Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (SPOILERS)

[Gemini Cricket]

Hmmm.
I didn't like Dumbledore's temper tantrum in Goblet of Fire. It was after he found out the Harry was going to be in the games. It seemed out of character. I don't know if Harris would have played it that way...
I liked Harris' Dumbledore... if only for the scene where he and Harry are in front of the mirror. That's a very, very touching scene in movie 1.

[innerSpaceman]

I have to agree that Gambon's freak-out in Goblet of Fire was his worst Dumbledore moment, and Harris' sweetness at the mirror was his best.

[Alex]

The problem with breaking the books into multiple movies is that (I'm assuming) the books don't necessarily have a logical breaking point in the middle.

Heck, in most of the movies it seems like by Christmas break they have barely made it to the beginning of whatever the point of that book is.

But this is why beloved books are almost never appreciated as movies (and why the majority of well regarded book adaptations are of rarely read books). Where you're unhappy that things got cut out or dropped I am just left unhappy because it is frequently obvious that something got cut out or dropped.

One of William Goldman's books has a great chapter on the difficulty of movie adaption using his work on Misery as an example. I wonder if it was a mistake to have Rowling adapt her own books since it must be very difficult to make the important decisions.

[Chernabog]

Gambon tries to play him like Gandalf the Grey, which is not how Dumbledore is written.

[innerSpaceman]

'Not as he is written' being a criticism linked to parroting of the novel.

That's not to say "as written" isn't better.



One of my most admired film adaptations is Juraissic Park. Don't get me wrong; I loathe that movie.

But, except for the T-Rex attack and some of the basic set-up, Spielberg almost stubbornly refused to import any scenes from the book. The book was WAY better, and the main character far more compelling than as eventually played by Sam Neill. But I admire the choice to refuse to simply film the book ... even if it meant a movie that was nowhere near as good as the book.

(And, teehee, lots of scenes from the original book ended up in the JP movie sequels.)



With Harry Potter, I not only don't mind the films that have been most cinematically adapted (PofA and OoftheP), but find them equally as enjoyable as the novels they are so loosely based on.

[Chernabog]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

'Not as he is written' being a criticism linked to parroting of the novel.

That's not to say "as written" isn't better.

It is a quandary isn't it? In this case, "as written" is better, because I don't believe that Gambon's "homeless old man" act works for the part. Harris just played him better. It is hard to put my finger on WHY that is the case.

I guess instead of saying "which is not how Dumbledore is written" I should have said "in a way that contributes positively to the film, gives emotional attachment, is multi-dimensional, or makes us believe that he is the powerful headmaster of Hogwarts."

[wendybeth]

I would have agreed with you, Chernabog, a few movies ago. Now that I've read the series, I think Gambon is really closer to the character in the book- not the early Grandfatherly Dumbledore, but the younger, more energetic and volatile one. I don't see his portrayal as Gandalf-like, but rather more like the book described: Sort of bohemian, intense, secretive, concerned but not above being duplicitous if necessary- more human, really. The freak-out in the GoF seemed out of place for Harris's Dumbledore, but not for the Dumbledore I now have in my mind's eye.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

I would have agreed with you, Chernabog, a few movies ago. Now that I've read the series, I think Gambon is really closer to the character in the book- not the early Grandfatherly Dumbledore, but the younger, more energetic and volatile one. I don't see his portrayal as Gandalf-like, but rather more like the book described: Sort of bohemian, intense, secretive, concerned but not above being duplicitous if necessary- more human, really. The freak-out in the GoF seemed out of place for Harris's Dumbledore, but not for the Dumbledore I now have in my mind's eye.

I feel much the same as you, Wendy. Though I could have done with a bit more warmth at the end of OotP. Harris may have played that scene better. Granted, I think the scene in the movie was missing some essential dialogue. Not that I loved the movie any less; I really, really dug it. And I loved Gambon's performance except for that last scene, when I think it was really, really important for Dumbledore to show both is remorse and his affection.

[Chernabog]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

I would have agreed with you, Chernabog, a few movies ago. Now that I've read the series, I think Gambon is really closer to the character in the book- not the early Grandfatherly Dumbledore, but the younger, more energetic and volatile one.

Perhaps like y'all who have read Deathly Hallows I will feel differently afterwards but.... ummm.... is there really any more character arc to Dumbledore AFTER he dies?

And I don't think Dumbledore was "energetic and volatile" in the first two books anyway. I just have zero emotional attachment to Gambon, yet I did have emotional attachment to the Dumbledore of the books and Harris' portrayal. I think Xharryb is dead-on in his analysis.

[wendybeth]

Yes, Cherny- there is. You will find out a lot of background info on Dumbledore that may surprise you- he's not always been the the person he was at the end. Really, it was after reading this book that I changed opinion of Gambon's Dumbledore.

Brigitte- maybe dotty isn't the right word, but remember Dumbledore's love of odd things and his sometimes 'out there' statements, designed to distract or diffuse a situation, but nonetheless striking others as a bit goofy? (Such as his 'few words' at the beginning of term, or how he speaks to persons like the Dursleys, or when he's trying to distract Minister Fudge, etc). Dumbledore, as written, is eccentric- genius, but an eccentric one.