Love, tragedy, and a wholelot of questions (Part 1)

It was no surprise that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince promptly dethroned Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The world—especially rabid Potterheads—had been waiting for the series’ sixth installment since November last year, so, as rumor had it, it wouldn’t go against Twilight.

Currently, instead of Transformers II—which I have yet to watch, owing to mixed reviews—occupying all ten SM theaters near my home, Harry Potter 6 is being shown in six. Villa Estrella occupies a flimsy one—and I’m crossing my fingers it does better this week, so I can still catch this intriguing Pinoy horror flick next weekend. But let’s talk about Harry Potter and his posse first.

In a nutshell, Harry Potter 6 raises the notch higher for just about everything and everyone in the series. Harry Potter is seen capably flirting with a pretty waitress. Hermione Granger is shown in a fit of jealous rage. Ron Weasley gets a lot of snogging screen time. Prof. Albus Dumbledore goes on a not-so-scholarly mission to destroy Voldemort. Snape commits murder. Draco Malfoy goes beyond bully-bruised and gives Harry a broken and bloodied nose and gets all bloodied himself, courtesy of the sectumsempra curse that Snape himself invented to use against his enemies, which, understandably, included Harry’s father James.

I don’t remember having said it before, but I am a big fan of Severus Snape as essayed by the always consistently impressive Alan Rickman. The books Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which will be released in two parts, so expect a Harry Potter 8, despite there being only seven books), give us Snape’s big moments in the whole narrative—revealing his role in Lord Voldemort’s comeback.

Unfortunately, with the film having to do away with so many of the plots, subplots, flashbacks, and action that made HP 6 an exciting read despite its dragging moments (Harry has plenty of long-winded conversations with Dumbledore) and almost-academic lectures (what with the revelation of Horcruces and all), Snape’s character, while referred to in the title, does not make as big an impact as he ought to have. Then again, the sacrifices to the book that the film has had to make have also lessened the build-up of the mysterious potions book that gives Harry a much-needed skill in potions and spell-making.

Speaking of the sacrifices that the film has had to make, many of the scenes in the novel were taken out, leaving a lot of questions. While the book was rich in flashbacks about Tom Marvolo Riddle, the film only had a few that didn’t say much about his roots. Why did Tom Riddle become Lord Voldemort?

Other scenes that I expected to see were the Quidditch match that turned Ron into a hero and triggered the romance between Harry and Ginny; Dumbledore’s funeral, which, in the book, seemed more open to interpretation, with his phoenix Fawkes rising above his tomb, and, thus, giving hope to the possibility that Dumbledore just might pull a Gandalf; the conflicts concerning the Ministry of Magic, with Rufus Scrimgeour as its new minister; and Bill Weasley’s altercation with Death Eater werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

But there’s a huge difference between writing a book and making a movie.

To be continued on Thursday.

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