get" Harry Potter and what everyone found so appealing about the series. As I referenced in my Day 1 answer, while I'd enjoyed and been charmed by watching Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, seeing Prisoner of Azkaban was what made me have that moment of "whoa - I think I'd better go back and give the books another try."
It will always have a special place in my heart because of that, and also because Cuaron elevated the whole look and tone of the films from cutesy, "gee isn't magic fun" to dark, "this stuff could be dangerous." It was the first film, I think, where we all got a sense of Rowling's long game being translated to the screen...the first true trickles of icy fear entered Rowling's world with the Dementors and didn't leave till the end of Deathly Hallows and the film reflected that very well. I think that though certain *details* were changed, there were many ways in which the overall tone and *spirit* of the Azkaban movie are closer to the book-reading experience than any of the others released so far.
I think that the subtle recurring motif Cuaron established with the Whomping Willow actually serves as a great visual crystallization of how the series - both on paper and onscreen - was changing. Showing the tree at different points in the year - budding in the spring, freezing in the winter, casually yet viciously killing a bluebird - highlights the position of this book and this film between sunlight and shadow. It's the last time Harry really gets to be *young* until everything is over, and yet the darkness has already started to shade its way inexorably in. I thought that the willow, and the color palette Cuaron used throughout the film were brilliant at underscoring and hinting at these changes.
I also thought it was the first film where we saw a big bump up in acting ability from all three of the Trio, *and* they had all started to really grow into the young adults they are now. You can see a stunning visual difference in all three of them - and hear a notably lower voice from Rupert - in this film, and looking back it sort of planted the seeds of the way these characters are represented on screen now. I also applaud Cuaron for giving us a *big* bump up in depicting the "tensions" between Ron and Hermione. When I went back and read the series afterwards, it was already clear to me what was eventually going to be going on there, all thanks to that hand-hold-and-nervous-glances during the Care of Magical Creatures class scene and the scene where Ron is worrying about his leg and Hermione's trying to calm him down post-Shrieking Shack.
I said earlier in this post that I think Azkaban is the most closely related to the spirit of the books of any of the films released so far, but I think from what we've already seen of the trailers and previews for Deathly Hallows it could soon be surpassed in that category. And, who knows, I might just have a new favorite come November....