Monika’s Pensieve

{FILM SPOTTING}

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010, UK/USA)

Release Date (Poland): Unknown, but my guess based on previous years is 26th November 2010
Release Date (worldwide): 17th November 2010
Runtime: Unknown
Director: David Yates
Cast: Emma Watson, Jamie Campbell Bower, Daniel Radcliffe, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Bonnie Wright, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Tom Felton, Rhys Ifans, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Miranda Richardson, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, David Thewlis, Warwick Davis, Evanna Lynch, Brendan Gleeson, Helen McCrory, Julie Walters, Timothy Spall, Stanislav Ianevski, Imelda Staunton, Clémence Poésy, Richard Griffiths, James Phelps, Chris Rankin, Natalia Tena, Matthew Lewis, Oliver Phelps, Fiona Shaw, Harry Melling, Mark Williams
Production House: Heyday Films, Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot: Voldemort is taking over the world, Dumbledore is not there to stop him. Harry, Hermione and Ron try, despite not knowing how to accomplish this.

Trailer

The sceptical part of me thinks that…
Already having a trailer (or something that resembles one) a year ahead of the release date feels a bit weird, but hey I’m not complaining ;-P (apparently, they’re not even sure when the break between part one and part two is going to happen yet!)
The sceptical part of me is hating the little bit of dialogue that’s on the teaser - John Hurt doing the wise old wizard thing. It’s very hammy - sounds even worse than Michael Gambon’s wise old wizard lines from the Half-Blood Prince trailers. I’m going to hope that they’ve taken the worst lines they possibly could for the trailer and that John Hurt is going to be ok in the film (that was the case with Michael Gambon in Half-Blood Prince ;)). I hate those Hollywood wise old wizard conventions grrrr…
Other than that, I’m not too worried… yet ;) And even if John Hurt is going to ham the whole movie like that (which would be a shame - he’s an excellent actor), then it’s not so important - it’s not like he’s going to have a lot of screen time I don’t think :]

The excited part of me thinks that… My expectations for part one are high - the first half of Deathly Hallows is pretty much my favourite part of any of the books. This is not the case with part two cause the second half of Deathly Hallows is probably my least favourite part of the books ;) Plus the second half is very epic and I don’t believe there’s any chance whatsoever that Hollywood will not go the Hollywood route with the really epic stuff :] Especially not with David Yates directing.
But back to part one… We’re going to get some really nice scenery and a lot more of the Trio in the Muggle world and no more Hogwarts uniforms (Radcliffe and Grint even get to have some stubble *grin*), which I’m pretty excited about. Part one has been described as a road movie by some of the cast and crew, which sounds great to me. I’m already finding all the shots of the cast in such different surroundings very cool *grin*
David Yates has also said he’s going to experiment with a more realistic, naturalistic kind of look (handheld camera and stuff) in part one, which I’m extremely excited about. I like when Hollywood risks that sort of thing and it’s also very much in line with the kind of action that is in that part of the book. So far the teaser isn’t too optimistic in this regard (it’s all big tracking shots on the trailer), but the lighting is a bit different - a bit more in the Prisoner of Azkaban vibe and that I’m very happy about :)
I’m particularly loving the shots in the forest. Plot-wise it’s probably my favourite part of any of the books. It’s basically Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting around in the forest and getting frustrated because they have no idea what to do and absolutely nothing else happens for a long time *grin* Judging by message boards, for most people it’s one of the more boring parts of the books, but I totally loved it. I am worried they might cut a lot of it or add more action and special effects or something like that, but I’m liking the shots so far - they look the most naturalistic of all that’s on the trailer, which is also very appropriate.
I’m naturally excited about lots of other things (there’s more than I can list). The cast is particularly alluring as usual *grin* This one should be totally up Daniel Radcliffe’s sleeve. He’s going to get a lot of angst and drama, which is what he’s best at. Rupert Grint is going to have to branch out a bit. There’s going to be some serious angst and drama for Ron this time round - I’m excited to see how he handles that. David Yates was all praise about him and I have a lot of faith in him, so I think this might be special *grin* And I’m naturally curious to see if Tom Felton is going to continue on the level he was on in Half-Blood Prince. He’s going to get less screen time in this, so it might be more challenging, but on the other hand the scenes he does get are such that he should be able to do something interesting with them *grin* I think Emma Watson having to do some sort of love scene with Daniel Radcliffe is going to be totally hilarious (Ron has a sort of jealousy vision in the books). And I’m really looking forward to the seven Potters scene (they get 6 people to transform to look like Harry to confuse Death Eaters at the beginning of the book). It’s weird to actually be looking forward to a special effect scene - I’m usually dreading those ;)
Oh, and last but not least - it’s so nice to see John Williams doing the score again *grin* I like the way the soundtrack sounds on this trailer - so much better than films 4-6.