5/11/20 - Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
7.2 - Perhaps, My Favorite Yates
I would like to say again, that I do not hate David Yates.
Yates has been the helmsman of the Harry Potter - now “Wizarding World” - films for over thirteen years now. He has directed six installments in the series - and is penned to direct three more Fantastic Beasts movies, bringing that total to potentially, nine - and as such, the man has become as much an authoritative voice on the magical world as anyone.
I do not discount the years of work he has put into creating spectacular hours of entertainment for millions upon millions of clamoring fans around the world. At time of writing, I have no reason to believe that David is not a nice person. My most principal issue with him, and with the Wizarding World franchise at large right now is that the series has lost the diversity of vision and artistry it had in the earlier films. It has stagnated under the vision of one man (Yates) and one woman (Jo).
**Deep sigh** That said - I do really like what was achieved with Deathly Hallows - Part 1.
I made the decision to do two seperate reviews for the two halves of Hallows mainly due to wanting to give each movie the attention it deserved. While they were filmed and marketed as one massive climactic story, they are separate features in the eyes of Box Office Mojo, and as such, are separate pieces in mine.
To that end - I really liked Part 1 from the first time I saw it. I think, in being (the first half of) a final chapter, the film strikes a really nice balance between being a synthesis of elements of the previous six films; drawing on that nostalgia; and using the trademark realism of Yates to lean into the stark desperation of the Horcrux hunt and the crumbling Wizarding World. The staggering weight of what these three (baby) seventeen year olds are trying to accomplish is palpable.
I’ve repeatedly affirmed that I consider Half-Blood Prince the farewell tour for the typical Hogwarts school year. Likewise, Part 1 is a thrilling “greatest hits,” of previous setpieces and characters. We return, one last time, to Privet Drive, the Burrow, the Ministry of Magic, and Grimmauld Place; and this old guard is interwoven with new, gorgeously realized book locales like Godric’s Hollow, Malfoy Manor, and the half dozen campsites the Trio set up throughout the movie.
Perhaps the biggest criticism I’ve seen leveled against Part 1 is that it’s boring; and that is not unfounded, but it’s intentional. Forced out of school and on the run, with nothing but cryptic clues from dead men to guide them in their quest to defeat Voldemort - the Trio spends a lot of the movie spinning their wheels while trying to figure out what to do next. I think the long, meditative stretches of Harry and Co. in the forest successfully emphasize the helplessness of their situation - the film is fun; it never goes too too long without an action sequence to keep you engaged, but it sure as hell isn’t fun for Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
I think this is in part the best Yates film because it feels the most desperate. Yes, we don’t go toe-to-toe with Voldemort and his uber-wand until Part 2 - when he’s besieging and bombing a school; but the loneliness and isolation, and crushing weight of the Trio’s responsibility in this film is all encompassing. It’s thankfully balanced with a healthy does of magic and mystery - these were ostensibly children’s books, remember? - but the stakes have never felt higher for our heroes than in this film. You feel it with them.
Like any good penultimate chapter does, Part 1 arranges the kindling for Part 2 to set alight. While I also definitely like Part 2 - it’s a far cry from whiffing the serve - it’s almost all climax and falling action. If Part 1 is 140 minutes of clicking uphill on a roller coaster, then Part 2 is 140 minutes of loop de loops and sharp turns. That isn’t to say it’s bad - it’s a damn fine roller coaster - I just think I prefer the buildup to the coasting.
And, for all the high stakes and somber tone, Part 1 is also effectively 140 minutes of three friends on a camping trip through picturesque British countryside; which, as your resident Coziness Advocate, I find fabulous.
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Stray Observations:
A.) Cold Opens and the Battle of the Seven Potters (July, 1997)
Oh look, it's Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) as Scrimgeour.
The opening tracks of Part 1 in particular are bangers - “Obliviate,” and “Snape to Malfoy Manor,” were in regular rotation on my iPod in high school.
I think it’s a great dramatic choice to include the scene where Hermione obliviates her parents on screen - it adds real weight to the seriousness of what the trio is going to try and undertake (feat. Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) as Mrs. Granger).
