ryan.smith.blog

I have been reading back through the Harry Potter books and I keep finding surprises at every turn. Although I thought I remembered the stories as Rowling wrote them, there are little details that I had confused with the movie versions. It's proof that images are often more powerful than words (and that I have a bad memory).

Revisiting the Hogwarts of the novels also inevitably causes me to bemoan the shortcomings of the recent films. It seems to have all started with the death of Richard Harris. When Harris died, the Dumbledore of the screen died as well. Michael Gambon, while a very talented actor, has drastically misinterpreted the role, turning the wise headmaster into a sort of buffoon, rather than the benevolent father figure he is in the novels. And though many praised Alfonso Cuaron's direction of "The Prizoner Of Azkaban", the heart simply wasn't there. The first two films, directed by Chris Columbus, were hardly avant-garde, but they certainly had heart, and succeeded in translating Rowling's vision to the screen.

Yes, I am still excited about seeing "The Order Of the Phoenix" (see previous entry), but I have to admit that a part of the magic is gone for me. It is a reassuring thought that I can always return to the page to see Hogwarts untainted and Dumbledore alive and well, as wise and benign as ever.