HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1- Review

This review is spoiler-free as far as Deathly Hallows goes, but may contain spoilers for the previous six films.

At the top, I'm going to say this. I disagree with the decision to break up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two films. The major achievement of David Yates' contributions to the series is the sense of vitality in his films, making one of the better, shorter films out of the weakest and longest book, The Order of the Phoenix. However, I will also say that for a bad idea, this is the best film it could possibly be.

So in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... sigh... Part 1, Harry, Ron and Hermione are left to their dangerous quest. Fragments of Lord Voldemort's soul are secreted within four Horcruxes, seemingly inconspicuous objects that must be located and destroyed. As his Death Eaters overtake the Ministry and impose a dictatorship, Voldemort pledges that he will kill Harry personally. Harry and his friends have never been more alone.

Many of my quibbles with the fans from when last year's Half-Blood Prince was released are consistent here. You can't expect it to be very accessible if you haven't watched the previous six films, and you can't complain that minor stuff was left out of the books in the adaptation. With this instalment particularly, when more passages are lifted directly from the book than ever before, I'm not taking any of the latter. If you know me out there in the real world and tell me that it was vital to hear about what Professor Lupin's been up to since we last saw him, I'm going to Expelliarmus your face off, with my foot.

The particular reason I'm not going to hear a word against David Yates is because his tenure has been the making of this series. Alfonso Cuaron might have made the best of the films to date, but he didn't stick around to build on his work. Yates has directed four of what eventually stands as an eight-part undertaking. And he's done a stellar job with this one. What I liked about Half-Blood Prince was its fine balance of genuinely funny comedy and properly scary horror, but with only half a book to work with, he has to be a little more workmanlike.

I can imagine another of the Potter directors thus far, like Chris Columbus or maybe Mike Newell, doing a lot less with the split. Let's be clear- Part 2 of the story, due out in July, will clearly be an action extravaganza. It's the grand finale. Many would be content to skimp on Part 1 a little. Instead, Yates foregrounds our three leads, taking them out of the thespian-filled halls of Hogwarts and pitching them into a road trip full of dread, isolation and desperation. Having balanced comedy and horror so well in the previous instalment, the jokes seem funnier this time around even though they're weaker than before. Levity is so welcome at these points because the dread is so all-consuming.

The romantic aspect of Half-Blood Prince takes on a new intensity in this instalment. That film was about discovery, delivering on the promise of the minor romantic comedy interlude from Goblet of Fire- teenagers huddling in dark corners of Hogwarts to make out. Outside of Hogwarts' walls, we get an installment that's more about sex. In one terrifically intense scene where Ron's soul is bared by Voldemort, we're given the steamiest scene we're ever likely to see in the family franchise, and it feels like a totally natural development- these aren't schoolkids we're watching. Not anymore.

And to say that it's not as action-packed as other instalments makes me really look forward to the final battle even more. What action scenes there are are amongst the best we've ever seen in this series, from a heart-stopping airborne chase to the climactic magical melee with Voldemort's subordinates. It all looks phenomenal too, with cinematographer Eduardo Serra creating some really fantastic sustained shots that really eke out the highest possible amount of tension.

I normally set some time aside to talk about actors, but the performances have never been the most notable aspect of this series. Daniel Radcliffe actually seems to coast through this one a little more than before, but Rupert Grint and Emma Watson prove their mettle throughout. As I said, it's just those three for great lengths of the film, and you feel like they've earned it, as performers. Amongst the usual new arrivals, Peter Mullan and Rhys Ifans leave the biggest impression, with Bill Nighy shamelessly but necessarily relegated to a couple of cameo appearances. Elsewhere, Helena Bonham Carter continues to steal the show, and there's still not nearly enough of Alan Rickman. This must be rectified in the final part.

As much as I've stressed that it's the best film you can make out of half a book, it's still not flawless. As with the original text, the momentum meanders a little in the second act, and as a result, the third act and makeshift resolution seem rushed by comparison. I also didn't really appreciate how literal the adaptation was this time around- some of the stuff that's directly quoted doesn't work nearly as well on screen as on the page. All of this said, a certain tragic scene near the end wet my eyes more in the film than it did on the page. A single, leaner film would have cut out most of the ancillary stuff, but then a single, leaner film would probably have had to cut the titular Deathly Hallows, which is more of a flaw with the book than the film.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a bad idea, executed extraordinarily well. Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves take all of the dread that characterises the first part of JK Rowling's final chapter and they've distilled it in celluloid form. I just wish they'd made a two hour film out of it instead of a 142 minute film- as it stands, I feel many will dismiss it as a prequel when you clearly have talented filmmakers doing their very best to make it work. The adaptation, more rigid and faithful than ever, still won't please every fan of the books, so why try so hard? The film ends on a massive cliffhanger to mask the lack of a climax, and on the whole, it''s more than good enough to have you counting down the days to the conclusion.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is now showing in cinemas nationwide, in 2D only. (hooray!)
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If you've seen the new Harry Potter film, why not share your comments below? If you were led by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier to expect funnier things from the opening scene with Hermione performing "Forgeticus!", so was I. Sniffle.

