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| Does
he like what he sees? Radcliffe in Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows Part 1. |
The
Set-Up
By
Ann Morrow
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Directed
by David Yates
Above
the conference table, a woman is suspended, in obvious distress,
and showing signs of having been tortured. At the head of
the table is Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) surrounded by
his minions; Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) among them. And
revealing itself from underneath is a snake, a monstrous reptile
that slithers toward the woman with its jaws open wide. The
scene borders on horror, and that’s just for starters in the
darkest, and final, book in J.K. Rowling’s epic saga of the
wizardly kids of Hogwarts.
Only they’re not at Hogwarts anymore, and they’re no longer
kids. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione
(Emma Watson) are on their own after a wondrously choreographed—and
tragically sabotaged—escape from the evil forces that have
taken over the Ministry of Magic. This epic first half (Part
2 is scheduled for release in July) has come a long, long
way from The Chamber of Secrets. Though it’s not the
best in the series (returning director David Yates has yet
to match the enchantment that Alfonso Cuaron brought to The
Prisoner of Azkaban), Deathly Hallows does the
justice to the book’s eddying plunges of darkness and despair
without being a downer. Even the fascist overtones to the
Ministry’s corrupt regime (ensconced in a gleaming edifice
that’s as forbidding as any dungeon), where Muggles and other
folk of impure wizard lineage are declared enemies of the
realm, the school-spun spells and daring of the trio create
a diverting ruckus. In this installment, it’s especially fortunate
that the series has kept its original actors, and all three
handle the nastier aspects of the story with aplomb.
And that’s important, because for overly long stretches of
narrative, they wander the wilds, searching for horcruxes
(objects containing the slivered soul of Voldemort) while
evading Death-Eaters (an excellently costumed rabble of post-Mod
fops) and being drawn into the deeper, older magic of the
Deathly Hallows, three talismans of legendary power. If you
don’t know what the Deathly Hallows are, you may get lost
in the plot, but once lost, you may not care, since the screenplay
by Harry Potter movie stalwart Steve Kloves explains
it as well as could be expected, including a shadow puppet
story-within-the-story. It’s during their downtime in a desolate
campsite that the plots sags, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione
engage in talky, young-adult behaviors that slow the action.
More moving are their individual efforts to come to terms
with what their quest is doing to their families, and that
includes Harry, who journeys to the village of his birth to
visit his parents’ gravesite, a risky trek that leads him
into the depths of deception. This twist almost makes up for
a poorly designed sequence in which Ron encounters his worst
fears—and the series’ first tacky attempt at sexing up the
visuals.
Newbie Rhys Ifans may not be of a caliber of other guest thespians
such as Jim Broadbent, but he’s perfect as Luna’s loony father,
who is strategically out-of-it in mind and action. The film
changes tone more than is necessary, especially in contrast
to the previous installment, The Half-Blood Prince,
which created an entire universe out of an especially magical
rendering of Hogwarts. Academy Award heavyweights Alexandre
Desplat (composer) and Eduardo Serra (cinematography) are
given distracting prominence—the score is a bit bombastic,
and Serra is a shade too realistic in his depictions of windswept
desolation. Still, the wider vistas do contribute to the story’s
controlled sprawl, and the absence of Professor Dumbledore
(and Michael Gambon’s irreplaceable magnetism) can’t be helped:
Harry is heading to his destiny as the Chosen One, a destiny
that Part 1 does a better job of setting up than foretelling.
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