“This is crazy”: Harry Potter Director Admits the Major Flaw in Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The first of two film portions based on J.K. Rowling’s 2007 book of the same name, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in 2010 and starred Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint as the key characters. It was directed by David Yates. The 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
The film, which was the seventh entry in one of the most well-known and successful series in the world, garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews from both the public and the critics, who singled out the actors’ performances, the visual effects, the cinematography, and the musical soundtrack. However, the director has now acknowledged one major flaw when it comes to Part 1. Let’s find out what it is.
Also read: “I did 8 auditions”: Emma Watson Lost All Hope For Harry Potter After Watching Her Competition
David Yates talks about the challenges while filming Deathly Hallows Part 1
In his interview with Collider’s editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub, director David Yates, who took over the Harry Potter franchise in it’s fifth iteration, shared that it was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson that had seen a notable change from filming to what was presented for the audience to see on-screen.
The director also admits that the movie was also a tough one to make because it was part of a double feature and it did not have a natural endpoint or a third act. He said,
“The great challenge of that film was it didn’t actually have a third act. It kind of ran out of steam halfway through, and Mark [Day, the editor] and I would often sit there kind of figuring it out and saying: ‘This movie doesn’t have a third act. How are we gonna…? Hang on, this is crazy. It doesn’t have a third act’.”
However, the audience did get to witness the death of fan-favorite character Dobby’s when he was taken down by the flying blade of Bellatrix Lestrange, a stunning, composed, and ominous shot of Lord Voldemort peering over the corpse of Albus Dumbledore before blasting the Elder Wand into the night sky. These are the visuals that audience remember even today. The director confessed that the lack of a third act and a natural breaking point were the two flaws that he could see while filming the movie.
David Yates on working around the Deathly Hallows Part 1 to make it genuine
During the conversation with editor-in-chief, the director who was promoting his new movie Pain Hustlers at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, admitted that there was a lot of work in terms of editing that went on making the Deathly Hallows Part 1 seem genuine and honest to the audience.
He said that the lack of a third act made him work things around, like retooling certain elements of the plot with edits to make it seem like it was happening at the climax of the film rather than being visible. Yates explained that this had given them a little more creative compromise and when someone comes up to him and tells him that Deathly Hallows Part 1 is their favorite movie, it makes him satisfied and happy.
He said to Steve Weintraub,
“We noodled Part One to bits to try and feel that the end of the movie had an escalation when, in fact, it’s Jazz Hands. [Laughs] There’s not much going on at the end in the second half of the movie, and I say that with great– People still say to me, “My favorite film is Hallows: Part One, mate. That was so amazing. It felt like a European road movie.” And I’m going, “Yeah, but the work we did in the edit was unbelievable.”
Also read: “It just felt like incest”: Emma Watson Was Horrified After Kissing Harry Potter Co-Star 6 Times
Harry Potter adaptation series to dive deep within the novels compared to movies
David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter movies, had a little update for the Potter Heads when it comes to the upcoming series adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels, which was initially announced in April 2023. In his conversation with Total Film magazine via CBR, Heyman said,
“We haven’t even hired a writer to begin writing. It’s a bit early. But hopefully [it will be] something that’s very special, and gives us an opportunity to see the books, and to enjoy a series which explores the books more deeply.”
The fact that the movies have to be crunched into two-hour timings and it is at times not possible to cover up everything from the novel in the movie and several characters and storylines are left out. But according to the streaming service channel Max, that won’t be the case for the adaptation series, as they will have more runtime at their disposal.
Max, a streaming service, said in a statement, “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”
But with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, there has been no update on the filming of the movie.
Source: Collider
