Harry Potter 7.2 The last review

Warning: Contains spoilers and Potterian vocabulary.

Last July the 14th, was the day Harry Potter would arrive theaters for the last time. Expectations were high. There was time to take our place in the seat and wait for results in 3D.

J.K. Rowling seventh book achieved to overcome the writer's narrative depth. And got to the climax not at the center but at the end of the saga. Is definitely Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows the book that closes the cycle; where everything we have read comes to sense, where the circle is completed and no lose end is left to imagination: Rowling complex world doesn't lack logic or depth.


So, the only thing left to see, was if Warner would be capable of taking the saga to good end. The saga that will leave a stain on our generation as in its moment Star Wars did.

 

The job of closing the franchise -with eight films-, seemed huge. Particularly when receiving constant critic from true fans who will continuously reclaimed the absence of big portions of certain subplots in Potterian story.


To achieve a good ending, the final book was dividen in two movies. First one, is a road trip movie destined to show two ideas: The rising power of evil, headed by Lord Voldemort; and the irrevocable strength of friendship. A friendship Ron, Harry and Hermione would fight for, and from where they will come victorious.

On the road we know three of the seven Horcruxes Voldemort created with pieces of his soul, have been distroyed: Tom Riddle's Diary (HP2), Marvolo's ring (HP 6) and Slytherin locket (HP 7). The path has been long and tortuous, and time before confronting forces of evil is short.

The value of Rowling's pen lies on the bravery that faces the ending of most relevant characters on the plot: Many will fall, others will be revalued and other more, will unexpectedly grow before adversity.

The movie begins after the death of Dobby, when Harry decides to interview Griphook and Ollivander to continue his search for Horcruxes.

From there we will be accomplices in an exciting journey into the caves of Gringotts, the Bank located in Diagon Alley. Is there where we appreciate a small but relevant performance of Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix) as Hermione Granger. It's a shame her acting is so brief, because it surpasses many other actors in the saga.

It is on the way to the fourth Horcrux, where in addition to see-again the creativity of the writer, we can see the quality of the 3D technique applied to this film: The descent into the Bellatrix Lestrange Vault is like a real roller coaster ride.

Finally, they leave the bank triumphant, mounted on a dragon and with the cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff (which contains the fourth Horcrux) with them, it's time of returning to Hogwarts via the small village of Hogsmeade. There they will meet Aberforth, the practically unknown brother of Dumbledore. In order to maintain a the same pace in the two films (both parts of The Deathly Hallows), they have omitted many interesting details of Albus Dumbledore's life: Harry's mentor, was only an imperfect human being. He was an ambitious young man who thanks to his intelligence later became one of the fairest and most powerful wizards of the Magical world. In the end, Dumbledore always looked up for the common good over the well-being of just some people. The family story is no less interesting: His father had been imprisoned for assaulting  some Muggles in defense of his youngest daughter, Arianna, who years later would perish accidentally because of a fight between her two brothers.

Even with so many omissions, it is a pleasure to see Ciaran Hinds in the role of Dumbledore anonymous brother, and to finally understand who was behind the mirror Harry saw, while he was thinking he saw his Professor, he was actually seeing his brother.  

The importance of this character should be read in retrospective: The owner of the Hog's Head, the local pub, hosted some secret meetings, is also who sends Dobby to Harry when he asks for help through the mirror, he also constantly helps Neville and the resistance, formed by students, former members of Dumbledore's Army. And finally, is the one who lets the three leading characters back to Hogwarts by a secret passageway that connects the pub with the school. Aberforth is a complex character in Rowling's literature: Even though he had strong differences with his elder brother, he was always aware of the importance of defeating Voldemort no matter any sibling rivalry that would have had. That is why near the end, we see him join the forces defending the castle during the final battle.

Then comes the scene that will define the future of Ron and Hermione, when they decide to destroy the cup with one of the Basilisk fangs killed by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. It takes place one of the events that caused more anticipation among fans: The kiss between Hermione and Ron. I'm not sure if the expectations were surpassed. In my personal opinion, the event required a bit longer, but I guess it's hard to be in mortal danger and yet have time to confirm your love to the person you have loved the most in recent years. So, thanks to a small temporary relocation in the arc of the film, it's an important bittersweet moment in one of the few times that they are alone.

Among with the rebellion of students taking the school and the inexplicable fled of Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione will be searching for the fifth Horcrux, the diadem of Ravenclaw. And in a fantastic whirlwind of action, Draco and his cronies will go after them with fatal end, particularly for Crabbe, who falls into the fire caused by himself and dies. But this particular moment is important for the character of Draco Malfoy, who for the second time has a chance to kill Potter and does not do it (the first is in the previous film when his father and Bellatrix require him to identify Harry and he pretends not to be sure to avoid his delivery to Voldemort).

Then they discover Nagini is the sixth Horcrux, but in the midst of this revelation, Harry, Ron and Hermione witness Snape death in the hands of Voldemort, who, blinded by his thirst of power, leaves him alone to hist own fate.

