Casting and Characterization

Discuss about the Critical Review of Harry Potter Movie Series.

For most of the fans of fiction novels and fiction films, Harry Potter isn’t an unknown character, which was based on the novels by the British Author J. K. Rowling. Based on the novels, a series of films were made, and distributed by Warner Brothers. The British American series started with the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (in UK) or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (US and worldwide) on 2001, and the series completed with Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (part 2) on 2011, with a total of eight. Each sequel in the film was based on each novel, except the last two films which were made into two films. The success of the film even inspired sequels to be made, and still has a global fan following years after the final film and novel on the series were released (Vezzali et al., 2015).

The Harry potter films were adapted from the novel series written by J K Rowling. The films saw a gradual evolution in the characters, as well as they way their stories have been portrayed in the films. Starting from the casting of the crew, J K Rowling retained a considerable amount of control, ensuring that only British Actors were selected to play the British characters in the film. The main characters of the film: Daniel Radcliffe (playing the role of Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (playing Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (playing Hermionie Granger) were all cast when they were children, as the characters playing their classmates and schoolmates. This allowed keeping true to the novel’s focus on the backgrounds of each characters. In the series of the 8 films, the viewers were able to witness the development of each character in their maturity, confidence and ability to execute serious scenes with great ease. Harry Potter was shown as a timid young orphaned boy, under the control of their relatives, the Dursleys, where he lived until he reached the age of schooling. The first movie, the Sorcerer’s Stone set up the platform for the audiences to understand the plight faced by Harry Potter while living with his relatives, and how they were always afraid of the special ‘gifts’ Harry had. The opening credit of the film became an iconic music, which exuded an aura of magic and at the same time had an innocent undertone. It can be understood, that the first film was mainly aimed towards the children, and hence the film bore all the hallmark attributes for the same. The characters were portrayed in a simpler manner: like Hagrid as a gentle giant; Malfoys as evil; Weasleys and faithful friends; Harmione Granger as an exceptionally brilliant student; Dubledore as the wise head of the institute. The visual of the films were also aimed to show a child like comprehension of the magical world, from the perspective of someone completely new to the world. The adaptation of the Hogwarts express for instance was very simplistic, whose role in later films grew more prominent, with students facing many situations while travelling on it. The films saw several different changes from what was there in the novel, in an attempt to create a little different narrative of the story, and prevent them to be completely predictable, and incorporated few new elements in the movies.

Film Adaptation of the Novels

Due to the enormous volumes of different plots and sub plots in the novel, it was not possible to keep each and every event, instead several plots were consequently removed, and only the most important ones were filmed. Many critiques and fans also showed disappointment due to the changes made in the films, however still most of the movies saw major success in the box office.

In the first film deferent aspects from the novel were changed, several characters from the novel were omitted, such as professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher and Peeves the poltergeist. The film also removes the beginning part of the novel where Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall meet outside the house of Durseleys, in the aftermath of the attack on the Potters by Lord VOldemort, which killed Harry’s parents. Also, the time Harry spent in the company of Mrs. Figg was also left out from the films. The scene involving the boa constrictor from Brazil was shot instead with a Burmese Python.  Also, details regarding characters like Nicholas Flenel and FIerenzie were also changed from that of the novel (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’: THR’s 2001 Review, 2018).

In the second film: Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets continued the magical journey started with the first film. It introduced newer characters, as portrayed in the novel, and first shows the glimpse of Rom Riddle, a character who becomes Lord Voldemort and the main antagonist of the character. The film had an amazing depiction of the first horcrux, which was destroyed at the end of the film. The film however skipped several important aspects from the novel like the everyday classes that were described in the film. The film showed a significant development in the cinematic feel. The film still retained the focus on the children audiences, and therefore had its contents portrayed as such. At the same time, more details on Hogwarts were also shown to the audience. This movie first showed that Hogwarts wasn’t exactly an impenetrable fortress as was understood in the first film. The main antagonists of Harry Potter and His friends that is the Malfoy Family was also given prominence, which helped the audience understand the characters in a better way. The Film also missed the early part of the novel where Harry Potter was eagerly awaiting for letters a from his friends, which was being replaced by a house elf named Dobby (Ebert, 2018).

