Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Being a super Pothead, and the twentieth anniversary of the first movie, it’s time for me to turn my critical eye at it. This post going up on the twentieth anniversary of my first seeing view of this movie.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) 152 minutes. (spoilers)
The story if you haven’t heard of this almost twenty give year old story. Harry Potter finds out one day he is a famous wizard and then heads off to Hogwarts School of witchcraft & Wizardry and finds out there is a mystery at school. if you don’t know the basics of this story, have you been living under a rock for the last quarter of a century?
For me this a hard film for me to judge, as I am a super fan. I wanted to go into this and be as critical as I could, with other films. Which I thought I could do, as I have seen film less in than any other films in the series. I don’t think I haven’t seen this move in at least five years. As I have this idea this is very much a light-hearted kid film. Which it is, as this is the beginning of the series and its very much aimed young children.
Watching as adult you can see all the charm, and the innocence of the characters. How the adult characters have much more prominence, till the trio are capable enough to carry the whole movie. This film has enough charm to have a nice family movie, and great jumping off point for budding fans.
Looking at this movie with a more critical eye, there are things I never noticed before. One the thing I noticed there are a lot of visual shots, to help create the world. Which I think is done well, as this is the first movie. When shots are taking place at Diagon Ally and Hogwarts there is visual sceptical to show off the world. Which is done to help unfamiliar audiences. While at the same helping fans take in what they might have imagined in their heads. One of the visual I took notice of is the owls. With The Letters From No One scene’s, with the number of owls we keep seeing on screen. It helps tell the audience what is going on. For books fans know what is going on, and what each of the owls represent.
The score of the movie is something else I never really took notice of. John Williams did the score here, and with a lot the sweeping shots of the buildings, the sound design helps elevates the moment. With music that helps us understand the grandness of the great hall, the mystery of the Forbidden forest, and the final conflict with Voldemort.
There of course are somethings that don’t make sense if you know the books. Like the timeline of the story. Harry’s birthday is July 30th, and then the movie makes it seem like he goes to school the next day. Hagrid suddenly disappears when he takes Harry to the train station, then suddenly is platform when the train gets into Hogsmead. How did he get there? I don’t know since he can’t use magic. Why are the children’s names called in a random order and not alphabetical? I don’t know why and of these happen, these are just some the weird things I’ve noticed.
Like I said earlier the adult cast really do carry this movie, and boy are they great. They very much have been informed about there characters and try to portray them as much as I feel like they should be played. Of course, Alan Rickman’s Snape, who very much is Snape to me and a lot of people I know. I don’t think I could ever imagine someone else doing the part. While I feel this version of Dumbledore would have been the preferred one to see through all eight movies. As the portrayal is lot gentler and seems more in line with the original character.
I don’t think it’s a surprise for me to say twenty years on I still love this movie. I love it because it still has charm, and it’s still holds up today. Yes, the GCI is a dodgy in spots, but Fluffy still looks good. As well as the cutting corners with wizard’s chest, which I know is time and money saving effort. While I adore that Hermione is Hermione, and this movie sets up a lovely film series. It just a shame after Chamber the production design changes a little, and doesn’t keep the same aesthetic, but it’s done to give the series a darker tone.
This a great movie for fans of the series, or if you want to introduce someone to the series. If you haven’t seen this movie in a while I would recommend watching to see if you still enjoy it. Or if you like me, watch the start of the series, and want to know if the other still hold up in quality.
Xo FabEs
