Do you wanna come out and play?

[saffronlie]

Early reports of the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie say that it has a very dark feel. Upon a re-read of the book, I have to agree that it is quite a dark story, although I didn't necessarily think so at first.

Comments

[amirah_kaessi]

Haha! You is feeling Welsh again, you really need to get that seen to ;).

Yeah, Azkaban is incredibly dark and not just because of the soul sucking dementors that make you relive your worst memories either. Azkaban is the turning point in the books, in that its the first book where Rowling doesn't provide us with the ultimate happy ending. Instead she introduces shades of gray, she makes us aware that the failing legal system together with its injustices. That being 'good' isn't enough to guarantee a 'good' life..

I don't think I'm making much sense today though so I'm going to stop with the poor attempt at book analysis, mainly because I'm aware I'm just repeating your point and changing the words around a bit.

Oh and love the camp quote. The film didn't appeal to me when I saw it advertised but you've just changed my mind.

[saffronlie]

D00d, there is a perfectly good and fabulous reason for why I am/was feeling Welsh. :D

No, no, you're right. The more I think about it, the more the entire concept of Dementors horrifies me. How can the wizarding world let such creatures exist, really, let alone allow them to suck the life out of their prisoners? It's a fate worse than death, and not just at all. I do love, however, that the cure for being near one (ie, depression) is chocolate.

You should totally see it! It's a great little film.

[riko]

I'd almost date the dark themes back to CoS, but what you say about PoA is all very true. It's a always been one of the darker ones (I'd say darker than GoF as a whole) what with Hogwarts becoming, essentially, a police state and everything you pointed out about the Shrieking Shack scene.

THAT'S always appealed to me, though. I can't wait to see the Shrieking Shack. Can't - wait.

re: Camp

See. The problem with this movie is keeping a straight face every time Vlad introduces himself.

My favourite part is when Fritzy poisons the blond chick and goes on instead. She did an INCREDIBLE job of singing that bit. (Doesn't help that I love Stephen Sondheim as much as the kids in the movie did...)

[saffronlie]

Yeah, that's true. And CoS sets up the sobering racial prejudices between purebloods, halfbloods and Muggleborns. GoF is really just a lot of anticipation until the end, and while Voldemort's resurrection ritual is traumatic enough, it's a very real and present kind of fear, whereas in PoA and again in OotP everything is up in the air and nobody is believing the truth.

Bwah, why is Vlad so funny? Apart from looking like an N*Sync reject with a faux-Gothic name and being a very confused boy?

OMG I know! "I've been watching you, and you're a scary girl." Fritzy looked so damn familiar, when I know I haven't seen her in anything before, but I think there's a certain 'look' to showbiz kids. You would have loved this dodgy British TV series that used to air here, called "The Biz", about the Markov school of performing arts. It was like a soap opera, only about teenagers, and tap dancing! There was a Welsh boy called Huw in it. And that delectable Paul Nicholls... Okay, you probably wouldn't have loved it at all, but I and my sister did.

[riko]

It's not VLAD so much as the way he says his name! Like he wants to get it over with as soon as possible...