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Now, don’t let that rather scathing title fool you: the words that follow are not going to form some kind of verbal attack against JK Rowling or her work, quite the opposite. In the Harry Potter novels, Rowling has created a wonderful, iconic franchise that will never be forgotten by the adults who read these timeless stories as children, nor when they pass on the tales of the Boy Who Lived to the next generation so as to keep the magic of the series alive forever and ever.
No, the reason why I have labelled this piece as such is that recently there has been a lot of speculation as to whether Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will be nominated for the Academy Award of Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress. While every possible fan has already convened to say that this epic finale deserves both of the aforementioned accolades, I think it’s worth bringing the vast fan base back to reality for a moment, and actually examine the chances Part 2 stands of winning such prestigious titles.
In the past two years, the Harry Potter films have been nominated for a total of three Oscars by AMPAS: Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 both in the Best Cinematography category, and the latter also in the Best Art Direction category. I do not want to claim that the movies did not deserve to be considered for their respective awards; in fact it never ceases to amaze me that they did not win them, because in my opinion the sixth and seventh films represent pinnacles in filmmaking technique, the most recent of the two a master class in tone and stylistic representation of its source material. That said, it’s interesting to note that none of the seven movies preceding Part 2 were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award in their respective years of release. Many fans would have you believe that this was a sign of bias towards other film directors and publishers on AMPAS’ part- Cinemablend said something similar earlier this week, wondering whether the committee might favour directors like Martin Scorese (Hugo) due to their previous filmic acclaim- but I think the problem is something else entirely, something those who can’t quite believe we don’t all know our Death Eaters from our Deluminators would not dare to admit. What is this essential dilemma I am referring to? Put simply, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a fantastic adaptation of a novel, yet by no means is it a fantastic film.
Although their take on the matter was rather different to what I am putting forward to you now, Cinemablend did actually mention a problem which I think is central to this film’s challenge of getting into the Oscar nominees list. This problem is so simple, it can be found even in the film’s title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and it is this which formed the basis of my titular hypothesis. By allowing Warner Brothers to split their blockbuster adaptation of her final Potter novel into two, Jo Rowling sacrificed the integrity of its main storyline, attempting to maintain consistent themes throughout both films, yet ultimately giving us wildly different pieces which can barely be considered to contain a continuous narrative. The cast and crew even said themselves in promotional interviews that if Part 1 was an emotional and intense film of three friends on-the-run from the world, then Part 2 was an all-action war movie not unlike Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now. I did not choose those two classic masterpieces by chance, of course- both were nominated for a variety of Academy Awards, Best Picture included, and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 hit even went on to actually win the title for Best Picture at the ceremony.
If Part 2 can so successfully imitate those two legendary films, then, why should it not receive Oscars as they did after they were met with similar critical acclaim? In my opinion, AMPAS won’t choose it to be nominated for the Best Picture category as if they are brutally honest, although this was a brilliant conclusion to a phenomenal series of films, it still does not come close to matching them for sheer quality. My fundamental reasons for this are these: despite the much-deserved emphasis on the Battle of Hogwarts, the opening scenes in the beach hut and Gringotts felt like filler for those who hadn’t read the book; when we finally reached the aforementioned conflict, many of the key characters who lost their lives were not given the proper closure they deserved; and worst of all, the effective focus placed on the three protagonists in Part 1 was lost as Harry was split up from Ron and Hermione, forced to face his fate alone. These questionable shortcomings once again rest on Rowling, this time regarding her own decisions of the novel’s narrative, but that Part 2 feels so different tonally from its recent predecessor, especially when viewed back-to-back as I did on the evening of July 15th last year, is what for me really holds it back from gaining any kind of iconic status through attaining these prestigious awards. I could not level any of these complaints at those aforementioned greats, or indeed more recent winners like the superb The Lord of the Rings trilogy or last year’s Best Picture, The King’s Speech, and looking back I’d be surprised if you could either.
Before the hate letters come flooding in, hand-written in vintage quill ink and addressed to the Cupboard Under The Stairs where I must surely live in disgrace, I just want to say that I have always been a strong defendant of the Harry Potter films, and to this day they remain some of my favourite adaptations of all time. On top of that, I do think Alan Rickman whole-heartedly deserves both a nomination for Best Supporting Actor, simply as his brief return as Severus Snape for merely two scenes was one of the most emotional and memorable times I’ve spent with a character on screen this past year.
However, I think to award Best Picture to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 would be to do injustice to all of the other sublime movies released in 2011- Super 8 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes stand amongst my favourite viewings. Can we not just remember the days of Dan, Rupert and Emma’s wonderful adventures together fondly, albeit retaining a basic realisation that they do not necessarily represent more than a bold step forward for the adaptation of books into films? I think this would make life on the forums a whole lot easier nowadays!
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