‘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.
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