J.K. Rowling did her best writing on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and the filmmakers rise to her level to make the series’ best film by far. When a much-loved piece of literature is adapted to film, I sometimes worry that the filmmakers will try so hard to get it right that the end product will feel stuffy. But “HBP” has a wonderful lightness at times — I don’t recall laughing this much in the previous five “Potter” films — while also conveying an overall mood of darkness.
It’s a unique kind of darkness. The highly stylized cinematography made me feel like I was roaming around in a painting. Hogwarts has never looked quite like this before — it looks grayer and sparser, but in a beautiful way. In the coda to the school (which doesn’t figure prominently in the final book), Harry says, “I never noticed how beautiful this place was.” It’s always been a colorful place, but it’s never been this masterfully artistic.
The casting director probably saved a lot of money by not hiring many extras. When we read a book, we tend to focus in on the main characters — in this case, Harry, Ron and Hermione and whoever passes through their sphere — but usually movie adaptations are broader than what’s in our heads. That’s because movie makers have to show us what places look like; as readers, we can develop a vague sense of place, and then focus on the people and what they’re saying, so we can keep turning the pages.
“HBP” preserves the focus of a readers’ mind — in that climactic showdown between Dumbledore and Snape, you feel like it’s all about Dumbledore and Snape. Even when the whole school gathers around Dumbledore’s body, you feel like the focus is entirely on Dumbledore, where it should be. “HBP” is remarkable in how emotionally centered it is.
Speaking of emotion, love takes center stage in “HBP,” and this is where the laughs — and giggles — come from. You’ve got Harry and Ginny pairing up, of course, but the best moment is when Ron finally acknowledges that he’s all about Hermione (to a roomful of people, no less, but it’s not exactly “I love you, Beth Cooper”). The moment completely avoids romantic clichés, and it is incredibly cute.
I also chuckled a lot at Jim Broadbent’s turn as Professor Slughorn. The way he twists his face into different expressions is highly amusing, as the actor embraces the stylized side of the series. (Credit here also goes to Rowling, who wrote Slughorn much more subtly than previous “professor of the year” characters, who tended to be one-dimensional.)
But like I say, everyone rises to the occasion, so you get the best flat-out acting of the series. Note Rupert Grint’s turn when he’s under a love spell. Tom Felton even manages to give Malfoy an extra layer (again, credit must be shared with Rowling, who took the character in a new direction).
The secret to “HBP’s” success, both as a book and as a film, is that Voldemort is nowhere to be found (except in Pensieve-powered flashbacks to his younger days as Tom Riddle). Standing apart from the rest of the series, this installment is about buildup, not wand-waving fight scenes between the Chosen One and the Dark Lord, or a gaggle of good guys and a gaggle of bad guys. I’ve always thought the buildup, rather than the conclusion, was the best part of any good yarn.
On the other hand, this is a two-and-a-half hour movie, so it has time to dip into multiple genres. If you want action, “HBP’s” snowy Quidditch scenes are quite breathtaking. And the sequence in the cliff-side cave where Harry and Dumbledore seek the first Horcrux very much owes a nod to horror movies — and it honors the genre quite well.
I didn’t really like the seventh and final book, “Deathly Hallows,” all that much — I missed Hogwarts and thought the conclusive battle was anticlimactic. But if this same team of filmmakers is working on the two-part “Deathly Hallows,” I think I just might enjoy watching that on the big screen, too.
It’s going to be tough to top this one, though.
Do you also rank “Half-Blood Prince” as the best “Potter” film, or does another entry take your top spot? Share your thoughts in the comment threads.