The First Film – Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone

The Prisoner of Azkaban first started hinting towards a way more hostile wozarding environment, developing further on the Azkaban Prison, and the mysterious murderer on the loose. The film significantly diverted from the Novel in its beginning. It missed out the entire early portion of the novel where Harry awaits for his vacations to end, and wanted to go back to Hogwarts. The film also included new musical tracks to go along the charismas scenes and set up the stage for the entry for another important character: Sirius Black. The film again missed the initial part where Ron Weasley purchases the rat, which was later shown to be an animagus named Peter Pettigrew. Instead, the surprise was left for the last scene, where Sirius Black reveals himself as Harry’s Godfather, and wasn’t the villain everyone portrayed hi8m as. The film suddenly t5akes a much darker turn, from its predecessors, showing uniquely dark characters such as the death eaters, the sentient demons called the Dementor. The risks and dangers seemed much more real, a lot less lighthearted and more menacing than before (Ebert, 2018)..

The fourth film, the Goblet of Fire as also much abridged from the novel version, which detailed many of the classes and day to day events in Harry Potter’s life. The film instead focused mostly on the Triwizard Tournament, which was an interschool competition between Hogwarts and two other wizarding schools. The film tried to show the different challenges that Harry Potter and the 3 other Champions of the tournament had to face to win the tournament. However, much of the underlying stories that occurred in the novel were skipped, with only short mentions and brief adaptations of these scenes. For example, the Quiddich world cup, history of Mad Eye Moody and how Harry struggled to maintain his friendship with Ron and Hermionie, with all the blame he got for his name appearing in the tournament. Even the scenes leading up the tournament days, and the stories of the other champions were cut short. The scene of the revival of lord Voldemert was shown adequately, with most of the important aspect of the scene kept true to the novel (Ebert, 2018).

The Fifth film the Order of Phoenix delved more into the darker realms of the novel series, with more prominence given to Lord Voldemort who now was back to end what he started, and other characters who have sworn tom protect Harry Potter. In the film, the encounter of Harry’s cousin, Dudley Dursey with a Dementor was not mentioned. The movie had a more bleak approach, showing Harry and the entire wizarding in ever more danger from the Dark Lord and his followers. The firm however makes an excellent depiction of the battle between the death eaters (followers of Voldemort) and the aurors (magicians who are trying to stop Voldemort) (Ebert, 2018).

The Second Film – Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

The Half Blood Prince was the sixth film, which now was shrouded in the dense darkness case by the negative characters, portraying all the good characters in the film from mortal danger. The film shows only brief snippets of the life of Severus Snape. The lessons between Snape and Harry and between Snape and Dumbledore were also cut short. Instead the film’s focus was on the notebook Harry found, which helped him through his academic years at Hogwarts. The film showed a much matured and grown up version of Harry Potter and His friends. Particularly, the death of Harry’s godfather was painted heavily through the sadness felt by him. The ending of the film also briefly showed the final encounter of Snape with harry potter, showing his identity as the owner of the notebook harry was in possession of (Ebert, 2018).

The last two films: The Deathly Hallows part 1 and 2 was based on a single final novel. Splitting the two films allowed more focus on the details to the many plots in the novel. Each of the aspects were shown with minute details, starting from the fall of the ministry of magick, to the infiltration of the Gringotts bank by Harry and his friends, the fallout between Harry and Ron, death of Dobby, and return of Harry to Hogwarts. The movie drew a full circle, with Harry Potter in a final duel against lord Voldemeort. The film had a much grittier and grimmer take, showing the possible demise of the entire wizarding community under Voldemort, until he was defeated for good. The film however kept the final scene of the novel very short, which takes place 20 years after Voldemort’s defeat (Ebert, 2018).

Conclusion:

Overall, the films were able to do justice to the major plots in the novel, keeping a sense of suspense in few key aspects of the story, and creating new subplots. It however was able to give a good portrayal of the magical world of Harry Potter, and entice missions of viewers around the world in a magical journey. The immersive music and sound themes along with the stunning visual displays played a vital part in the success of the films, along with the stellar casting that further made the film into a household commonplace, for children and adults alike. This has made the movie series one of the greatest movie franchises in history, and still continues to inspire many people.

References:

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Movie Review  | Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-2002

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows part 1 movie review | Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1-2010

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie review| Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-2011

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie Review| Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire-2005

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince move review | Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-2009

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Order of the phoenix move review| Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-2007

Ebert, R. (2018). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Movie Review  | Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-2004

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’: THR’s 2001 Review. (2018). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/harry-potter-sorcerers-stone-2001-review-946999

Vezzali, L., Stathi, S., Giovannini, D., Capozza, D., & Trifiletti, E. (2015). The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 45(2), 105-121.