Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Mince
All mush and no myth in HP6
Confession 2: I haven’t read a single Harry Potter book. I am not proud of the fact but it just happened that I somehow never got myself to pick up one of those Bibles.
Confession 3: I have watched all the Harry Potter films and have followed the story sketchily over the years. I wouldn’t know the exact magic spells but I call tell you who killed whom and why, which any HP fan will tell you is quite something in itself.
So here it goes… Just came back from the Half-Blood Prince premiere and I am sorry but it’s just a letdown. Let’s just say that the fantastical world of Harry Potter came crashing down for what my friend calls “raging hormones”. It’s how you feel when you hear Hrithik Roshan is playing Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Nothing wrong with Hrithik, just that the legend of that white suit is so much larger.
That’s the problem with the sixth Harry Potter film. In its 150 minute running time it tries to capture the growing up of three 16-year-olds. It’s like one fine day, they feel the hormones rushing in from somewhere. The Deatheaters, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Draco Malfoy, Snape they are all there, some physically and some in spirit but somehow they all get pushed in the background in this sudden newfound obsession for heartache and heartburn.
You have Harry pining for Ginny, Ron lusting for Lavender Brown and Hermione falling for Ron in this loopy relationship ruckus. I mean after a point of time, you feel you are watching a mellowed version of a National Lampoons movie and then you suddenly realise you are watching a Harry Potter film and you are completely shattered. In fact, if you strain your ear for the background music they use for the Harry-Ginny kiss, you would be convinced that you are watching one of those straight-to-DVD rom coms.
What was this film always about? Simple: the concept of Horcrux and the death of Dumbledore. Well, the Horcrux bit comes out nicely as the flashback device is used effectively to find out how Tom Riddle first came to know of Horcruxes. As for the death of Dumbledore, well, it’s such a disaster. I mean, you develop a relationship – between Harry and the Headmaster – for six films, that’s around 14-15 hours of footage, and then you can’t even spend 15 proper seconds after the death of one of the characters. It’s a pity.
What a moment it was! I remember my office colleague howling at 3 in the morning, when she reached the page of the book where Dumbledore dies. Such was the attachment with the character and Michael Gambon had built such a lovely Dumbledore over the years. Man, had you given that death and funeral scenes to Bhansali, you wouldn’t have gone back home with a dry hanky. That’s assured. Melodrama doesn’t sit easy on those big Holly studio heads… they just know their CGI.
Another huge problem and perhaps the main reason why Half-Blood Prince felt so insipid to me was the main cast. You know when you have Alan Rickman and Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane turning in such brilliant performances, the young guys get caught.
When Daniel, Emma and Rupert were kids, their cuteness would often save the day. But now after five films, you can’t have an excuse. You can’t go on just reading lines. Where’s the expression? Where’s the acting? The three have become such caricatures you don’t know whether to feel sad for them or laugh at them. Come on, Daniel Radcliffe still has to hide his face while crying. Why? Aren’t you the chosen one?
Films like Harry Potter or rather brands like Harry Potter are critic-proof and review-proof. You have to catch it once and I would ask all of you to watch the film for yourself and share what you felt about the film. But honestly, after you have seen the film, just think once – wouldn’t Bollywood have made a much better Harry Potter 6 given its theme of love triangles and personal loss? It would have been low on graphics but surely high on heart.
Tags: "daniel radcliffe", "half-blood prince", "harry potter and the half-blood prince", "pratim d. gupta", Harry Potter, harry potter and the half-blood prince review, Hollywood, j k rowling, Review
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Pratim, the thing with the Harry Potter movies is, (and this is a genuinely unique thing) that the makers of the film can work on the assumption that most of the audience will have read the book, and will be familiar with the intricacies of the plot, hence there is a certain amount of slack in the screenplay they get away with… every single time! (So you see, you are in the minority here, unfortunaely
)
Completely agree with your point about Rickman, Coltrane and Carter making Radcliffe and co. look bad…
P.S. Has anyone seen Robbie Coltrane in “Cracker” that TV series where he played this cranky-yet-brilliant (a la Dr.House) criminal psychologist Dr. Eddie Fitzgerald?? That’s one of my all-time fave shows on TV…
My favorite Harry Potter film is still the third one directed by Alfonso Cuaron (hope I got the spelling right:-p)…other than that all the other ventures are either too sweet or too lame…the last one was decent though…
Pratim- even I saw the premiere of the movie last night.I do agree with you on a couple of things- yes the performance of Daniel,Emma & Rupert sure pales before those of the veterans.And yes I was surprised @ the way Dumbledore’s death came across- it was suddenly like an electric bulb getting fused- no impact!
But regarding the romance & the growing up part- its all there in the book- but as you’ve admitted- you haven’t read it.The movie will surely make money like the previous 5 films of the franchise.All eyes now set on the last book spawning 2 movies ( 2 parts actually ).
Thanks Pratim Ji.
Saved my money! :P
I agree with Aditya. Third instalment of franchise by Alfonso Cuaron was wayyyyyyyyyyyy better!!
Cheers!
See, Prisoner of Azkaban showed that no film is completely controlled by the studios. If Alfonso Cuaron could deliver such a thing from Warner Bros, then why do other makers falter so badly?
