Nov. 19, the long-awaited first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” opens in America.
Fans of the series already know the plot, but how director David Yates has transformed the book into a movie will still be fascinating to see. The book certainly offers enough suspense and action for a great film.
At the end of the sixth book, Harry decided not to return to Hogwarts but rather to continue the work of the late headmaster Dumbledore – namely find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes.
Therefore, this movie is not set in Hogwarts, but rather follows Harry, Hermione and Ron as they travel the country in search of Horcruxes.
These magical objects contain parts of Lord Vordemort’s soul and must be destroyed before Harry can face Voldemort in battle.
Harry must find and destroy the remaining five–Tom Riddle’s diary and Salazar Slytherin’s ring had been destroyed in earlier books. Otherwise, Voldemort cannot be killed, because his soul will live on in the fragmented pieces contained in these Horcruxes.
Hogwarts could be seen as one of the characters in the movies and the change of location will certainly shift the film’s focus.
For the first time, the three main characters have no one to depend on but themselves.
This last book was certainly different than the first six in that it was the most mature and dark. This will be reflected in the tone of the film.
Love will also start playing a bigger role, as Hermione and Ron tentatively develop their relationship.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is the last book in J. K. Rowling’s series about the wizarding “Boy Who Lived.”
In order to properly capture the events of the last book, the producers decided to cut the movie into two, allowing more time to stay true to the novel.
Some fans criticized this decision and accused the studio of trying to make more money off their series.
Others, myself included, hope this move allowed the filmmakers to stay truer to the story and not change so much, as was the case with previous films. Despite the fact that previous Harry Potter film adaptations disappointed fans of the books, the two last parts of this series are still must-see movies. The Harry Potter books are a pop culture phenomenon which will most likely survive over time. Whether welcome or not, the movies are part of it – even if the books will always be better than the film adaptations.