Dan’s apocalypse lewk - Harry, “Off to Save the World in a Hoodie,” Potter.
I distinctly recall there was an absurd marketing campaign for Part 1 during the 2010 holiday season (the film was released in November) that featured the clip of Voldemort telling Snape, “We saved you a seat…”; Ah yes audience, don’t you too, want to be sitting at the Wizard Nazi high table? For Christmas?
I mentioned him in passing in my review of the novel, but Peter Mullan as Yaxley is such a deliciously sinister Scottish villain.
So - in the films I’m not sure that Pius Thicknesse is imperiused? Like he seems to have his faculties about him, and the cinematic language seems to imply he’s being coerced to help the Death Eaters as opposed to being puppeteered to? He even shows up at the Battle of Hogwarts in Death Eater robes? Just a curious change.
More of a general note - but Part 1 received an Oscar nom for Best Art Direction, and I’d contend it’s easy to see why as early as Malfoy Manor - a gorgeously chilling council of villains.
Got a bit choked up when Harry opened the cupboard under the stairs to find a sad, lone toy soldier leftover from his residence there.
There is an excellent deleted scene created for the film where Harry wishes Petunia goodbye, and she remarks how she knows the kind of danger they’re both in, because when Lily was killed, Harry “didn’t just lose a mother,”; Petunia “lost a sister.” Fiona Shaw gets very little to do with the character in the latter films, so it’s a shame it was cut.
“Yeah, he’s absolutely gorgeous. Let’s all get under cover before someone murders him.” - Moody (Bless Brendan Gleeson in this role).
It’s a testament to his skill as an actor (and the hair and makeup department) that after years of playing ginger space-fascist General Hux in Star Wars, Domhnall Gleeson plays a perfectly charming Bill Weasley in this film that’s unrecognizable from the Hux role.
“Granger, as discussed.” **Hermione rips out a lock of Harry’s hair** - Fabulous.
Dan’s many impressions of his castmates polyjuiced into Harry is a nice bit of fun; “Harry, your eyesight really is awful.”
Also got a little emotional when Hagrid says the quiet part loud, and explains how he’s taking Harry away from Privet drive on the same bike he brought him there on sixteen years ago, and the twinkling opening chords of Hedwig’s Theme play.
The Battle of Seven Potters itself is appropriately epic; while Harry and Hagrid’s dip into Muggle traffic is visually cool, they definitely inadvertently killed some people.
It’s Hedwig, rather than Harry’s Expelliarmus that identifies him to the Death Eaters; perhaps because verbal spellwork has fallen out of fashion in the films.
I actually got chills during the wide shot of Voldemort closing in on the motorbike - he feels appropriately terrifying.
The “holey” humor translates well to screen - bless the Phelps twins’ rapport.
B.) The Wedding and the Escape (August, 1997)
The Ginny/Harry kiss before the wedding sucks, As a couple they have no chemistry whatsoever and are painfully wooden.
Okay so the Burrow’s magical defenses can hold back Voldemort - but Scrimgeour just strolls right in?
The updated Deluminator prop is cool and I want one.
Hermione explicitly mentions the Chamber of Secrets in discussion of the Sword of Gryffindor - nice bit of continuity.
The wedding proper is a lovely set piece with a lovely, lively score.
The Lovegoods’ cameo is also pleasant - Rhys Ifans’ Xenophilius Lovegood is aggressively Welsh.
Chekov’s Bathilda Bagshot is first mentioned by Aunt Muriel.
The flight from the wedding is properly harrowing - the Death Eater’s appearance feels appropriately akin to a terrorist attack.
It struck me on first viewing and every time since - there’s an explicit view of Piccadilly’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (now closed) in the establishing shots once the Trio apparates to London. As much of an emphasis I put on placing these stories within a timeline - in a lot of ways they feel unmoored from modernity; the appearance of the tacky Ripley’s signs firmly root the films (production-wise, anyway) in the 2000s.
The diner where the three take shelter is aces; I adore a good cinematic diner. The skirmish with the Death Eaters basically plays like an Old West shootout and is excellent; (furthermore, in a subtle peace of filmmaking - the Death Eaters walk in seconds after Hermione breaks the taboo).
