Dramatic headline which consciously or subconsciously we've all been looking at for weeks now on billboards, on the Internet, in the papers and on television. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has reached our screens at the cinemas and the climax of this extraordinary story, in cinematic terms anyway has blasted our senses at all levels.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but JK Rowling has been pilloried by literary critics for her banal language and plots with loads of holes in them. Really? Well I guess the statistic speak for themselves. In the UK alone, the seven books have sold 27,602,725* and global box office takings EXCLUDING this latest film is (US Dollars) 6,372,000,000.
Well done JK Rowling, you deserve everything you get from this. Your ideas, your work, your effort and time, your determination in sending it to more than 12 publishers who declined the manuscripts. I know at least two writers read this blog and they too will succeed because they have determination and the will to have their work published - to do what? Entertain, mystify, make us laugh, make us cry, stir the emotions and when we finish the book say - wow, that was a really good read.
I went to see the film at Cineworld, Hull last night with friends. The film was exceptional and lived up to the publicity. It had everything you would want in terms of emotions, action, special effects, great plot, extraordinary acting from many characters by a lot of superb world renown actors who gave every effort to make it what it should have been - a spectacle.
I shed tears on a number of occasions, fortunately behind my dark 3D glasses, but after the film, my friends confessed they had done the same.
The 3D effects were not distracting either - a pet hate of mine. You concentrated on the film, not looking for the 3D so well done director David Yates. If I have a concern about the film, I would have said its 12A rating was right on the cusp and I believe that anyone under 12 (who could have gone with parental supervision) would have been affected perhaps by at least two of the scenes. But on the plus side there is no gratuitous showing of violence and no swearing, even from Ronald Weasley who often slips in "bloody hell!"
I will miss Harry Potter, the actors, the stories, the now familiar plots, the magic, the fun, seeing familiar faces grow up into adults over the last ten years of the most brilliant franchise films which, apart from a couple of blips, held the imagination and left you desperately wanting the next film.
Recommended? Hell yes!
Chat soon
Ta-ra.
*Source Neilson BookScan
Tried to read the books but I am not a dialogue person on the whole - I like descriptive writing, so I barely got past page one. Have not seen any of the films. But, I know it has encouraged many children and young people to read so in my book that makes it a huge contribution and I really admire her for it.
ReplyDeleteHi Weaver
ReplyDeleteI agree, you are absolutely right, that's how she moves her plots on by the characters talking about issues. However, you make a great point of getting younger children to read.
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My kids are Potter geeks, especially the eldest, she was 8 when we read the first book and every summer, in her school holidays she re reads the whole series. On Friday morning she and I went to see the last film together (as we have seen every film) and she bawled like a baby. This love of HP has been her whole life, being at bookstores at midnight to get the latest, sitting up all night reading from cover to cover, it's been an absolute delight xxx
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to the first book by the daughter of a friend and was immediately hooked. I have read them all as they were published and not really noticed the plot holes and mistakes, I could never have done as well myself and the enjoyment I got was greater than the sum of all the mistakes. I was in America when the first movie was released and was surprised to find that certain groups objected to the books on the grounds that reading them would make people become witches, which was against the teaching of the bible. Interesting that someone would believe that reading a book was capable of doing something that was inherently impossible, but never mind. Another odd thing was that in the USA, both the book and the movie were titled ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ not ‘.. and The Philosopher Stone’ as JKR titled the book in the first place. No other titles were changed and I have often wondered why they altered that one.
ReplyDeleteThe movies have been mildly disappointing in as much as no producer/director team ever get them right but again they were more enjoyable than the sum of the incorrect story line. I have not seen the latest one yet but anticipate enjoying that one too. The interesting thing now is what comes next? I cannot imagine any movie maker or publisher just letting go of such a huge money spinner, there is no such thing as ‘enough’ in those industries.
Hi Auntiegwen
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the film, when you put it like that, it's easy to forget that for a lot of our kids, it's been around all their lives. I will genuinely miss it. Did you shed a tear - I certainly did!
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Hi Snafu
I loved the books too - I read the 'Order of the Phoenix', my favourite, several times. My honest belief is the JK Rowling will write an adult version in a few years time and if she isn't planning it now, I would be very surprised. I guess for me, the films have made the best they can within the limitatons of the genre.
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