So I have been rereading the Harry Potter books, in commemoration of the final movie. And it’s … interesting.
I think I finished the first book before the first movie, in fact (and intentionally), which is now a decade ago. I’m surprised to find that it’s only been 4 years since the 7th book (Deathly Hallows) came out — but, in the interim, having a young daughter, I’ve probably watched each of the movies three, four, five times, and that experience has deeply overlaid my whole Potter experience.
It’s interesting looking at my movie reviews here. Beyond general applause for most of the acting and the FX, my criticism is always the amount that got trimmed out to make the books fit into a 2 hourish time slot. Even Deathly Hallows, split into two movies, felt rushed and sketchy at times. Plotlines get snipped, characters’ screen time gets minimized, big background plots (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, anyone?) get elided.
But reading the books now, with greater familiarity with the movies, there’s an interesting complementary effect:
- The movies are often visually stunning. This is sometimes gratuitous, but often the imagery of the movies surpasses the imagery of the books. Seeing can be better than telling. Not always, but sometimes.
- The actors stick with me. It’s impossible for me to read any of the major, recurring characters without visualizing and hearing them as their screen counterparts. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the movie casting tended to be excellent, and the actors in the movies really did a fine job.
- Music has an impact, too.
- While there are cool things that the movies cut out, there are also lots of excess dross that they cut out, too. This is (as I recall) something that becomes more true as the series goes on. Alternately, in a few instances (to cut time, reduce costs, do something fun, or provide a big visual), the screenwriters actually improved on Rowling’s tale.
So I suppose what I really want is the 5-6 hour “director’s cuts” of the Harry Potter movies, incorporating all of the cool stuff that the released movies didn’t include, but with the acting talent and bling that the movies brought to the equation.
Such things don’t exist, of course. But I can still want them.
YET. They don’t exist YET.
Some bright marketing type will get them out eventually, and I’ll buy the set too.
Re: paragraph 2 – It’s been what?
@Marina: I don’t think, in many cases, the footage even exists. It’s not like they filmed the whole book then edited it down (though I’m sure there are clipped scenes that have been or could be restored). In most cases, though, the script was written around the expected running time, more or less.
@Avo: “it’s been …” … several passes on this paragraph, resulting in a fragmentary sentence.