The Australian Herald Sun has released a new interview with Dan Radcliffe, where the Harry Potter gives his thoughts about the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and the two Deathly Hallows films. Of HBP he says he thinks they have struck a type of balance between the darker, intensity found in the sixth book and a bit of humor. Dan says "I mean, the one thing when I read the script I could always yearn
for was more darkness and more of that real intense stuff, because I
enjoy doing that more, but hopefully this time we have struck a balance
between that darkness and a certain comedy in this film. "And what I think we've managed to do is not make it that kind of comedy that is farcical and pulling faces.
"It's not that kind of comedy at all, it's much more subtle than
that and hopefully people will find it funny - that's the aim anyway.''
Of particular interest are Dan Radcliffe's comments on the the two Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films, and book purists feelings about the Harry Potter films. Quotage: "I think when the fans came on to the first film there would have
been a section of the audience that didn't want to like it because they
were the purists of the book,'' he says.
"There are still those people out there, but you are never going to change their minds so just don't even try.
"So
I think the majority of the people out there, because the fan base has
grown at about the rate the films have come out, we've managed to keep
making them darker and dark enough to maintain the interests of these
people.
"And I think actually through making the films darker
we've gained a lot. And also through people like (director) David Yates
directing them, a certain amount of respect has been gained for the
films as cinema.''
You know, I always found it strange how Daniel says he prefers doing the dark stuff, yet he wants to do a musical. Quite a contradiction! (Well I know theres a few dark musicals like Sweeney Todd but you know what I mean)
Posted by hp_is_effing_awesome on January 11, 2009, 12:42 AM
report to moderator
This article seems to have gotten many things wrong. For instance:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sees Potter return for his sixth year at Hogwarts where he discovers a book that seemingly explains the past that will help him battle with Lord Voldemort.
There is also emerging romantic confusion of mid-adolescence involving Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson) and the usual array of strange beasts and magic.
Also, it lists the 2005 release date of the book instead of the movie release date, which is one calendar day later.
im from australia and so woke up this morning with my dad shoving the newspaper under my nose because he knows how much i love hp. there is also a bit in the article that has dan stating how important it was to make the final movie a two part saga because unlike other books there were no subplots and so you couldn’t leave anything out. He mentioned how in GoF the writers could cut out the whole houselves SPEW plot ( though i think the paper misquoted him as they called it "households"), but i have to disagree with what dan was saying because having the writers cut SPEW what’s going to be hermione’s reason for kissing ron in DH because like jo once said it was due to ron finally understanding SPEW that hermione could let her guard down and go in for the snog. so i reckon there are some subplots that are kind of necessary in the books as well as the movies!
There are actually a lot of dark musicals. Don’t let the cheerfull singing distract you. More realistic musicals like RENT are much darker than you might think when you hear the music. Dark isn’t just about murders like in sweeney todd, it’s more about the mental state in wich the characters are.
gente eu sou brasileira falo portugues nao entende nada disso ai
v6 tem que colocar opçoes de escolher em ingles portugues espanhol e etc…
mais fala a verdade o DAN e lindo?
I’m not a "book purist", but I am disappointed at how the filmmakers are inventing action sequences that are not in the books—reference the Christmas Burrow Attack in HBP film.
Maybe when the films are done, and a few years have gone by, the BBC could produce a television series—perhaps 13 hour long episodes a year for 10 years—that would allow for all the subplots that enrich the main story of Harry vs. Voldemort to be explored in a visual medium. Look at what the BBC did with the new Doctor Who series, for example.
First, ‘Hi Professor! Long time no "see"! LOL. I think you have it right. Dan is a very insightful person. He sees "both sides" of the Fanbase, and is in "touch" with the books, and the fans. I am so glad that, the "comedy" aspect, of HBP has been brought out, in this interview. I think that most everyone, especially after the trailer and the "But I AM the "chosen one" moment, will understand now. "It’s not the farcical pulling faces kind of comedy" This movie is going to be great. I am hoping there will be more of the "levity", as it will help "temper" the darker aspects of the film.
