Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

UK Release Date. 19 November 2010
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 26 mins
Director. David Yates
Cast. Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Grint, Guy Henry, Rhys Ifans, Peter Mullan, Daniel Radcliffe, Imelda Staunton, Emma Watson, Bonnie Wright.
Rating. 64%

Review.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is an impressive film. A film that is beautifully shot and edited. Cold, dark, compelling and at times harrowing. Director David Yates has produced an emotionally mature story, but ultimately, it is half a story and it is tough to rate a film that is such. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 ultimately suffers from the necessity to set up the final confrontation - the Battle of Hogwarts. The film works as part of a whole, but as a standalone film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 leaves much to be desired.

Our three much-loved characters - Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) - have left the confines of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and would appear to be on a directionless quest, disapparating from one desolate locale to the next. Scenes in which Harry, Hermione and Ron aimlessly walk through empty fields, barren limestone pavements and abandoned car parks beautifully capture the frustration of the Horcrux hunt. On their own, and as Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters draw ever closer, tensions mount. This character conflict is necessary to set up the emotional pay off in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. 

Isolated from Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the young actors are removed from the array of British acting talent that has supported them for years - Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson. The three young actors rise to the challenge, with Daniel Radcliffe in particular demonstrating a convincing emotional range.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is not without its charm - there are flashes of brilliance. In one truly magical scene, Xenophilius Lovegood (Rhys Ifans) recants the Deathly Hallows tale and the explanation of the eponymous sign. 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' is an exquisitely beautiful animated sequence which combines the techniques used in Wayang kulit (Indonesian shadow theatre) and the haunting silhouette figures favoured by the innovative German animator, Lotte Reiniger in her fairy tales of the 1930s. 

Following the release of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in November, cinema audiences had to wait a further eight months for the release of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2.