Harry Potter Mania!
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a Harry Potter dweeb. But I’ve only been to one midnight release. Okay one movie and one book midnight release. That’s it. I don’t dress up or re-read the series 10 times, I just enjoy the books. So, what about the movie that just made over 150 million dollars in less than a week? As expected, it didn’t compare to the book. However, I really enjoyed the emotional and petty bickering going on between the characters. And of course, some of the actors save the film, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, and Jim Broadbent, a great Professor Slughorn. The film, to me, was just pacing and going through the motions and somehow didn’t capture what I believe to be the most emotional book of the series. It was just a filler movie for the next installment. But, I don’t mean to undermine the talent behind the film. Some parts of it were excellent. I loved how they envisioned apparition and Professor Slughorn’s potions class. The scene leading into the cave was another favorite.
What about the music? Well first, there’s been a lot of news around the Harry Potter film scores. Everyone has been speculating who will write the music for the next two films. Yes two, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2. Anyway, director David Yates, who has directed that last two films is set to direct the next two. Many thought Yates would continue his collaboration with composer Nicholas Hooper, since Hooper has composed music for the last two films. Producer of the Harry Potter series, David Heyman, was asked recently, if he has considered John Williams to return and write music for the films. To much joy, Heyman has thought about it.
“We have talked to John Williams and a lot of it will depend on his schedule for [Harry Potter] seven part two. If we can make work, and that’s a big if, for his schedule and ours then yes.”
Then we learn, from an interview with Film Score Monthly, Hooper has decided to step down and not write music for Deathly Hallows.
“I actually decided I wouldn’t. It impinged on my life and my family too much to do it again. We managed to cope with two of them, and I just felt it was time to hand it on. I’ve always felt in my heart that a certain composer whose name you know well should do the last one anyway, since he started it off. As for the penultimate one, I don’t know. But sadly, no. I felt I needed to withdraw at this point.”
We’ll wait and see. I’ll cross my fingers for another Williams score.
So what about the Half-Blood Prince film score? Love it, hate it? Honestly, I’m on the fence about it, as usual. I can’t hate it, but I’m not a big fan of it. I want to like Hooper’s music, but I just can’t. His themes are never really prominent, and I feel his scores for the films have been purposely understated. However, he has had some great moments. He did a wonderful job capturing the mystery, sadness, and darkness to Harry’s later years. Here are a couple of my favorite cues:
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Hooper uses some heavy percussion to describe the Death Eater attacks. This reminds me of the Goblet of Fire soundtrack although definitely not as bombastic.
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Hooper’s love themes really capture the heart wrenching emotions of the characters. It’s beautiful, yet full of sadness and little frightening; a perfect match for the adolescent love surrounding Harry’s world.
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I love when the strings swell a bit in this cue, showing Hermione’s anger towards Ron. (I wished the birds actually attacked Ron, liked they did in the book).
A lovely guitar waltz continues the love theme later when Harry and Ginny finally kiss. This scene doesn’t quite match the emotion in the book, but it was a beautiful rendition. I like how the strings slowly take the stage in this cue.
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Hooper gives a noticeable nod to Williams’ themes from the previous films. Listen for that four note motif from “Quidditch, Third Year” in the queue “Ron’s Victory.” He really lets the orchestra have some fun here. I wish he had more action cues like this in the film.
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A surprise cue for me was the lovely send off to the Acromantula, Aragog. It’s a beautiful piece of music, but sadly, it seems out of place in the film.
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“In Noctem” was written early in the process to allow filming of the Hogwarts school choir sing the piece. Unfortunately, it was cut from the film, but the music remained and provided the basis for much of the score. Hooper described it as the “musical DNA for Dumbledore’s story throughout the film.”
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Again, like the rest of the score, these cues didn’t quite hit the mark, maybe with the exception of “Dumbledore’s Farewell.” I’ll admit, I cried during this scene. But that was expected, since I cried reading the book (I know, dweeb). So even though Hooper’s scores don’t quite compare to some of the earlier works, he has made some wonderful music and was a great addition to the series.
Now on to November 2010.
