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05-24-2004, 11:42 AM
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[img]http://www.snitchseeker.com/images/news/alfonso_cuaron_80.jpg' align='middle'> Alfonso conjures up a shadowy blockbuster - Summary:
Harry Potter reveals a more darker side Article:
Thanks to Wizardnews Quote: Mexican director of third Potter movie conjures up a shadowy, moody blockbusterotter movie conjures up a shadowy, moody blockbuster
By Rick Fulton
THE director of the third Harry Potter movie has cast a dark and mysterious spell over the latest blockbuster. The lucky few who have seen The Prisoner Of Azkaban say the radical changes by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron make it like seeing Harry with fresh eyes.
Thenew film, which had its world premiere in New York last night and opens in Britain next week, is moodier and has more adult appeal than the first two billion-dollar movies.
Alfonso, whose most critically acclaimed work is foreign language film Y Tu Mama Tambien, might seem a strange choice to be entrusted with such a huge project.
Original director Chris Columbus, who produced Prisoner Of Azkaban with David Heyman and Mark Radcliffe, had created a world for JK Rowling's famous characters with which fans were happy.
But having spent four years directing Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, Chris wanted to spend more time with his family.
'I decided to finally have dinner with my kids,' he said.
Andone of Edinburgh-based J.K.'s favourite movies is Alfonso's A Little Princess. So the mega-rich author gave the 42-year-old film-maker her full support and allowed him to let his imagination run free up to a point.
Alfonso said: 'Jo Rowling asked me not to be too literal with my interpretation, but to be faithful to the spirit of the books.
'She's so eloquent about the world she has created, and equally aware that if you want to make a film that is not more than twoand a half hours long, you have to make choices.
'I knew that if I honoured the universe that is Harry Potter, I could potentially makemy best film yet.'
Alfonso's vivid imagination adds an edge and creates a world as interesting to adults as it is to kids.
Harry and his friends Ronand Hermione are now teenagers.They return for their third year at Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry worried that Sirius Black is out to kill Harry after escaping from Azkaban prison.
Legend has it that the sneaky Sirius was responsible for leading Lord Voldemort to Harry's parents and ultimately to their deaths.
'Even though on the surface this is a story about magic, it was the issues explored in it that were so interesting, and so relevant today,' said Alfonso, who was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 2003 forYTu Mama Tambien.
Producer David Heyman said: 'Y Tu Mama Tambien is a story about the rights of passage from teenager to manhood,and the third Harry Potter story is about the journey from childhood to teenager.
'Alfonso has a keen understanding of the nuances of teenage life. He's a teenager at heart.'
Former Potter director Chris Columbus said: 'Alfonso is terrific with young actors, and that's obviously very important with these films. He is also one of the most visually exciting directors working today.'
The characters of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) andRon (Rupert Grint) go through big changes in Prisoner Of Azkaban.
Harry, now 13, is becoming an angry young man,no longer afraid of talking back to the Dursleys or finding out about his dead parents. Hermione confronts her Muggle heritage, losing her sensible head and developing some girl power.
To help the young actors understand their characters, Alfonso asked them to write an essay onhow they viewed their growth from the early days at Hogwarts to the beginning of the third story.
Amazingly, their responses mirrored their on-screen roles.
Daniel handed in his one-page essay first. But next day Emma delivered 16 pages. Alfonso is still awaiting for Rupert's essay. 'But hey, that's my character,' said Rupert. 'Dan and Emma helped me give Alfonso all the usual excuses, like the dog ate my homework.
'But Ron has never liked schoolwork and he'd have found every excuse possible to get out of doing the essay, so I was just being in character.'
The exercise gave the director an incredible insight into the personalities of his cast and their characters.
'The kids really bared their souls in those essays,' said Alfonso.
'We often used them as reference during filming, a sort of shorthand that helped the kids get into the moment.' Prisoner Of Azkaban brought two challenges for the young actors conveying their characters' adventurous transition to adolescence, and working for the first time without Chris Columbus, their mentor.
'I got the chance to put into practice everything I learned working with Chris,' said Daniel.
'I don't think I'd have been able to makean Alfonso Cuaron movie before this, but I felt ready having learned so much with Chris.'