Emma gets a few nice acting moments in this section - her emotional turmoil while she obliviates the Death Eaters, and her hesitant, tired, “We’re alone,” in Grimmauld’s Place are a pair of nice moments.
It was around this point in my rewatch I recognized the unfortunate parallels Part 1 has with its late 2000s box office competitor, Twilight - a pair of YA series focused on very pale teens in the woods with a final chapter split into two films. An unfortunate trend of the times; Part 1 doesn’t deserve that.
Kreacher’s backstory is heavily abridged - he has barely more than a cameo to establish him in Phoenix - but I appreciate his interactions with both the live-action actors and the reintroduced Dobby.
Also Dobby’s voice actor is Toby Jones, of Doctor Who “Dream Lord” fame, and Arnin Zola in the Captain America movies.
The Death Eater search of the Hogwarts Express is a nice new scene, and a nice upset to the status quo.
Newly minted Minister Thicknesse calls the Ministry “a temple of tolerance,”which read to me as a very insincere right-wing bit of lip service. Similarly drawing on conservative talking points - “you have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide.”
The Ministry officials in charge of the reorganization appear to be Thicknesse, Yaxley, Umbridge, and Runcorn; feat. Disaster Zaddy, Scabior (Nick Moran).
C.) The Ministry Infiltration and the Forest (September, 1997)
In light of the fascist takeover, the Ministry is more stuffed shirt and monochrome than ever, and gorgeously brutalist.
Excellent semi-comedic performances from the adult actors playing the Trio; (Sophie Thompson - Hermione; Steffan Rhodri - Ron; David O’Hara - Harry).
Imelda Staunton returns in glorious form as an even more despicable Umbridge, drawing horrific perverse pleasure from sending Mudbloods to magical gulags.
A nice detail - Umbridge’s cat patronus actually hisses at Harry/Runcorn before he stuns Dolores.
I. Miss. The Stag Patronus.
Properly shocked more Ministry officials don’t recognize Public Enemy #1 in the midst; like there’s a good 90 seconds of screen time or so before somebody calls attention to the de-polyjuiced Trio.
Skipping ahead - Hermione’s brush with Scabior and the Snatchers in the forest is properly tense - nice visual storytelling revealing the effects of the defensive charms.
The list of names of the Wizarding radio is a nice bit of sound design to motivate Ron’s descent into righteous frustration at their situation.
**Hermione giving Harry a haircut** “Oh my god...”
**Hermione scurries off** **Harry panickedly pats his head** - Fabulous sight joke.
“No you don’t know how it feels! Your parents are dead!”; I know this scene has been memed to death, but I actually think it’s a great bit of acting from Rupert, and true to the emotionality of teens.
Hermione leaves her scarf tied to a tree for Ron to find; Scabior has added it to his ensemble when the Trio is captured at the end of the film.
Especially when it’s just Harry and Hermione on their own (during the winter), the landscapes where they pitch their tent are just properly stunning.
Furthermore - Emma has a really nice peacoat and Harry a comfy-ass looking sweater throughout this section.
I really like the dance scene; the most common criticism I’ve seen levied against it is that it’s Harry/Hermione ship fanservice; but I think it’s a nice spot of levity in a very grim movie, and two desperate, depressed people helping each other be less sad. There is undeniable romantic tension between the two, which they don’t act on; and I think it’s a nice closing of the door on how the two feel about each other.
Also, the song (“O Children” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), slaps.
D.) Godric’s Hollows and the Silver Doe (December, 1997)
Godric’s Hollow is another gorgeous location; a quiet, snowy, cozy British hamlet? Give it to me.
The moment at Lily and James’ grave is another nice piece of solid, subtle acting from Emma and Dan.
It took seeing the exploded Potter Cottage to put this together for me - both times, Voldemort is killed by a backfiring Killing Curse. The most powerful dark wizard in history is effectively killed (twice) by a backfiring gun.
