Today's Special: A shot of firewhiskey and a plate of whatever Hermione managed to forage today (we're on the run, after all).It's always darkest before dawn.
That phrase is a cliche for a reason, and it can be applied not only to the daily cycle of light and dark but also to war: the darkest, most desperate moments come just before the climactic final showdown.
That darkness is given full reign in this, the tense and emotional penultimate film set in the months leading up to the Harry Potter's final battle. Having come of age, Harry and his friends are no longer children, and they soon realize exactly what that means. Hogwarts is no longer their bright, magical haven. Monsters of both the human and magical creature variety lurk everywhere, and they are doling out death, not the loss of house points. Friends and family are in danger, and the one thing that can save everyone - finding the Horcruxes and killing Voldemort - seems more out of reach than ever. And the worst part is that, for the first time, our intrepid Trio has no one to turn to. That isolation is brought home in one particularly effective scene early in the film. After Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been chased by Death Eaters and have taken refuge in 12 Grimmauld Place, Hermione casts a spell to determine that no one else is in the house. Her verdict - "We're alone" - resonates all the greater against the chilling blackness that surrounds the three teens on all sides. They are, indeed, alone - in more ways than one.
The focus of this film lies very much on the now-isolated Trio. We watch as the hopelessness of the dark and dangerous times takes it's toll on each member, from withdrawn, brooding Harry to anxious, take-charge Hermione to moody and increasingly jealous Ron. It's little wonder, then, that the friendships that have formed the bedrock of the series find themselves strained until they finally reach a breaking point: an intense and emotional scene in which Ron angrily leaves a heartbroken Hermione and a seething Harry to continue the Horcrux hunt without him. The three actors, for their part, portray the emotional interplay among the three teens flawlessly, allowing us to feel the heartbreak when the Trio's bonds are broken as well as the joy when the three are finally reunited. The series lives and dies with the relationship between these three, and in this film, the emotional power of the Trio is alive and well.
Not all of the story, however, is as clear as the emotional ups and downs of the three teens at its center. Rather like the Trio's frustrating and aimless camping trip itself, much of the film feels jumpy and unfocused. The story wanders a bit, throwing in lots of information without quite enough structure for us to see how the pieces fit together toward the ultimate resolution. Maybe this is a consequence of the choice to split the book into two films; perhaps it's simply the price we pay for trying to fit such a dense, detail-laden story into the more streamlined medium of film. As one who has read all the books numerous times, I have to wonder if fans who have only seen the movies would find this one difficult to understand. They'd no doubt be wondering who that Gregorovitch fellow is that Harry mentioned, or why Harry keeps looking at a broken fragment of glass. This continuity lockout may lessen the dramatic effect of the film for the more casual viewer.
The scenes that do work (and there are many of them) do so because they transcend the plot details and go straight to the heart. When Ron is taunted mercilessly by the locket Horcrux, we are right there with him as his feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness, and jealousy come to the surface. When Hermione all but shuts down following Ron's departure, we feel the heartbreak right along with her. And when a certain character dies in the final moments of the film... well, you may find yourself shedding tears you hadn't expected.
While the film does have some flaws when it comes to flow and continuity, the emotional truths of the story come through beautifully thanks to solid performances and the deft hand of director David Yates. In the end, this dark, intense film does what it sets out to do: it forms a stable foundation for what promises to be an epic final chapter.