For Emma, the greatest gift Chris gave her was confidence. 'Alfonso made us think about our characters andhow they would react to certain situations, which is something I don't think I was ready to do in the first two films.'
But Alfonso didn't only work on their acting skills. He changed their clothes to make them look older.
'What I really wanted to dowas to make Hogwarts more contemporary and a little more naturalistic,' he said.
'For instance, I studied English schools and watched the way the kids wore their uniforms. No two were alike. Each teenager's individuality was reflected in the way they wore their uniform.
'So I asked all the kids in the film to wear their uniforms as they would if their parents weren't around.'
Rupert looked like a ragamuffin and Emma wore jeans, although her top jacket button was still doneup.
And Harry, whose look is famous the world over, didn't turn into Keith Flint from The Prodigy, but still looked less staid and childish.
All the schoolchildren were given jumpers and cardigans to make their uniforms individual.The Hogwarts uniforms are darker and have a hood with the house colours inside. For the Quidditch sequence, the sports uniforms were given stripes and numbers.
While old faces return like Robbie Coltrane, Richard Griffiths, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Julie Waters, there are some new ones too.
Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black, David Thewlis is Professor Lupin, Emma Thompson is Divination Professor Sybill Trelawney and Michael Gambon takes on the role of Professor Dumbledore after the death of Richard Harris.
Alfonso felt Dumbledore's costumes had been heavy and majestic. He wanted the wise wizard to bean old hippy so his robes are now silk and float around him, giving him more energy.
To help establish a contemporary, atmospheric look to the film, Alfonso brought in director of photography Michael Seresin, whose work includes Midnight Express.
'This story is much darker than the previous two, so the lighting is more moody, with more shadows,' said Michael. 'Alfonso is a great believer in using close-ups sparingly.
'By shooting with wide-angle lenses, the backgrounds become as important to the storytelling as the actors.'
Adding to the eerie atmosphere are the scenes of outside Hogwarts shot in Glencoe.They include the climactic sequence in which Harry, Ronand Hermione attempt to rescue Buckbeak, the magical hippogriff.
'The scenes we shot in Scotland represent my proudest achievement of the film,' said Michael, who endured 28 days of rain in Glencoe.
'We couldn't have dialled upmore perfect weather for our story. The crew was sliding around in the mud, but I couldn't have been happier.'
Daily Record  | |
05-24-2004, 11:58 AM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Gnome
Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: barrow-in-furness
Posts: 257
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cool cant wait to see it 
sorry had to edit as i cant spell today
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05-24-2004, 12:04 PM
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#3 (permalink)
| | Graphorn
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 17,599
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Isabella Thompson
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Sounds fantastic!
__________________ .::LoZz::. | |
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05-24-2004, 12:28 PM
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#4 (permalink)
| | Gnome
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 269
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im loving all these interviews!! im rivetting with exceitment!
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05-24-2004, 01:01 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Firecrab
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: It's a secret! *giggles*
Posts: 757
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another long review, cool, come on June 4th only 10 days!!  | |
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05-24-2004, 05:28 PM
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#6 (permalink)
| | Puffskein
Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Beyond space, and time, beyond everything.
Posts: 2,323
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I Cant Wait To See It!!!!!!!!! I Gota It NOW Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!
__________________
"The Beginng Is Also The End."
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05-25-2004, 02:03 AM
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#7 (permalink)
| | Horklump
Join Date: May 2004 Location: American Midwest
Posts: 45
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It's great to see more adult appeal in the next film. Granted, PoA had more, anyway, but this new director sounds great.
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05-25-2004, 09:40 AM
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#8 (permalink)
| | Firecrab
Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Queensland Australia
Posts: 838
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it seems like alfonso cauron has done absolute wonders to the movie................. i can twait to finally be able to say... " ive seen it!" that day will come soon... but it betta hurry cause im getting impatient!
__________________
Hermione ~ Did I mention its the most haunted place in Britian?
Ron ~ Twice, I think.
Hermione ~ Oh. Do you want to move closer?
Ron ~ Huh?
Hermione ~ To the Shrieking Shack.
Ron ~ Oh, no. I'm OK here. | |
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