30 Days of HP: Day 27
Aug. 13th, 2010 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinsyDay 27: What aspect of the books has been most poorly translated to film?
Harry and Ron’s relationship. Actually, relationships in general. Characterization in general. The film!Trio is nothing like the book!Trio. The film!Marauders are nothing like the book!Marauders. Film!Dumbledore is nothing like book!Dumbledore (well, Gambledore isn’t, anyway, but I do think Richard Harris, good as he was, would have become less like Dumbledore as the role became more demanding, and as I mentioned in the previous day’s answer, I do feel like Gambledore gets better with each film). I mean, I know they’re different mediums and whatever, but so many characters have lost those things that make them essentially that character. That’s why Alan Rickman is Snape, even though he’s a good thirty years older than Snape is supposed to be: he just has this air of essential Snape-ness, if that makes any sense. And so many of the actors either never had that or have lost it with each passing film, and I don’t know how much of that is the fault of the script or the director or whatever, but it’s really tragic and I hate it.
(I want to point out, as I already touched on a little in Day 26, I get really conflicted about this when it comes to the three actors who play the Marauders, because they’re all great actors, and they obviously care a lot about their roles, and it’s not like they don’t do a good job with what they’re asked to do, it’s just like … they’re not my Marauders, you know? Like, Gary Oldman isn’t my Sirius, but he does a great job with the Sirius he’s been asked to portray, and some of the stuff he does in OotP especially is just beautiful, even if I sometimes feel like it’s stuff Sirius would never ever do (the scene with Sirius’s family tree is gorgeous and heartbreaking, and the thing he says at the end about being a proper family when this is over kills me every single time, but I also feel like book!Sirius would never say that), so like… I don’t know. Even with the kids it’s like, okay, they’re not really like the book kids anymore, but you know, they got cast in this thing when they were ten. It’s not really their fault. And then I don’t even know how I feel anymore.)
[I’m also aware that this and Day 26 are probably supposed to be about Quidditch and magic and magical creatures and all the special effects that go into those things, but I don’t really care about that. I mean, I do, and their special effects really aren’t that great (Grawp in particular is very obviously a CGI character), but I care a lot more about characterization, hence why I’m talking about it.]
Harry and Ron’s relationship. Actually, relationships in general. Characterization in general. The film!Trio is nothing like the book!Trio. The film!Marauders are nothing like the book!Marauders. Film!Dumbledore is nothing like book!Dumbledore (well, Gambledore isn’t, anyway, but I do think Richard Harris, good as he was, would have become less like Dumbledore as the role became more demanding, and as I mentioned in the previous day’s answer, I do feel like Gambledore gets better with each film). I mean, I know they’re different mediums and whatever, but so many characters have lost those things that make them essentially that character. That’s why Alan Rickman is Snape, even though he’s a good thirty years older than Snape is supposed to be: he just has this air of essential Snape-ness, if that makes any sense. And so many of the actors either never had that or have lost it with each passing film, and I don’t know how much of that is the fault of the script or the director or whatever, but it’s really tragic and I hate it.
(I want to point out, as I already touched on a little in Day 26, I get really conflicted about this when it comes to the three actors who play the Marauders, because they’re all great actors, and they obviously care a lot about their roles, and it’s not like they don’t do a good job with what they’re asked to do, it’s just like … they’re not my Marauders, you know? Like, Gary Oldman isn’t my Sirius, but he does a great job with the Sirius he’s been asked to portray, and some of the stuff he does in OotP especially is just beautiful, even if I sometimes feel like it’s stuff Sirius would never ever do (the scene with Sirius’s family tree is gorgeous and heartbreaking, and the thing he says at the end about being a proper family when this is over kills me every single time, but I also feel like book!Sirius would never say that), so like… I don’t know. Even with the kids it’s like, okay, they’re not really like the book kids anymore, but you know, they got cast in this thing when they were ten. It’s not really their fault. And then I don’t even know how I feel anymore.)
[I’m also aware that this and Day 26 are probably supposed to be about Quidditch and magic and magical creatures and all the special effects that go into those things, but I don’t really care about that. I mean, I do, and their special effects really aren’t that great (Grawp in particular is very obviously a CGI character), but I care a lot more about characterization, hence why I’m talking about it.]