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.

Pru Romance

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant make a more dramatic effort in their first feature film together, Cemetery Junction, set in the Reading district of the same name in a seemingly endless summer of 1973. Three lifelong friends, Freddie, Bruce and Snork, rattle around the small town causing havoc. They all feel they're destined for greater things outside of their home, even if they're not sure what yet.

Freddie is focused on more prudential matters than his friends, getting a start away from his working class roots in the life assurance business ran by the imperious Mr. Kendrick. His daughter Julie is Freddie's childhood sweetheart, and when she returns to his life, he finds himself torn between realising his dreams or following Kendrick into a life that's profitable, if not complete.
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Cemetery Junction was not at all what I was expecting. Sure, I'd heard that this was a more serious outing for Gervais and Merchant, who have still regularly inserted proper human drama into the hysterics of The Office and Extras, but what this film offers is something that's consistently both moving and funny. Their influences admittedly stem from Saturday Night Fever and Rebel without a Cause, but I caught more of a whiff of Stand By Me from this, albeit setting the teenage unrest trope in a sleepy English suburb rather than across America. It somehow still feels fresh though.

In no small part, this is down to the cast's performances, none of which are really any less than excellent. To single out one truly wonderful performance, Emily Watson makes a very powerful turn with a few brief scenes as Mrs. Kendrick. To Freddie, she comes to symbolise all that is unfulfilled about your dreams and potential when you're a kid. Her performance is understated, but you can't take your eyes off her whenever she trudges on-screen as the wife to a marvellously sardonic Ralph Fiennes, as Mr. Kendrick.

Even though Watson very much forms its heart, the meat of the story largely goes to Christian Cooke as Freddie, with a nice bit of rebellious angst for Tom Hughes as Bruce. Cooke is the tit who was in Demons and the like on telly, but his big-screen transfer shows he is capable when he has a good script. He sparks off against his winsome love interest Felicity Jones very well, and their romance echoes Tim and Dawn in The Office rather than aping it. Elsewhere, Hughes commands as much attention as anyone else in the story with his troubled relationship with his dad, bringing one of the most moving moments of the film at its climax.
However, Gervais and Merchant don't spare on the comedy they're known for in Cemetery Junction. The state of the police pre-PACE Act, previously played up in Life on Mars, gets a few laughs in the shape of a schlubby and likeable copper who isn't above dishing out a beating to help Bruce learn a lesson. Gervais himself makes a marvellous double act with Anne Reid and they get some of the film's biggest laughs as Freddie's dad and nana respectively. Jack Doolan is endearing as Snork, effectively serving as the dirty-minded comic relief, but even his character gets a resolution before the closing credits. "Barry from Eastenders" is nowhere to be seen, but there's certainly no shortage of comedy, including the reason why Noddy wears a hat with a bell on it.

Despite its vast menagerie of characters and themes, the film never loses focus. Although the art direction is excellent, there isn't too much time given over to it, as in the recent Tom Ford flick, A Single Man. By making you care for its cast of characters and making the period anciliary to the plot, it's closer to last year's An Education. Although that period detail is there if you're looking, the story never stops driving forward, covering an awful lot of ground in its 94 minutes. Not since Lone Scherfig's film have I felt so acquainted with a period I wasn't even alive in.

Even though it still covers an everyman making good and a message that you should never settle for what you're expected to do, Cemetery Junction still marks the turn of a corner for Gervais and Merchant. Even though they've never indulged in the over-the-top antics of some sitcom comedy in their previous works, this feels even more restrained, and is all the better for it. So much of Emily Watson's restraint in the film speaks for the film as a whole, and some of the best and most moving scenes in the film don't even have any dialogue, proving the duo's directorial skill as well as their considerable writing talent. It wears its influences on its sleeve, but it's still as good (and better, I would say) than many of the texts that birthed it.

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Cemetery Junction is playing in cinemas nationwide now. If you've seen it, why not share your comments on the film and on my review below?

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.