Review: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Aah, where do I begin? Too many thoughts running around..

Well, I would compare this HP movie with a scene from the movie The Pianist (directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody). There's a scene where a soldier comes and finds Adrien in his home, asks him what's he doing there and what is he. Adrien replies "I am a pianist", so the soldier tells Adrien to play for him, which he does. Adrien places his fingers on the rows of ivory keys and performs a piece; Chopin Ballade 1. The notes ring throughout the house, the music crying out emotion and the house is stilled by its beauty. This is what I'm reminded of when I think of this latest Harry Potter movie.

It would be stupidity on my part to compare a movie about a boy wizard to a masterpiece by Chopin. Luckily, that is not my intention. It is the emotion, the atmosphere and the raw feel that I am trying to address.

Quite a few of my friends have said that the movie was boring. I beg to differ. In my opinion, I think that they merely failed to grasp the concept that the director, David Yates, wanted to portray.

This sixth installment in the Harry Potter franchise deals with even darker issues than the ones that have come before it. Harry's main task in this appears to be finding out what a 'Horcrux' is. It is an ancient magic, where you kill a person in order to split your soul. Once that soul has been split, it can then be stored. Simply put, this means that that wizard will never die because a part of him will always be alive; immortality at your fingertips. Harry's mentor and fatherly-figure, Albus Dumbledore, also dies in this movie. On top of that, Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy, is faced with hurdles pertaining to the imprisonment of his father and the Dark Lord's wish for him to be an assassin. Just from these few examples alone, the fact that this movie is darker and deals with more mature issues is clear.

This movie is not a creation meant for a simple-minded viewer's momentary enjoyment. It is meant to be understood and savored by a mind. When you look at the colours and background used, you can see that the whole movie is dyed in sombre shades. The music and even the focus boldly paints a picture of gloom. This is unlike a Tranformers or an Adam Sandler movie, where the colours are bright and childlike, the music upbeat and current and the lines and plots in-your-face and obvious.

To comprehend, the subtle hints of evil, satire and even happiness have to be picked up. Even David Yates remarked Academy Award nominated Bruno Delbonnel's work on the film as "The choice of angles, the extreme close-ups, the pacing of the scenes...It's very layered, incredibly rich.". Though, the happy and lovey-dovey moments were a lot easier to get, but the characters are children after all so their joy should be bubbly enough for everyone to join in on the fun.

This movie also seems more European with its intense dark emotions and intelligent play of cinematography, rather than the sexual-connotations-filled and HIDEF shoots more often linked to American movies. There are also quite a few scenes that make me think of the movie The Name of the Rose (original title, Der Name der Rose) which is a German-French-Italian 1986 film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco. I had to study this movie as part of the class research into Middle Age civilization. The shots, the music used and even the way some dialogues were carried out rings such a clear bell, it's uncanny.

I especially loved parts of the movie where no music was heard and there was only the actors delivering their lines. The pronunciation of each syllable, the depth that those words carried were surreal.

The part where Dumbledore is cradled by Harry was a great example of what a defining moment should be. As all the students and professors raised their wands to the sky, their light which was ignited by despair at the loss of a friend and mentor, outshone the darkness. The stillness that came after the Dark mark was erased made me feel a slight hollowness, for now, the fact that a great battle would ensue had become a concrete reality to all of Hogwarts' inhabitants.

While the first, Harry Potter movie was pretty much all fun about the discovery of such a wonderful thing as magic, this one was all about the curse of that very same wonder.

I think that this installment has left a great stage on which future productions can stand upon and display their wares.



Rating: 5/5




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ps/ Disagree? Leave a comment and I'll mull it over.