Name: PJREVAT - 《哈利波特》回顧展：阿方索-卡隆和邁克-紐維爾 (2/4) (PJREVAT - Harry Potter Retrospective : Alfonso Cuaron & Mike Newell (2/4))
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T07:06:01.000Z
Duration: 16 min 6 s
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反身代名詞

After two movies, Chris Colombus declares himself "in total burnout"

基礎被動語態

therefore, it is decided to replace him - the first time out of three this would happen

and every director will consider his predecessors' and successors' work with respect and kindliness.

For now, let's delve into the bizarre concept that is the young

When he came onto Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban project,

he had already directed two adaptations of great literary classics in the USA, and two more personal movies in Mexico.

He had achieved a little success, but had never worked on a project that serious.

But unlike Columbus who can easily do the yesman,

Cuarón has a very established visual style that will give a very different *feeling* to the movie

For a long time, I saw that as a problem, but in the end, I think that, in that symbolic of the character's entrance in adolescence and maturity,

Cuarón's previous movie was Y tu mamá también, a road movie about two teenagers, which Rowling liked,

and confirmed Cuarón as a good choice to tackle this evolution of the characters.

And, sort of like a teenager, the movie makes its revolution in the visual transposition of the books.

The style goes from being noble and distinguished...

Thankfully the magical painters are Realists, can you imagine if one of them was to play Picasso ?

A change which, in my opinion, symbolises this idea,

is that the actors now have the right to personnalise their clothes a little, and to be a little more ungroomed.

And that is exactly the term I would use to describe Cuarón's direction : ungroomed.

Almost all of the movie is shot with a Steadycam or a crane, and mostly uses short focal lenghts,

which reduces the shaking and gives this nonchalant and wide camera, typical of this director's movies.

This instantly adds more dimension to the universe, which until then seemed really cramped in the frame.

Additionnaly, he applies a blue filter on the frame, and chooses to clip the blacks,

which gives a peculiar texture, dark and smooth at the same time,

in total opposition with the rather natural, sometimes brightful colors of Colombus's movies.

He also allows himself what his predecessor has never did: a few digressions.

Before Lupin's class, for instance, he allows himself a somewhat elaborated effect, just for kicks

and reunites in one frame the shot and reversed shot, when the camera shows the mirror,

and enter the reflection in one uninterrupted movement.

That doesn't particularly mean anything in the movie, it's just for style.

Still being a little ungroomed, he sneaks in a few little jokes,

like when he starts the shot a little bit too early to pick Harry up at the inn

and catches the housekeeper gag before he appears in the frame,

or when Hermione grabs Harry by the collar, and the camera has time to go from the hand to his face

before it disappears from the frame, carried away by the branch.

The treatment of time is totally surrealistic, just to make a little visual gag.

You have to understand I have a problem with Cuarón : he does brilliant things, but always in the same way.

And it bores me. As it does with Tim Burton.

That's why I still scoff a little, but I approve all the directing choices that I just listed,

and I do not say "ungroomed" to be pejorative.

What I mean by that is that it's sort of like an overactive teenager, overflowing with energy, starting to take magnitude,

and sometimes having trouble keeping focus,

as with the illustration shots of the seasons passing on the Whomping Willow or with the Dementors.

Special care is given to the ellipses to ensure that they will go unnoticed.

Closing iris, playing with the movie's cliped black, or even making a transition with a visual effect like the rain.

The idea is to give the feeling that the movie never stops,

wich reinforces the effect of Harry and Hermione's going back in time in the third act.

And to get over with this "teenager" aspect, in the introduction,

it creates a tiny mismatch with the movie's universe just so it can say that, literally,

Harry is playing with his wand under the blanket!

Which can be filed in the same category as the nut-cracking butler.

But let's get back to serious matter : Cuaron's directing allows him to finally

direct in a slightly more elaborated way than "filming the character who's speaking".

When Arthur Weasley decides to talk to Harry about Sirius Black, the scene happens in a long take.

At first, the characters are in the light and have room in the frame.

Then when Arthur brings up the subject, they are in half-light.

Gradually, the poster of Black invades the frame like it does Harry's mind.

When Arthur tells him he probably is his target,

both characters are totally in the shadow and the frame is way more narrowed around them.

This kind of progressively composed shots can be found several times,

the long take being Alfonso's little indulgence, focused on Harry's point of vue,

and the camera is free to move around to show the action rather than making multiple cuts.

Note that each director tried to retain their predecessor's work,

even if it is difficult to see what's left of Colombus in Cuarón's work.

Hints of it can be found in the newcomer's use of ghosts to make the world of Hogwart feel alive,

the camera sometimes holding on their act for a few seconds, before going back to the character.

That said, I have two problems with his work, aside from the repetition I always feel with his style.

So OK, maybe J.K.Rowling declared that she loved the dre-heads, and thought they blended perfectly in her universe,

I have no problems with that, there were even dre-heads in the black magic store in the second movie.

That's not the problem. The problem is to make them

I'm sure there was no way to exploit the driver and the inspector for a humorous scene!

You had to add a miniature Eddie Murphy with dreadlocks!

If at least there was only one, but no, they come back further in, still very useful!

This is all the more infuriating that he's just wasting time, during which he could explaine the Animagi and the names in the Marauder's map,

something the plot is very much lacking, and would have been of great service to the following movies.

And finally, Cuarón's chaotic style creates images that are really astride between genius and bad taste,

like this half-CGI dolly zoom which ends up having very thick grain because of the digital zoom and all the filters.

All this leading up to this werewolf that looks like the bastard child of Gollum and the Tex Avery wolf,

not exactly the best design in the franchise.

Luckily, they are in the same movie as the Dementors.

For in spite of every mistake the movie makes, it does have everything that was missing from both Columbus movies.

Finally, the students do other things besides exposition,

finally, the director realizes he's making a movie in a school,

and that children, even well-behaved British children,

are living human beings who can't keep talking exclusively about crucial plot points.

This is the first movie where a sensation of group develops elsewhere than with the Weasley's,

and where friendships flourish. We even have our first clue of the relationship between Ron and Hermione.

And that's important because the rest of the story makes it essential to know the interactions between the characters and their environment.

By the way, here's a funny little detail: since choices had to be made to put the story on to the screen,

every two movies comes a more relaxed one, which intensely focuses on the relationships between characters.

Getting back to the environments, this is where the Harry Potter movies started to film their sets.

Switching to short focal lenghts and broad shots constantly surounds our characters with the set,

rather than having them on a big, sort of abstract blurry backdrop.

It gives more scope, more grandeur, and really makes the magic of this world stick out.

Incidentally, note that some sets have been modified, such as the Whomping Willow being moved,

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PJREVAT - 《哈利波特》回顧展：阿方索-卡隆和邁克-紐維爾 (2/4) (PJREVAT - Harry Potter Retrospective : Alfonso Cuaron & Mike Newell (2/4))

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