‘Prisoner’ positive for Harry

SARA SALAM

Lurking in the desolate and emotionally weakened soul of Harry Potter

lays the memory of his faithful parents and the disconcerting reality

of living without them. Despite the torment this young wizard has

endured in the past, he has managed to identify the positive aspects

of his life (although these may appear quite ambiguous at times) in

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Living with the Dursleys -- the callous and unsupportive family

that was chosen to be his adopted guardians -- is no easy task.

Evidently, however, the emotional complexity of Harry’s position

becomes more visible through his rash actions and darkening of his

heart. New conflicts, involving the murder of his parents, arise, and

in turn, Harry’s vision of reality is obscured, primarily by one man

named Sirius Black. This man, the prisoner of Azkaban, has been

thought of to be an ally and direct associate of none other than Lord

Voldemort; most believe that his principal ambition was to dispose of

Harry Potter. Through a series of revelations and classifying of

newly discovered proof, Harry and his companions -- the unchanged yet

more mature Ron Weasely and Hermoine Granger -- piece together these

facts that eventually disclose the truth behind the intentions of

Sirius Black and his unfeigned affiliations.

Besides fighting the untamed awareness of Sirius Black, Harry must

also fight the “kiss” of the dementors -- dreary, black, ghost-like

creatures that feed on happiness and steal away one’s merry memories

until all that remains is fear. Although their presence at Hogwart’s

is only to locate Sirius Black, they interfere unaccountably with

others as well. For reasons relating to Harry’s rapport with Black,

an attraction of the dementors to the famous young wizard takes

place, enabling him to become a victim of their foreign wrath. There

is not much he can do to defy their strength, until the end.

Throughout “Prisoner of Azkaban,” Harry’s individuality and

maturity is portrayed more strongly than before. Sometimes, this is

not such a good thing. By impeding friendships and thwarting possible

paths of aid, Harry becomes his own obstruction. That’s not to say

that he ends up with a poor status, but there are threatening

consequences to his actions.

Although this film is based on the writings of J.K. Rowling, it

takes its own facade. The plot and story line are significantly the

same, aside from the movie offering visual interpretations that may

not have been clearly depicted in the novel. There is, however, a

difference in atmosphere and character analysis. Dark images and

dismal illustrations show the transition of Harry from his childhood

to his teen years and how he perceives his life to be changing. He

becomes more aware of the evil surrounding his existence and

therefore becomes more involved than he has been. With this in mind,

it is no surprise that his relationships with others are deeper and

more personally based, which makes the movie all the more intriguing.

The novel that was the basis for this film did not have such a

sinister tone, and this interpretation yields more to the negative

aspects existing rather than the positive.

The effects of this film were well-crafted -- from the dementors

to the village of Hogsmead. The newly-presented characters, such as

Sirius Black, Professor Lupin and Peter Pedigrew, were very much like

those described in the novel itself. However, Headmaster Dumbledore

was not as consistent. In previous movies and books, Dumbledore was

personable and concerned with everything taking place. This time, he

seems aloof and not as. He lacks stability and understanding. Also,

because of the thickening of the plot and the complications involving

characters in places other than the wizards’ school, most of the film

was not centered in Hogwart’s but in places elsewhere.

With a new director, there is margin for change and inconsistency.

But as Rowling has wanted from the beginning, there has been

increased action and intensity added to the flavor of her stories.

* SARA SALAM is a student at Corona del Mar High School.

‘Terminal’ is a case of homeland insecurity

Imagine you are going on vacation, and while you are in-flight,

your country goes to war, your government no longer exists, your

passport is no longer valid, and you become a citizen of nowhere.

Such is the premise for Steven Spielberg’s bittersweet “The

Terminal,” in which an eastern European is told that, until the

United States officially recognizes his new government, “America is

closed,” and he can neither return home nor leave the international

terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

This is perhaps Spielberg’s most subtle film to date, thanks to

the marvelous performance by Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a

good-hearted man who barely speaks English and is excited about

seeing the Big Apple for the first time. When no-nonsense airport

immigration officer Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci at his sneering best)

tells Viktor he cannot exit the terminal, he is dismayed to see that

Viktor takes him at his word and does not try to escape.

Dixon would like to see Navorski become someone else’s problem and

tries various ways to get rid of him. In today’s atmosphere of

terrorist threats, he doesn’t trust this man to be as innocent as he

seems. Indeed, Viktor’s ability to survive, make friends and

especially get a job that pays more than Dixon’s, is a huge thorn in

his side.

Hanks is a modern-day Charlie Chaplin as he delicately makes his

little cracker-and-ketchup sandwiches when things are most desperate.

And like Chaplin, he finds an unlikely romance with pretty flight

attendant Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a lonely lady who loves

reading about Napoleon and with a penchant for picking the wrong men.

There’s a great, ethnically diverse cast of airport workers who

befriend Navorski and also add comedy relief. My favorite was

mistrusting janitor Gupta (Kumar Pallana) who gets some of the best

lines and actually drew applause for his unexpected display of skills

as a lounge act.

My pet peeve with Spielberg films has always been his compulsion

to be heavy-handed with the sentiment -- it’s as if he doesn’t trust

his audience to notice “the big moment” on its own.

While “The Terminal” isn’t perfect, he gets high marks for this

entertaining fairy tale that underlines the best that this country

has to offer.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.