Dark Days for Harry Potter

Written by Alejandro A. Riera | 14 July 2009

Welcome back, Steve Kloves. You were sorely missed. You very rarely get the credit you deserve for bringing the Harry Potter novels to life on the big screen. Yes, you were waaaay too literal on the first two films. But you began to spread your wings with “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” With director Alfonso Cuaron as your best ally, you let Harry Potter fans know that, when it comes to adapting J.K. Rowling’s series (or for that matter any work of literature), you don’t need to do the “Greatest Hits of Harry Potter.” All you need to do is be faithful to the spirit of the books. Acknowledge that film is a different beast and that it can never compete with that big screen in our minds called imagination.

I understood the need for you to take a break with “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” in order to prepare for the one-two punch of Books 6 and 7 in the series. For while scriptwriter Michael Goldenberg did a splendid job in streamlining that monster of a book (the most cumbersome of the entire series), into a manageable 139 minutes of screen time, something was missing. After seeing “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” I finally realized what it was. Kloves has been living with these characters since Day One. They are as much a part of his creative DNA as they are of Rowling’s. He knows personally what makes them tick.

“Order of the Phoenix” also marked the debut of British TV director David Yates and it showed. While his handling of the more character-driven scenes was spot-on, his direction of the action sequences left me unimpressed, particularly the handling of a key death in the series. Although he commits the same mistake with the death of another key character in “Half-Blood Prince,” Yates’ direction is much stronger. He now understands, even cherishes, these characters. He creates a perfect balance between dark and light, between joy and despair.

Voldemort mat be absent in this sixth film, but his Death Eaters are wrecking havoc left and right in the wizard and muggle worlds. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) asks Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) to accompany him to Horace Slughorn’s house and use him as bait to recruit Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) back to Hogwarts. Slughorn could very well have the key to Voldemort’s defeat and Dumbledore needs Harry to find it. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has been recruited by the Dark Lord himself to conspire within the walls of Hogwarts.

As dark storm clouds gather in the distance, Hogwarts’ student body falls prey to their own hormonal needs. Harry has a crush on Ron’s sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright), and Hermione (Emma Watson) is pining after Ron (Rupert Grint) who is being chased by one Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave). The dialogue and the comedic timing in these scenes, as well as the most heart-wrenching sequences, are exquisitely handled. Yates and Kloves treat these teenage affairs with the maturity and respect they deserve. It’s hard not to identify with these characters’ pains and joys as they encounter, for the first time, a whole new set of conflicting emotions.

I still think that Michael Gambon is a much better Dumbledore than Richard Harris: he has that right mix of childish wonder and adult somberness required by the role. But, as far as the adult cast goes, this is Broadbent’s and Alan Rickman’s show. Rickman endows his Snape with a greater serpentine quality and Broadbent is simply wonderful as the almost buffonish but sad Slughorn.

Even though Yates and director of photography Bruno Delbonnel opted for a darker, metallic palette for the film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is visually stunning and gorgeous. The music by Nicholas Hooper avoids all the melodramatic pitfalls of John Williams’ past scores for the series.

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner Azkaban” is still my favorite film in the series. But “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is an equally strong entry. Let’s see what wonders Yates, Kloves and their team will have for us in the final two films of the series.