Posted by Confederate Lady on January 11, 2009, 09:09 AM
report to moderator
Its a reunion today …hi Prof P, Lemon F, and Conf Lady (and anyone i may have missed in my quick scan…)
Professionaly, I do a lot that involves comparing film to print media (usually novels and plays). For me, the issue of films not being exactly like the books/plays (whether we are talking HP or any other source), since by the time we reach early adolesence we should be able to understand the difference between film and print (and other mediums)
For me the issue is plot continuity and completeness. If a crucial plot segment gets left out, then the entire film leaves the audience baffled. And in each HP film some thing has been left out (OotP being the one with the most plot gaps), leaving me wondering how those will be filled in a sensible and seamless manner….
I would add that the early films were rushed into production to cash in on HP-frenzy, and without having the seven novels completed…that made plot omissions in the films even more likely to happen.
Now, in fairness, I would point out that I thought "Winky" would show up somewhere toward the end of the series and "do something heroic and important" —I was surprised that her character was totally omitted from the GoF filming. On the other hand, as we as fans discussed here on TLC long ago, it was pretty obvious Dobby would reappear…yet he too was omitted from GoF, Ootp and apparently from HBP as well, creating the very sort of plot line gap that I refer to above.
Does it matter? Nope, we’ll still go to the films, we’ll still buy the dvds……and enjoy them for what they are, the "book purists vs film fans" is a false issue, i think —tho it still amazes me that there are film fans who have never read the books.
I personally have not been a fan of the movies. I love the sets they are dead on to what I imagine when I read the books. The actors Emma Watson is dead on Hermione. Rupert Grint was fantastic in the first two films the other films so far he is very hit or miss, and he needs a hair cut. books four on really suggest Ron has short hair, Molly Weelsey dose not like long hair on her sons. Bill GOF Charlie DH. Dan Radclif he has improved every movie. Allen Rickman as Snape omg dead on thats Snape. Maggie Smith Again dead on. Michael Gabon as Dumbledore, has he not read the books. His best Dumbledore was in POA. He got Dumbledore since there is no warmth or humor. But my biggest gripe is with WB there unwillingness to let the movies be as long as they need to be. They leave out important content ie In GOF they left out the parting of ways. Just imagine how incredible these movies would be if Peter Jackson one or all of them. If Jo is happy with the films now. Peter Jackson would bring her to tears and give her chills. He could merge book and film and book perfectly. But that just my opinion. I will still go to midnight release of the films and I will buy the movies on dvd. I might not see the move in theaters more than once.
hp_is_effing_awesome, I think the fact that he enjoys playing that dark part of the books doesn’t contradicts the fact that he would like to do a musical.
Actors like to do different things, just because he likes to do a certain thing doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try doing other different stuff too. I’ve realized he is quite versatile and could play very different roles.
Also, for what I’ve read, he really enjoyed having the opportunity to have more comedy in HBP. In my opinion it was about time Kloves gave Harry some comedy!
I have to agree about the book purists, I’ve been a HP fan since the first movie came out and there are still people who don’t want to understand that a book and a movie are 2 different things and it doesn’t make sense to compare them in the too detailed way they do.
One thing is to miss something from the book, Dan himself have said some of the scenes he has missed watching in the film, like the scene at the end of OotP when Harry and Dumbledore talk in his office. But that’s one thing and to try to copare every page of the book with the movie is a very different one, that’s what I think it’s a book purist. People who will never be able to enjoy the movie because while they are watching them they keep thinking "that’s different", "that’s not in the book", "that should be blue, not pink"… I think people should go to the cinema with an open mind and enjoy the movie just for what it is.
No one knows more about the books than Jo, and she loves the movies so… :)
Just a quick comment about the color of Hermione’s dress:
I understand that movies and books are two totally different things, and things will be cut out, but needlessly changing tiny things (like the color of her dress) is a little strange to me. Having a blue dress isn’t going to take up any more film time than having a pink dress.
"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare --"[br]"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" said Harry recklessly... "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a
You know, I always found it strange how Daniel says he prefers doing the dark stuff, yet he wants to do a musical. Quite a contradiction! (Well I know theres a few dark musicals like Sweeney Todd but you know what I mean)