Last summer, when I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book of the immensely popular series, especially after the halfway point, I thought, “They’ll have to make two films out of this–at 759 pages, it’s got too many characters, plot points, and action scenarios.” Of course, the fifth book, the 870-page Order of the Phoenix was a longer book and it became the shortest movie, so it didn’t follow that the movie adaptors would agree with me, but this report confirms my hopes. Yes, there’s cynical talk of the double finale films being a way to squeeze twice as much revenue out of the franchise, but in this case, there’s simply too much in the text, too many plotlines and character arcs to complete not to two film. I even know the best place for the first part’s cliffhanger ending. Any guesses?
March 16, 2008
Great Adaptations, Part 1: Expecto Correctus!
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I’ve gone back and forth on this one in my head. Steve Kloves (I think he’s still attached to write the adaptation) is a very capable writer. Given the opportunity, I think he could wrangle the burgeoning text of book 7 down to under 3 hours.
ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, in my mind, suffered under its own brevity. This is not to say the effort to condense the story for film wasn’t a good one. Michael Goldenberg is another capable writer, and the cuts he made (guided, I’m sure, by Yates and Warner Bros) helped move the story along quite well. Many of the profound pay-offs, however (much more cerebral in the book and thus more difficult to put on film), just couldn’t get enough of a set up — particularly the denouement with Dumbledore.
Could DEATHLY HALLOWS work as two films? Absolutely. Should it? With Kloves at the keyboard, my inner geek says yes. My more tempered side isn’t as confident. I’m real curious to see how HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (my personal favorite, and the most apt to make the transition from page to screen) does. I wonder if some of the fan momentum hasn’t slowed down after Rowling completed the saga that it might hurt the films.
Comment by taj — March 17, 2008 @ 9:50 pm |
The producers have shrunk the books by eliminating characters and plot threads so much that poor Dobby disappeared from the story after the second film. He plays a major part in 7 of course so now they have to restore him or implausibly rewrite his big scene without him–the price of slenderizing for movies.
The brief Dumbledore Phoenix scene at the end didn’t even establish the importance of Harry’s Prophesy, arguably the whole point of the film, because the writers abhor long scenes of exposition, which are essential payoffs in the books–we get spectacle and drama in the films instead of theme and meaning.
Frankly, the shape of Hallows is more cinematic with its forward thrust and action scenes, and thus I see why they finally decided to halve it–the linear structure and climactic destination make it work for film as well as a novel.
I’ve always liked the first two, more page-by-page films the most, despite what critics say about their plodding (booklike) nature.
Comment by Alex — March 18, 2008 @ 7:31 am |