So long, Harry

By Daniel de la Rosa

Life goes around in a circle, and watching the Harry Potter movies over the last bakers’ dozen years with my daughter brought the saga home for me.

I watched the earlier movies with my pre-teen daughter all those years ago, and the trio of main actors were all around the same age. My daughter, now a young adult of 22, was practically raised on the series.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” is the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort and his dark arts, with Harry and his pals emerging saviors of the wizarding world.

As one who only read the last three chapters of the book, I find the sequence of events was not exactly followed in the movie. They took some liberties and juggled a few things around.

The audience half-chuckled at the kissing scenes which laid the groundwork for the future families of the three main characters Harry, Hermione and Ron. They did not match the richer context of how these relationships developed in the book, but that of course is a small matter.

The emotional highlight for me — and this may be a spoiler alert to some — is the scene where Harry discovers the complicated relationship that Severus Snape — played by the sterling actor Alan Rickman — has with his family and how his deep hatred for the man whom he believes murdered Albus Dumbledore is so sorely misplaced.

Squeezing all the intricate emotions into a two-hour movie is an impossible task. I had the feeling that all the loose ends were so hurriedly tied up with little in the way of an explanation.

The action scenes were dynamite, no question about it. The first six movies in the series were all riveting, adroitly mixing in storytelling, plot and action. This last movie left me with the classic Filipino phrase ‘parang bitin’ (somewhat hanging). The nuanced context in the book which cannot easily be adapted on the screen were left out.

Still, we the audience gave the movie an ovation. The audience filing out of the moviehouse looked delightfully pleased, as scores of moviegoers eagerly awaited their turn at the theater. In a season where the only decent summer action/fantasy movie has been “X-Men First Class,” the Harry Potter finale is the best of the lot. But in a way, there is a wistful sense of sadness on leaving the movie and seeing the credits rolling.

The series is coming to an end. The evil wizard Voldemort is history. The child actors have all grown into young adults. So has my daughter.

Daniel de la Rosa is a journalist usually writing about sports and business, and occasionally about films and books.



One Comment

  1. Laura Moon wrote:

    The charm and magic of Harry Potter will always stay in our hearts forever.

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