It always happens that a reader of a book will mostly feel disappointed on seeing it in celluloid form.It does match to the expectation or worse.Power of human imagination cannot be superseded by a director’s impression on celluloid
@ Sourav: Actually there’s quite a case for bad books making for great movies.
“The Breathing Lesson” wasn’t one of Stephen King’s better works, but the movie based on it, “Stand By Me” has proved to be an enduring classic. There are many, many such examples.. “The Shawshank Redemption” , “The Devil Wears Prada” these were mediocre books made into very, very good movies. The Godfather series is a shining testament to this phenomenon, although I really liked the novel as well…
Great books can beget equally great movies, too.. “Apocalypse Now” which was based on Conrad’s masterpiece “Heart Of Darkness” , Road To Perdition, A History Of Violence, Revolutionary Road, There Will Be Blood, Hazaar Chauraasi Ki Maa… these are just some names off the top of my head.. and lets not even begin with Kurosawa’s and Vishal Bharadwaj’s Shakespearean ventures…
Very true Aditya.Infact I was looking for examples to put across some anomaly with respect to my view point.I could not think of any.Being a big fan of apocalypse now (feature), I am sceptical of reading the book.It would be wrong on my part to do so.
Correction: “Stand By Me” was actually based on “The Body” a novella in the same collection as “The Breathing Lesson”
Now it ain’t all that bad I feel. What is concealed is more fun than what is revealed sometimes. I liked the build up, and occassional flashes, like few lines, few shots, there was certainly more at work than a studio budget and loyalty to the franchise. I will watch it again.
Confession 1: I am not a Harry Potter fan.
Confession 2: I haven’t read a single Harry Potter book. And I am proud of it.
Confession 3: I have watched only 2 of the Harry Potter films( first two) and lost interest.
Lack of innocence in the movie or may be I am not so innocent be the reason!!
Confession 1: I like the Harry Potter franchise. Though I am not a hardcore fan.
Confession 2: I haven’t read a single Harry Potter book either. Its just one of the books to read, and you can’t read every book in this world.
Confession 3: I have watched all the Harry Potter films, and I only like the ones where he has grown up (Prisnor of Azkaban onwards)
Resolve 1: But I will definitely watch this movie. I have read a lot of negative reviews in Yahoo Movies too, but I feel that it still will be better than shortcuts, new yorks, and ishqs.
I avoid movies which are based on the books that I have grown up with, Harry Potter being case in point, you just can’t compress a 700 page book into two and half hours, impossible, I was disappointed with Da Vinci code ,Angels and Demons and all the Harry Potter movies, even Lord of the Rings when I read the entire book.
I think if the Harry Potter franchise is made into a tele-series then it would do more justice to the book. It would churn more money as well.
@Vineet
Totally agree. A tv series will do full justice to the HP series. I watched one HP movie (Goblet of fire) in theater….and it was enough for me. It was so disappointing. They didn’t include some of my favourite parts from the book! Then I saw bits and pieces of first and second movie while surfing channels. Couldn’t take it. HP movies suck!
Pratim, don’t you think the fact that after even watching 5 HP movies you didn’t feel like picking up the next book shows how bad the movies are? :D
I am a huge Harry Potter fan. This was the second best book in the entire series after Prisoner of azkaban and the worst film of the franchise so far… (and to think i was disappointed with the last one)
@setumadhavan… yes the romance was there in the book.. but it was not so in your face that you lost track of the other developments…
for christsake.. the movie is called half-blood prince and all that is there about the prince is harry saying sectum sempera thrice and snape saying i am the half blood prince…
too much teenage hormones all over the place in the movie and all the other characters… neville, dean, etc who formed D.A… whose roles were developed so well over the last few films have not been given any time at all…
As Voldemort would say “No matter. No matter.” It remains a must-watch for me (HP-fan) .. still.
The “Bandh” prevents me from watching the film before Saturday, but going by my experience of the last two films…am sure to be disappointed. the magic and innocence of the books are impossible to capture on screen, it’ll take a monumental scripting process, something that requires time and patience, both lacking with Warner Bros.
but still if you look closely there are occasional moments when JKR’s brilliance translates into the screen, here’s looking at more such moments in HBP
…and oh yes, i AM the biggest potter maniac you’ll find around
“…and oh yes, i AM the biggest potter maniac you’ll find around
”
LOL Rick! that’s so cute! :P I used to claim that in my first yr in college.
Can’t believe all you HP fans actually watch HP movies!
@ Pritam:
I haven’t watched the movie as yet, but iam told it’s tough to follow the movie if one hasn’t read the book.
In the book the romance is given less weightage, but the producers’ seem to have decided to coat a Harry Potter movie with liberal dosage of romance.
Having said that i’ll still watch the movie, but thanks to ur review at least i wont spend big bucks on watching it on IMAX 3D
It’s true- films like these are made with the assumption that the audience has read the book. For example, if you read the book you wouldn’t be lavishing praise on Michael Gambon (otherwise a fine thespian)- Dumbledore may have died in the 6th book, but Gambom killed him off in the 3rd film itself. He is so unlike Dumbledore… it’s like watching James Bond bite his nails and pee in his pants before a villain.
I liked Cuaron’s film, despite Gambon’s appaling debut, and Mike Newell wasn’t bad either. Hated the last Yates film, and even Sirius’s death was robbed of all drama and emotion. Hell, I had visualised a better death scene. :o