hp: books vs. movies
Jul. 4th, 2003 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraque_bkI brought my UK copy of OotP to work today (one of my co-workers wanted to look at it), and yet another fan came out of the woodwork. This time it was the company accountant. He said OotP was his new favorite, and mentioned that he thought the odd-numbered books were better than the even-numbered ones. I agreed, and thought this was pretty amusing, considering that (as everyone knows) the opposite is true of the Star Trek films. I thought it was cool that this guy is a fan, though. He reminds me a little of Remus Lupin, actually -- if Remus Lupin were a somewhat disgruntled American accountant.
One thing he said intrigued me: Though he loves the books, he hasn't enjoyed the movies. He said he finds that they somehow miss the point, and aren't satisfying to him the way the books are.
Now, I was a movie convert, so obviously I do enjoy the movies, though I agree that the books are better. And despite the fact that I saw the SS/PS movie first, I still developed my own persistent mental images of the characters as written, apart from how they appear in the films. Some are very close matches (Emma Watson as Hermione, for example), but others are not. Alan Rickman is an example -- he's a lot of fun to watch, and I don't think he does a bad job, but he doesn't look at all like I picture Snape in the books, and his manner and delivery don't really match either. (I see Snape as much more introverted and tightly-wound, almost sullen. Rickman is... too confident.)
As to the movies "missing the point"... I guess I can see that. The SS/PS movie doesn't mention Snape's motive for protecting Harry, which stuck out as a mistake even before I'd read the book. (One of the reasons I picked up the book in the first place was to get a better handle on that point, in fact.) I enjoyed the CoS movie very much, though it obviously placed more emphasis on action than the book does. CoS, in some ways, is a creepy little book, and the movie didn't capture that feeling.
So here are some questions for the HP fans out there: Are the movies satisfying to you? Do they miss the point? Is it even possible to make movies from this material that are as satisfying as the books? When you read the books now, have the movies affected the way you think of them?
One thing he said intrigued me: Though he loves the books, he hasn't enjoyed the movies. He said he finds that they somehow miss the point, and aren't satisfying to him the way the books are.
Now, I was a movie convert, so obviously I do enjoy the movies, though I agree that the books are better. And despite the fact that I saw the SS/PS movie first, I still developed my own persistent mental images of the characters as written, apart from how they appear in the films. Some are very close matches (Emma Watson as Hermione, for example), but others are not. Alan Rickman is an example -- he's a lot of fun to watch, and I don't think he does a bad job, but he doesn't look at all like I picture Snape in the books, and his manner and delivery don't really match either. (I see Snape as much more introverted and tightly-wound, almost sullen. Rickman is... too confident.)
As to the movies "missing the point"... I guess I can see that. The SS/PS movie doesn't mention Snape's motive for protecting Harry, which stuck out as a mistake even before I'd read the book. (One of the reasons I picked up the book in the first place was to get a better handle on that point, in fact.) I enjoyed the CoS movie very much, though it obviously placed more emphasis on action than the book does. CoS, in some ways, is a creepy little book, and the movie didn't capture that feeling.
So here are some questions for the HP fans out there: Are the movies satisfying to you? Do they miss the point? Is it even possible to make movies from this material that are as satisfying as the books? When you read the books now, have the movies affected the way you think of them?
