Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone
Director Chris Columbus. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris and Alan Rickman
UK 2001, Cert PG. 152 mins
Having sold more than 100 million Harry Potter books worldwide and after a split from her partner, multi-millionaire author JK Rowling was recently voted the most eligible woman in Britain.
|
|
It was no surprise then to learn that Rowling was intent on exercising careful control over the first film in the series of eagerly awaited cinematic conversions of her fantasy saga, in particular giving director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) two golden rules. Firstly, that he must employ an all-British cast, and secondly that he must remain as faithful to the original book as possible. With the $125 million of Hollywood’s magic behind him, Columbus has stayed true to Rowling’s wishes on both counts and Harry’s followers can rest assured that their expectations have not been disappointed.
In the unlikely instance that you do not already know, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone follows the beginning of Harry’s adventures as he is rescued from a unhappy life with his cruel foster parents and journeys to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, where he will learn to master his incredible powers and where mystery and adventures are never too far away.
Taking on what will probably be the biggest role of his entire career, and now the proud owner of a face that has become the Golden Goose in merchandising, is 12 year-old Daniel Radcliffe. Although his only prior claims to fame are the lead in a BBC production of David Copperfield and a small role in The Tailor Of Panama, Radcliffe makes his mark in the big time comfortably enough. Sure, he’s not going to give Haley Joel Osmont any sleepless nights, but even if ‘acting’ generally means wiggling his eyebrows and/or widening his eyes, he looks the part and it does the trick. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson also turn in highly enjoyable performances at Harry’s best friends and the three together make for a great team.
|
|
The real joy for grown-up viewers is a list of adult stars which reads like a Who’s Who in British acting. The standouts are Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman, who have a ball as the gentle giant Hagrid and the sinister Snape. John Cleese and Julie Walters occupy the screen for mere minutes, but their presence adds wonderfully to the whole feel of the movie and this near-perfect casting of characters who interact with great humour and believability is one of the film’s greatest strengths.
Great credit should be afforded to screenwriter Steven Kloves, who has done a commendable job in condensing a 200-page novel bubbling with detail into a feature film and successfully incorporating the majority of the original text. However, in compacting so many scenes and characters there just isn’t time to dwell on them in any great depth and HPATPS manages the peculiar feat of being both overlong and hurried at the same time. For the uninitiated among us the 152 minutes can sometimes lag a bit and devotees of the book may find it something of a whistle-stop tour that takes a very long time.
But while this would usually be a problem for a children’s film, even the youngest of fans will almost certainly be too immersed in the magic to notice the time. Columbus and double Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Gray (Gandhi, The English Patient) have achieved wonders in recreating Harry’s mythical world through some brilliant special effects and set designs. The fantasy becomes totally believable, with every location alive with fantastic effects and inhabited by remarkable creatures, such as the miserly goblins and Fluffy the three-headed guard dog. Most spectacular of all is the Quidditch match, which can only be described as a cross between Rollerball and The Phantom Menace’s pod race played out at Wembley stadium. With broomsticks.
|
Ultimately it is pointless to compare the adaptation to the book, as the film is a creation in its own right – and a very good one at that. Given the success of all four books so far, it would be nigh on impossible for Harry Potter’s screen incarnation to be as enchanting as his presence in the minds of all those who have followed his literary adventures from the beginning. As it stands, Columbus has captured the magic of Rowling’s world in as marvellous a fashion as anyone could hope for, and the army of readers who are not quite clever enough for Tolkien yet will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment.
