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We’re both familiar with the story, of course. I’ve read the book several times, the last time being in 2019. But the film is a different experience, inevitably with some scenes cut and slightly different dialogue. The plot is well-known: young Harry is bundled up and left with his ‘Muggle’ aunt and uncle after his parents are killed by the evil Lord Voldemort.
We don’t see much of Harry’s childhood (or, indeed, the reaction of his relatives on discovering their charge on their doorstep) but it’s clear, as his eleventh birthday approaches, that he’s seriously neglected, treated as a servant and expected to kowtow to his spoiled, overweight and selfish cousin Dudley. Then the owls start arriving with letters… increasing in numbers in an amusing scene that drives Harry’s uncle almost to distraction.
On a small, deserted island, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) recalls that it’s his birthday - and as midnight arrives, so does Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), the large man who deposited Harry on the doorstep all those years earlier. And then Harry undergoes a Cinderella-like transformation into the world of wizarding, and the school of Hogwarts.
This book mainly involves his making friends (and enemies), discovering that he has an unexpected skill in flying, and getting into a battle of wits, towards the end. He has befriended Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), the red-headed boy with several older siblings in the school, and the two of them, a bit reluctantly, have also become friendly with Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). Hermione is very intelligent and eager to share her knowledge in rather an obnoxious way at first; her gradual maturing over the course of the film works extremely well, in my view.
Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris), the Hogwarts head, is wise and friendly, and exerts a positive influence over most of his students, even if a few despise him. The head of Harry’s house, Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) is wonderful; an excellent deputy for Dumbledore. She’s outspoken, and sometimes abrupt, but always fair.
There aren’t as many classroom scenes in the film as there are in the book, probably because they don’t really add to the plot. They’re good to read about, establishing the characters of some of the staff and also showing a wide selection of the courses taught in the school. But we see those that are relevant, and I think it works well. There’s an underlying positive theme which comes out towards the end, and the general understanding prevalent in UK school stories that a certain amount of rule-breaking is acceptable, so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody, and is (mostly) done for a good cause.
The first time I saw the film I was quite shocked at some bad language - nothing extreme, but mild expletives which, I was sure, were not in the book. When I checked the passages in question, the text said something like ‘Ron swore’... to be true to the book then, and Ron’s character, there had to be a few mild expletives. That’s probably why the film is rated PG - that and some quite tense moments towards the end. And yes, even knowing how it was going to end, I still found sections of the film to be quite stressful.
A film is not the same medium as a book, but I’m not a purist; I thought this film was extremely well-made, with great casting, good acting, suitable music (not that I was aware of it most of the time) and superb scenery and costumes. Definitely recommended, whether or not you have read the books.
Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews
