Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Wow. Here in the seventh installment of the franchise, the plot pulled the characters out of Hogwarts and put them in the wider world. As a result, the film was primarily made up of the three leads, and the rest of the students were mostly missing from the film. And here we got some truly professional adult performances out of them. Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson were phenomenal. The movies are certainly no longer being made for children to watch.
But as great as Radcliffe and Grint’s performances were, I think the MVP in this movie was Emma Watson. Her acting, by this film, had reached a point of perfection. Her emotions were real and there were several scenes where they were put on display in a visceral way. There was the scene where Ron is injured, and she is putting the healing potion on his wound. She is visibly shaken, barely able to do what needs to be done. There is the scene where Hermione and Harry are in the graveyard, and she feels so bad for her friend’s pain that she creates a wreath on the grave of his parents and puts her head on his shoulder. And later, her screams when Bellatrix is torturing her, were devastating. For me, Watson nearly stole the show.
There were so many things that this movie got right. This is the first part of the final book in the series. The tension that has been building since the first film is just getting tighter and tighter. Yes, this movie feels like setup for the franchise’s big finale, but that’s exactly what it needed to be. And there was still plenty of action and wonderful storytelling. The visuals continued to uphold the high standard of the previous films, and there was just as much magic and wonder. The only difference is that now, most of the whimsy is gone, replaced with a dark and ominous aesthetic that helps to build that tension.
I liked that we got to revisit one of Harry’s best villains, Dolores Umbridge, who was just as perfect now as she was in The Order of the Phoenix. We had a lot of that sequence where three other actors played Harry, Ron, and Hermione, through the use of some pollyjuice potion. And while I’m talking about that whole part of the movie, I loved Peter Mullan as the Death Eater Corban Yaxley. His screen time was short, but memorable.
One of the more unique sequences of the film was actually animated. It was where Hermione is reading the tale of The Three Brothers, which explains what the Deathly Hallows are. It was so beautifully done. They didn’t just give us a cartoon of the story. It was artfully done. I mean, it was a gorgeous sequence. The way that the figure of death is drawn was amazing. Just watch how his robes flow as if he is underwater. Perfection!
Now, I don’t want to be that book snob, but having read the books, I have to confess to a disappointment. The films didn’t really go into the significance of the objects that were turned into Voldemort’s horcruxes and how he obtained them. The books do, and I think it would have been fascinating to see as part of the film. But that’s only a minor complaint.
And I have to mention the masterful way this movie ends, with the death of Dobby. In a way, it was more devastating than the death of Dumbledore because with the Headmaster’s demise, we saw it coming. Also, he was an active combatant in the great war. But Dobby was like an innocent bystander who was just trying to help his friend. And his death was nothing more than an act of cruelty with no purpose. It made for a tear-jerking ending to a great film.
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- Rufus Scrimigeour giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione items left to them by Dumbledore.
- The infiltration into the Ministry of Magic.
- The argument where Ron leaves the company.
- Harry and Hermione dancing, finding a short moment of happiness.
- Ron destroying the Locket
- Ron returns to Hermione.
- The Story of the Three Brothers.
- Dobby rescuing Harry from the Malfoy dungeon. “Of Course, Sir. I’m an elf.”
- Bellatrix’s hint of a smile after she throws the knife that kills Dobby.
- Luna comforting Harry when Dobby dies. “There. Now he could be sleeping.” I love that line.