I see our great minds are thinking alike in most things HBP.
--Poor Maggie's hair and robes. Ugh. She looked fine in her hat in the early corridor scene with Harry -- because the hideous old-lady hair was covered up. What part of "black bun" do the costumers not get? The entire principle, apparently. Another LJ friend says that her robe looks like something designed by a mad Klingon. One of these days I'm going to post a full rant about McGonagall on film.
--Sorry as I was not to see it, I also understand why they cut the "I'll write Augusta" scene. But at least we have fanfic to let us follow up on it.
--About the Burrow-burning: at first, I couldn't imagine why they had added this seemingly-unnecessary scene, with all the unnecessary complications it adds. But then I read someone else's theory that the writers wanted to give a sense of how much the Weasleys sacrifice for the war, and since they had cut out the Bill/Fenrir mauling (which would have required hiring more actors or something), the fire is the alternative. I'm not sure I'm completely sold on this explanation (how much cheapter could staging a fire be?), but at least it tries to make some sense of the otherwise inexplicable. Still, I don't think they plan on cutting the entire Bill/Fleur relationship in the DH films. I've read that they've already filmed a scene at Shell Cottage. So why not just bring in the actors now? And let us understand more about Fenrir?
--I remain totally baffled about the absense of "I'm not a coward." What a loss. I agree with Moira -- that whole scene between Harry and Snape, such a defining moment in the book, seemed just thrown away.
--I loved the wand-raising scene because of Dame M (and nice support from Gemma Jones), but it is a rather trite idea, I fear. Plus, as another LJ person said, it took one Death Eater to raise the Dark Mark and a whole courtyard full of "good guys" to remove it? But still, I'm with you: Maggie's two-second facial reaction made the film for me. She and Pomfrey and the others make the scene work very powerfully.
--It's too bad that both McG and Snape were sidelined as much as they were. In McG's case, that at least fits the book (where she was woefully underused and, when she did appear, mostly misused). But Snape is the HBP, for cryin' out loud.
--Oh, yeah -- that silly hospital ward scene. So much opportunity wasted.
"Severus ... Please ..." Words that hang around an actor's neck like an albatross.
Definitely. But he did do a fine job with it.
I don't envy Maggie Smith that "NO!" in the Battle of Hogwarts. But she'll pull it off, and if the director doesn't let her, I'll want to hire a reliable, not too expensive killer.
I expect she will pull it off if it's included, but it will inevitably be an anticlimax; that's the sort of thing that works in books (to the extent that it does) because each reader can hear it his/her own way. It gains resonance from not being pinned down, the way film has to. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were left out. I wouldn't be surprised if McG's entire role in the battle weren't diminished significantly. She's never been really a powerful presence in the films, much to my dismay. I doubt that they'll change her character dynamic at this point.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-02 07:08 pm (UTC)--Poor Maggie's hair and robes. Ugh. She looked fine in her hat in the early corridor scene with Harry -- because the hideous old-lady hair was covered up. What part of "black bun" do the costumers not get? The entire principle, apparently. Another LJ friend says that her robe looks like something designed by a mad Klingon. One of these days I'm going to post a full rant about McGonagall on film.
--Sorry as I was not to see it, I also understand why they cut the "I'll write Augusta" scene. But at least we have fanfic to let us follow up on it.
--About the Burrow-burning: at first, I couldn't imagine why they had added this seemingly-unnecessary scene, with all the unnecessary complications it adds. But then I read someone else's theory that the writers wanted to give a sense of how much the Weasleys sacrifice for the war, and since they had cut out the Bill/Fenrir mauling (which would have required hiring more actors or something), the fire is the alternative. I'm not sure I'm completely sold on this explanation (how much cheapter could staging a fire be?), but at least it tries to make some sense of the otherwise inexplicable. Still, I don't think they plan on cutting the entire Bill/Fleur relationship in the DH films. I've read that they've already filmed a scene at Shell Cottage. So why not just bring in the actors now? And let us understand more about Fenrir?
--I remain totally baffled about the absense of "I'm not a coward." What a loss. I agree with Moira -- that whole scene between Harry and Snape, such a defining moment in the book, seemed just thrown away.
--I loved the wand-raising scene because of Dame M (and nice support from Gemma Jones), but it is a rather trite idea, I fear. Plus, as another LJ person said, it took one Death Eater to raise the Dark Mark and a whole courtyard full of "good guys" to remove it? But still, I'm with you: Maggie's two-second facial reaction made the film for me. She and Pomfrey and the others make the scene work very powerfully.
--It's too bad that both McG and Snape were sidelined as much as they were. In McG's case, that at least fits the book (where she was woefully underused and, when she did appear, mostly misused). But Snape is the HBP, for cryin' out loud.
--Oh, yeah -- that silly hospital ward scene. So much opportunity wasted.
"Severus ... Please ..." Words that hang around an actor's neck like an albatross.
Definitely. But he did do a fine job with it.
I don't envy Maggie Smith that "NO!" in the Battle of Hogwarts. But she'll pull it off, and if the director doesn't let her, I'll want to hire a reliable, not too expensive killer.
I expect she will pull it off if it's included, but it will inevitably be an anticlimax; that's the sort of thing that works in books (to the extent that it does) because each reader can hear it his/her own way. It gains resonance from not being pinned down, the way film has to. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were left out. I wouldn't be surprised if McG's entire role in the battle weren't diminished significantly. She's never been really a powerful presence in the films, much to my dismay. I doubt that they'll change her character dynamic at this point.