Here the action on the film is paused to  see how Snape dies next to Harry Potter as their last tears shed and he asks him to see inside his head.

Many of us have read the book, so we knew the importance of the history of Snape, which is finally revealed after Harry empties his memories in Dumbledore's Pensieve. And the climax of the character reaches its highest moment when at last, before our eyes, we see the suffering and slaughter of almost a lifetime before the sublime love he felt for Harry's mother, Lily Potter.

Snape's story -much more detailed in the book-, summarizes a beautiful but unrequited love story, in which he, feeling rejected, he takes his path into the dark side; but later, regretful, he would do anything to save her beloved and after her death, he works at Dumbledore's service as a double spy, especially to protect the only son of the love of his life, Harry Potter.

Is only by seeing his memories we understand that he was always true to his word and have protected our hero countless times even if Harry haven't imagine it. The fatal blow is given, when Harry, surprised, listens to the voice of his mentor: The last Horcrux is inside him and that the only way to defeat Voldemort is to sacrifice himself.

Good twist. Even for those who always believed that behind the grumpy Snape there was reason. I like to feel that even though I have cried when reading this story, this moment was crucial in the film. Everyone in silence. Lump in the throat.

Alan Rickman steals the scene when Dumbledore, seeing Snape's Patronus (a doe) asks if it is still in love with Lily, which he responds with a resounding Always.

From the beginning, I suspected Snape was a good wizard behind his tough facade, but when I red her story I felt so much empathy with what happens with his life and then sadness at its end, so unfair but brave. He is undoubtedly the most complex character of the series and the one who sacrifices everything for love, for a person who has died years ago. My favorite one.

By the time Harry Potter decides irrevocably to surrender and die, many others are gone. I expected a  more powerfully displayed feeling of loss when Fred Weasley died, while his twin brother George runs to hug him. Remus Lupin (the last of the marauders) and his wife Tonks have also perished. Lavender Brown and the countless victims of the Death Eaters scattered along all the corridors of Hogwarts. A war without truce.

There is no point to relate in detail what happens in the final battle, there's a lot of action in both ways. But was particularly pleased with the aesthetics produced after Harry dies and is in a kind of limbo. And then he returns. Narcissa Malfoy would turn events in a memorable change of heart.

Likewise, I was looking forward to the time Neville drew Gryffindor sword and killed Nagini in one stroke. Memorable. Longbottom turns out to be a determined young man and who, like Dumbledore, understood that the battle should continue: With or without Potter evil must be defeated and they must face it.

For several times I had a lump in my throat and my eyes watered. One would like the Order of the Phoenix to remain intact at the end, but as in real life occurs, many were killed on the road. First James and Lily Potter, then Sirius, then Dumbledore, and in the final battle Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Tonks and Severus Snape, the misunderstood hero.

Another unforgettable episode of the film is when Molly Weasley says to Bellatrix: Not my daughter, you bitch!  when she was trying to attack Ginny. To stop her forever. Applause for Helena Bonham Carter who  played her character so perfectly that everybody hated Lestrange actions. We were all pleased when his body burst into ashes and disappeared.

Another subject I was very grateful with, and excited me, is to note many of the dialogues written by Rowling, brought to the screen textually. Perhaps, of the eight films, this is the most faithful to the voice of the writer.

Then comes the final fight of Harry against Voldemort. Except now, the seven Horcruxes have been eliminated, one by one from the beginning -the diary, ring, locket, cup, diadem, Harry and Nagini-. There is nothing in the way of fair fight against Potter nemesis. Only Ralph Fiennes could perform rigor on the most feared villain of the book. Finally, the killing curse rebounds on Voldemort and he dies.

There is only a little space where the three main characters, Harry, Ron and Hermione, get together to observe damage count. There the first breaks the Elder wand (showing once again his disinterest in power and honesty).  You can read, between the lines, Harry possessed the three Deathly Hallows in certain moment and he didn't keep them… Except for the invisibility cloak. Hogwarts, the silent but significant character is in ruins, but begins imediately to be rebuilt.

Time to take a deep breath and start living life.

I'll be irrevocable grateful with all moments kept in my memory thanks to this series, both written and filmed. Thanks to all who made it possible. Harry Potter will undoubtedly be the story of our generation.

 ___

From the epilogue there's no much to say. It has caused controversy to see the main characters disguised as in their late-thirties. Honestly, they look bad dressed or as if they were dressed like very formal people on their forties, in 1980. And as Daniel Radcliffe said: We man aged badly. The point is not how convincing they look like on scene, but the relevance of it: Rowling, as I understand, wanted to close the cycle just were it started. And she also wanted to show us the like of out heroes have been happy -at least for 19 years-. That they had been able to form a family while they relived their best and more inocent moments by the time they wave goodbye their children at King Cross, as Hogwarts Express was leaving.

A strong feeling appeared in the pit of my stomach when Harry tells his younger son (quote):

-"Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them [Snape] was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

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