The Seventh Reel

Undecided and uncertain. That’s how I felt after watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I). I couldn’t say I was 100% happy about how it all turned out and yet I couldn’t judge just how much of it I didn’t like, if I didn’t. Some parts exceeded my expectations while others featured misses that were sorely unsatisfactory.

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I)

But maybe that’s how you’re supposed to feel. Maybe you had to sense as much of the uncertainty that was in the atmosphere.

And because of all this indecisiveness I had, I decided to just group all of my thoughts into seven. Because, well, seven had been very significant in this entire magical journey.

Characters

They had all grown up, figuratively and literally. That’s as much about it. Gone was the innocence in their first train ride to Hogwarts. It was replaced with each character’s newly shown abilities, an array of assets, and a definite sense of being.

 

The Trio

If I were to be particular about all this, I’d say I liked the change in Emma Watson best. In the past movies, my problem with her Hermione was mainly about how she delivered her lines. There was a monotonous, always-hurried way in her performance that the difference in the emotions behind them were only highlighted in extreme situations. In Deathly Hallows, though, there were pitches and intonations. She was frantic when she had to be, and soft when she needed to be. And her portrayal of the Horcrux-Hermione proved that, if anything, she had really grown up.

 

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

There were also characters whose portrayal were slightly disappointing. Like Andy Linden’s Mundungus Fletcher, for instance. He was a bit cleaner than I thought he would be. Seriously, from how the book described him with words like ‘a pile of rags’, I envisioned someone shabbier than the werewolf Lupin. Another was Rufus Scrimgeour (played by Bill Nighy), whose supposed fierceness went amiss as much as his lion-like mane of hair. He was likened to that, a lion, in the book but the movie had him looking frail albeit the certainty.

Setting

Missing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a bit more painful than I expected it to be. It was an edifice that was hard to overlook, a set of walls where everything imaginable was possible, with a position that exuded safety and conviction.

Despite this, I could say the Deathly Hallows DP made 80% of the longing bearable. The shots and settings and shots of the settings wherein the trio took refuge were magnificent. That was in spite of several occasions when I was reminded of other movies who had almost the same set of forests. Still there were beautiful shots, of the snow-filled capes and the field of high weeds and especially Godric’s Hollow.

Additional Scenes

Allow me first to extend my congratulations to David Yates for these additional scenes. His acuity became very evident and exceptionally useful in representing what words could only scratch. Like the opening scene where Hermione was readying herself for the journey toward the unknown with Harry and Ron. Yates showed even the agony of her erasing her parents memory of her. It was more than an excruciating moment for the highly intellectual Hermione and the irony of it was emphasized to the point of breaking.

I also liked how the Tale of the Three Brothers was depicted in the movie. I actually expected some role-playing where real people acted out the tale, which if I were honest I would consider as a bummer. Thus, the imaginative form that Yates made the tale take was more than satisfactory. Coupled with a soft storytelling voice-over, it was a perfect bedtime tale as any.

But the additional scene I loved most was Harry and Hermione’s dance number. It was altogether funny and affectionate and warm. Yates, in an interview, explained this scene as one that showed how strong a friendship Harry had with Hermione. I think I already saw this in the sixth movie (Half-Blood Prince) where Harry was consoling Hermione over her Ron-related heartache. This time, though, it was different. In the darkness of everything that was happening around both of them, they got a family in each other. And that was a kind of love no war could ever deter.

Harry and Hermione dancing together

Missed Scenes

In all fairness, I was surprised at how little the exclusions were compared to, say, the Order of the Phoenix. Some details were carried the way they were supposed to be, in a fashion that almost followed the book itself. But there were lacking scenes that proved uncomfortable and posed fair questions as to how the last part would unfold.

The Dursley goodbye was something I looked forward to for it could have erased some of the loathing I had for Dudley. But it was diminished to simple camera panning and a grouchy Uncle Vernon hauling out their luggage. Somehow, I found that a little disheartening. I also didn’t quite favor deleting the argument Harry had with Lupin in the basement of Grimmauld Place. Somehow, Lupin was about the only connection to a parent left for Harry that throwing a fair share of lights off him felt upsetting. Another deleted scene I found dissatisfying was Kreacher’s story about how Regulus got hold of Voldemort’s locket if only because that could have added stress on the difficulty of finding Horcruxes.

Ultimately, I wondered how the search for the Ravenclaw diadem in Part II would look like since Part I didn’t feature the stone bust Xenophilius created to imitate it.

Hasty Exposures

I could have done better with clearer Jamie Campbell Bower frames. And I said that more as a viewer than a fangirl, ‘kay? (As if. LOL) Seriously, I understood that what we had of Grindelwald in the first few chapters of Deathly Hallows were mere flickers from Harry’s exposed mind. But then I couldn’t help but expect a more defined scene because I thought Harry’s visions were somehow clear as he saw them in his dreams.

The same idea on hasty exposures was visible in the entire movie. It was as if we were only meant to catch glimpses of the characters. Hagrid, Kingsley, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, even Umbridge and Snape and Draco. They were all accorded but a few lines, if there were at all. Even Ginny got only a handful of seconds (and of course, a kiss). And she was supposedly present however short-lived and quiet.

 

Harry and Ginny

But actually, notwithstanding a little mind-whirring from all these brief and utterly fast-moving scenes, one could see how the movie was supposed to be like that: condensed with characters in the first few chapters and then featuring just the trio in a longer time.

Emotional Content

Now this was something I could give all praises to the movie for. Yes, Deathly Hallows was largely about goodbyes. The series was nearing its end. And in the movie, the lead characters had to say goodbye to what and who they had for a mission that was important however impossible.

These were goodbyes coupled with grief. Over the loss of one’s parents, as in the case of Hermione. Over the loss of Hedwig, which had my eyes literally moist with tears. Let me side-step on this one, first. I thought Hedwig was simply released by Harry, thus altering her gruesome fate. But no, I expected and it didn’t hold.

 

Harry releasing Hedwig

Anyway, yes, grief. Over the loss of Dobby, whose search for freedom was very inspiring even as it’s on the brink of hilariousness. And finally, over the loss of Mad-eye who seemed so strong to be defeated just like that.

But apart from the sharp pangs of goodbye, there was also a ripening of other previously present emotions. Like Harry and Ginny’s love for each other. Like Ron and Hermione’s realizations of feelings for each other. And friendship and jealousy. And of course, the ever-present grief of losing Dumbledore.

All in all, the amount of emotionality that this first part of Deathly Hallows had created made me fear of just how painful the loses of more lives in the second part could be.

Established Foundation

In its entirety, and even amidst my dithering where the movie is concerned, Deathly Hallows Part I had laid an excellent foundation for the next, final part. The movie’s final scene, where Voldemort was shown stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s grave, was an end as much as it was a beginning. Very symbolic, for me, of the war that Part II would start with.

The film also did its best to reconcile all the previous films with what would happen to the final chapters. It answered previous questions while carefully laying out new ones. This said, I considered Deathly Hallows as a bridge and an entire story by itself.

Undecided and uncertain. In the here and now, even after I dissected all my thoughts and feelings about the movie, I still feel indeterminate. But I must say, in its totality and through its flaws and good marks, I love–always will–Harry Potter’s epic tale.

One more year of waiting.

Photo credits: Rotten Tomatoes and The Leaky Cauldron