Bathilda’s cottage and Bathilda herself are properly unsettling - it’s always creepy to hear Parseltongue. The collapse of Bathilda’s puppeteered corpse to reveal Nagini is among the most horrific things in the entire series; the concept art is even worse (I encourage a Google if you can stomach it).
Pushing forward again - I believe jumping into the frozen lake for the sword in his skivvies is the nakedest we the audience ever see Dan in the films (**cough** Equus **cough**).
The voice from the Locket Horcrux is perhaps the closest on-screen depiction to what I read Book-Voldemort’s voice like; Horcrux-Harry & Hermione’s makeout sesh is really yuck (which, I suppose is the intended purpose).
“You. Complete. Arse, Ronald Weasley.” - Again, Hermione beating the shit out of Ron upon his return is fabulous.
E.) The Deathly Hallows (December, 1997)
The countryside where the Lovegood House/Rook is is gorgeous.
“When are you going to stop being mad at him?” “I’m alway mad at him.” - Hermione needs a nap.
The Tale of Three Brothers animation is lovely and bizarre; the character design is reminiscent of Coraline or The Little Prince (2015) for me.
So - in the film, the “Angry Cloud” Death Eaters bombard the Lovegood house instead of, you know, just showing up and searching the place like your average Secret Police. I suppose it streamlines the scene and bypasses the back and forth about the Erumpent/Crumple-Horned Snorckack horn; but it doesn’t seem the best way to capture alive the seventeen year-old kid your boss is so obsessed with.
This is where any correlation with the film/book timeline really breaks down. The remainder of Part 1 and the whole of Part 2 seem to only take a couple of days; whereas the book gives the Trio significant breathing room between Xenophilius and their capture, and a few weeks at Shell Cottage before the endgame really kicks into effect. Again, I’m one of dozens of millions of fans who give anything resembling a shit about this… just perhaps worth noting for those paying attention.
F.) Malfoy Manor & Shell Cottage (????, 1997/1998)
The Snatcher chase where the sound fades out is actually a properly chilling scene. Since the Ministry coup the Snatchers have been something of a lingering threat, but confronted with a small band of these creeps, it is underlined again that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are just kids, and are damn lucky to have made it as far as they did without being caught.
Minus the Line-Reading-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I really do appreciate the manic, sexy(?), terrifying energy of Bonham-Carter’s Bellatrix. Her frenzy against the Snatchers when she sees the sword is properly scary, and the fact that she tortured Hermione by non-magically carving “Mudblood” into Hermione’s arm is properly evil.
^Especially if **takes a shot** a newly-born Delphini is supposed to be somewhere in the Manor at this point in the timeline.
It’s explained well enough how Aberforth acquired the two-way mirror he’s been using to watch Harry (buying it off of Mundungus); but the film kind of glosses over how he knew to send Dobby to the Malfoy Manor basement, as Harry does not explain verbally where they are, as he does in the book.
Dobby stunning Pettigrew is the last time we see Peter in the films. I realize seeing him choked out by the glove might be pushing the limits of the Part 1’s PG-13 rating (and the runtime), but I do always feel like his arc is just left dangling in the cinematic canon, rather than being properly wrapped up.
Dobby’s last stand is properly noble and tragic - he’s back just long enough to re-endear himself to the audience before he gets knifed; eight years after his initial film appearance.
What with being right on the sea, Shell Cottage feels like it’s jutting off the end of the world - it has the real energy of a “final” place.
Now that it’s all said and done, I kind of can’t imagine where else the two parts could’ve been divided up to better suit story flow… I just feel like while Part 1 is a really great penultimate chapter, Part 2 is just - all climax. It’s all dessert after courses of artisanal finger food (that you had six months ago). I definitely enjoy both parts, and I think taken as a five-hour-or-so epic, they’re a solid capstone to film series; I just feel like almost too much of the latter film is spent on the Battle of Hogwarts (and yet, we hardly get more than fanservice from all the returning extended cast).
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But more on that next time. I’ll be back in two weeks to recap the final Harry Potter film; and then the real fun begins, as we begin our trek into the decade of content released since Deathly Hallows - Part 2.
Till then, keep well, keep warm, keep healthy, and I hope to see you back.
Thanks for reading!
- JMC
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