Tonight, the “J.K. Rowling…A Year in the Life” documentary by James Runcie was broadcast in the UK on ITV, and is now being playedon iTV’s web site.
We have early reports on some of the new things contained in the program. TLC reader Andy writes that after Jo completed writing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Jo “puts on the page numbers and plays Lily Allen’s “Smile.” Andy writes that new artwork “for Ollivanders at Universal can briefly be seen,” and Jo would “like to be remembered as someone who did “the best she could, with the talent she had.”
Readers will remember that we saw three preview clips from the documentary (clip one, preview clip two, and this trailer) with the media currently making much ado of a question posed in the recent Time magazine interview, and posed in this video regarding a possible eight book, but as we saw, Jo says No. Specifically, she said “I think no, it’s time to stop, it’s time to stop now. It gives me a certain satisfaction to say what I thought happened and to tell other people that, because I would like my version to be the official version still, even though I’ve not written it in a book, because it’s my world.” As we first reported several days ago, there is new information in the documentary about the second generation of students at Hogwarts, found in the form of a handwritten family tree that you can see here in our galleries, or via the office on JKRowling.com. Thanks Andy!
Capella- there wasn’t any footage from the US tour… as aislingyngaio says she mentioned that Dumbledore is gay, but afterwards she said that she told one reader that and “she looked like she wanted to slap me” [or something along those lines] which [although I wasn’t there] I don’t get the impression that the reader at Carnegie Hall would have looked like.
To those who haven’t seen it- the clip where Jo is at her old flat in Leith, Edinburgh is very moving. She starts off being a bit tearful but at the end of that section she’s really properly crying and saying that some people think that part of her life was just a publicity stunt… it made me cry to watch it!
Anyway. I have it recorded on VHS, if anyone knows how to get that onto a computer then please share XD
Yeah, I saw the bit about the fan she told about DD on one of the preview clips and it sounded like that happened before the announcement was made publicly. She said the fan wanted to slap her, which means that fan must have been surprised, I think. I’m not sure though.
I agree, Mark, maybe they’ll make a DVD at some point with lots of the material that didn’t make it into the final documentary. Well, I can hope, can’t I?
I hope they didn’t spend too much time talking about what a global publishing phenomenon the books have been and all that stuff they can talk about any old time. ... Did they?
Capella- there was some of that, but not too much. There was also some drawing comparisons between Jo’s life and HP, which I hate XD Like, one of Jo’s childhood homes had a cupboard under the stairs, but unlike Harry, Jo wasn’t made to live in it. Pointless. And stuff that we’ve heard before, like Dementors=depression and the way Lily & James died changed [and therefore the books changed] after Anne died.
Britain isnt bloody england. i hate american people who say that. its really quite annoying, considering your assumed favourite author wrote most of her novels and lives in SCOTLAND.
It was brilliant. It was so moving as well. When she was in her old flat she was really upset, she said there were lots of ghosts there. She said that that was the place where she turned her life around and that that she had made such a mess of her life until that point. It is someone else’s flat now so it had their furniture etc in it and when she went into the bedroom (which she pointed out was so tidy and had been ‘a tip’ when she lived there!) she spotted some HP books in the bookshelf and was amazed and said that it was really freaky and that if someone had told her 10 years ago that she would go back to the flat with a film crew and see her published works in someone else’s bookcase in her old flat she’d never have believed it. Re the part where she said it’s often reported in a way to suggest that her poverty at the time was a publicity stunt she got really upset and said that that was her life and that at the time she had no idea that there would be this huge fairytail ending to it. It made me cry too!
There was a part when several representatives from Warner Bros and another huge company came from Hollywood to talk to her about the HP theme park and she did a voice-over that said that it’s in meetings like that where she feels a complete fraud, because she’s used to being the least important person in meetings and being the one doodling instead of taking the minutes and she thinks ‘what are they all looking at me for?’!
It showed some clips of the HP films but with Stephen Fry’s reading of the books for the dialogue, which was fabulous as he’s brilliant, and it showed him and Jo having publicity photos taken together where they both dissolved into fits of laughter. It showed her going to the signing at the Natural History Museum and being amazed that there where people who had been queuing in Picadilly ‘for 2 nights…...from Belgium’ and she said that she was really excited to be there, more than she thought she’d be.
She came across as warm, kind, funny and just generally lovely – which we all knew she was anyway!
Posted by karen (the one without the avatar!) on December 30, 2007, 09:30 PM
report to moderator
Becca, I think I know one (albeit slightly longwinded!) way of putting it on the computer. You can buy a VHS/DVD recorder which you can use to record from VHS video to DVD. Once you have the DVD, you can then copy it onto the computer – I know this is what I am planning to do, although I haven’t got round to setting the recorder up yet.
Oh, and to kumquat, I completely agree!!! The thought of confusing English and Irish people is horrible (alright, maybe that’s a bit extreme!).
It was brill, she says she’s got a “Political Fairytale” on the go and they had a quick chat with her sister Di and showed some family pics and there was a fair bit about her mum too.
After having been fortunate enough to watch the “documetary”, I consider that it was very well done ! The story kept to the facts which I think is good. Jo’s sister showed us some pictures from “the family album”, showing us all that a “very ordinary” childhood was had (as one who had a similar childhood with a very “stern” father can appreciate) life “was as it was” and you had to get on with it” ! The programme was “acurate and to the point” very well done indeed. Sorry you guys in the “americas” I am sure you will get to see the film soon.
I’m sorry if this is already said, but apparently the documentary will be aired Tuesday in the Netherlands and in Belgium on Thursday! Can’t wait to see it!
Wow, that was so moving and I havent seen the whole thing yet. I have it recorded in digital on my PC. Converting now and will post it in chunks on Youtube. Probably will take a few hours but I’ll get it up. Are we allowed to do that though? Its just US may not ever see it? I dont really know for sure.
Posted by Professor Potter on December 30, 2007, 09:52 PM
report to moderator
Thank you Professor Potter!
I am in New Zealand and it is certain we will never get it.
Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose.
Brilliant programme! Glad to know Charlie just preferred dragons to girls.