We start off with sadness in the memory of Dobby dying.
Fear accompanies our beloved characters as they attempt to enter Bellatrix Lestrange’s (Helena Bonham Carter) vault. Getting caught could cost them their lives.
A sense of excitement and fear are both evident when our heroes are riding the dragon out of Gringotts.
When Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) meet Aberforth (Ciaran Hinds), they feel tremendous confusion. He is a grand mystery to them; Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) never talked about him.
Pride is also evident in this movie when Harry returns to Hogwarts. Many of the students step forward to defend him against other students who would turn him into Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). They care about him. Even Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) demonstrates her pride by chasing Snape (Alan Rickman) out of the castle and relighting the literal fire and internal fire of the school.
Although this is a dark movie, humor is not absent. Professor McGonagall directs two students to blow up the bridge, “boom!” She advises, “Why don’t you confer with Mr. Finnigan (Devon Murray). As I recall he has a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics.” Smart humor. J
Then of course we have the adorable love story between Ron and Hermione. There has to be beauty, even in the dark.
Panic sets in when the eternal fire is started in the Room of Requirement. What do you do when an entire room is engulfed in flames? Well, witches and wizards fly out and let the room take care of itself.
Of course, the connection Harry has to Voldemort is another example of emotion. They can read each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s feelings.
Death, I argue, brings about the most emotion in this movie. Snape’s death is violent and tragic. We, as the audience, feel sadness, compassion, understanding, and pity for this character and the memories he shares with Harry. This is probably the first time most people felt anything but suspicion and loathing for him.
The death of friends is also, for lack of a more sensitive word, amazing. We care that these people died. It saddens us. Fantastic writing.
When Harry comes back to life, hope fills all his followers in the castle.
In the end, we see lust from Ron and Hermione for the elder wand. They just stare after Harry throws it into the water.
I find this movie particularly important to point out emotions because I think the integration of emotion is genius here. It is a dark movie, but light rays of light shine through. There is enough emotion to keep you involved but not so much that it is saturating.
Also, there is enough death that we care about the characters and still feel there is a point to care. Not enough death makes you less invested in the welfare of your favorite character. Too much death makes the audience stop caring about anyone.
So there is basically no analysis of this movie on the internet. So here is an article about differences between the movie and book that people like better in the movie. I have to agree with most of them.
Good bye to Harry Potter monthly (tear... sniff...). Come back next week for a wonderful Pixar movie! Also, on the first Thursday of October, I will start another monthly trend. See you soon!