Deathly Hallows 2
I loved it.
I'm so sorry this stage of my life is now over. I've read a number of commentators whose reaction to seeing the last Harry Potter film is an acknowledgement of farewell to their childhood. I almost feel the same, even though I'm fifty-one years old. And yet I also feel it's a huge mistake to dismiss the books (or movies) as 'only for children.' Or even worse, 'merely for children.'
I had an interesting and even moving talk with Fiona the other night, where we discussed what the Harry Potter books have brought to our lives. For both of us, for our family, really, they've changed our lives. Harry Potter seized Fiona's imagination in particular and ignited what will clearly be a life-long love of reading. I was already a reader of course, but it was due to Harry Potter that I really got involved in most of the internet stuff I do today: Yahoo groups and then Livejournal, which in turn led to Dreamwidth, Twitter and Alternity. It's been a phenomenal bonding experience for our entire family. We read the books together, and for years, the girls went to sleep listening to the Jim Dale CDs, or we listened to them on car trips, including our daily runs to and from day care.
I've talked before about the common thread in all the stories I love the most: choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone. That's all what Harry Potter is about, and it's particularly clear in this movie. The battle was awesome. The strongest part for me was the part that stuck most closely to the book, from Snape's death (no matter what the location) through the scene in the pensieve followed by the scene in the forest. The devastation in Harry's eyes when he emerged from the pensieve said it all (and Radcliffe really nailed that moment.) Voldemort attacks the school because he knows that hurting the people Harry cares about is his strongest weapon. That, of course, is the weakness of the heart of flesh: caring will always hurt in a way that the heart of stone will never experience. Yet that caring is what leads to the heart of flesh's triumph. It's what ultimately convinces Harry he must lay his life down. "I never wanted any of you to die for me," he tells his parents, Remus and Sirius in the scene in the forest, and you utterly believe him, and still entirely understand why he takes that final sacrificial step. Heartrending.
The variations of the very last duel from the book were not pleasing, but probably unavoidable, considering all the wand lore that got dropped. But on the whole, I was extremely pleased with the whole thing.
And yay for Neville!
This entry was originally posted at http://pegkerr.dreamwidth.org/1526400.html. There are
comments on the post.
I'm so sorry this stage of my life is now over. I've read a number of commentators whose reaction to seeing the last Harry Potter film is an acknowledgement of farewell to their childhood. I almost feel the same, even though I'm fifty-one years old. And yet I also feel it's a huge mistake to dismiss the books (or movies) as 'only for children.' Or even worse, 'merely for children.'
I had an interesting and even moving talk with Fiona the other night, where we discussed what the Harry Potter books have brought to our lives. For both of us, for our family, really, they've changed our lives. Harry Potter seized Fiona's imagination in particular and ignited what will clearly be a life-long love of reading. I was already a reader of course, but it was due to Harry Potter that I really got involved in most of the internet stuff I do today: Yahoo groups and then Livejournal, which in turn led to Dreamwidth, Twitter and Alternity. It's been a phenomenal bonding experience for our entire family. We read the books together, and for years, the girls went to sleep listening to the Jim Dale CDs, or we listened to them on car trips, including our daily runs to and from day care.
I've talked before about the common thread in all the stories I love the most: choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone. That's all what Harry Potter is about, and it's particularly clear in this movie. The battle was awesome. The strongest part for me was the part that stuck most closely to the book, from Snape's death (no matter what the location) through the scene in the pensieve followed by the scene in the forest. The devastation in Harry's eyes when he emerged from the pensieve said it all (and Radcliffe really nailed that moment.) Voldemort attacks the school because he knows that hurting the people Harry cares about is his strongest weapon. That, of course, is the weakness of the heart of flesh: caring will always hurt in a way that the heart of stone will never experience. Yet that caring is what leads to the heart of flesh's triumph. It's what ultimately convinces Harry he must lay his life down. "I never wanted any of you to die for me," he tells his parents, Remus and Sirius in the scene in the forest, and you utterly believe him, and still entirely understand why he takes that final sacrificial step. Heartrending.
The variations of the very last duel from the book were not pleasing, but probably unavoidable, considering all the wand lore that got dropped. But on the whole, I was extremely pleased with the whole thing.
And yay for Neville!
This entry was originally posted at http://pegkerr.dreamwidth.org/1526400.html. There are
comments on the post.