HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PT. 1 (2010)
I know a lot of people thought Harry and Hermione were going to kiss in this scene, and I suppose that is a fair interpretation. But this scene never felt sexual to me at all. What has often gotten lost in the Harry Potter fandom - at least the movie fandom - is that Hermione and Harry are best friends. Ron is his best mate, but Hermione is his best friend. And this scene felt like the most natural thing in the world for Harry to want to do. They are both sad and disheartened, missing Ron, and he tries to cheer them both up with a funny little dance. The way he looks at her is so grownup, like he has taken all of the lessons and heartache over the previous six years and he knows that life is going to continue being hard - that is a fact of life for Harry Potter - but they can make the best of it, have this one light moment where they get to be the eighteen year-olds they actually are and not the saviors of the world. It helps that the song is Nick Cave's "O' Children," a beautifully melancholic, but also hopeful song with something of gospel in it.
And even more than the brief moment of levity, I love how quickly it ends, that reality comes back too soon. Ron is still gone, they still don't have the answers they need, and a little dancing won't change that. That too felt so grownup - so sad for them that their innocence is over and they can't ignore or put off the real world any longer. They are now part of it; they are adults. That realization is crushing, not only for these characters, but for those of us in the audience who have watched them grow up, who have watched this fun little kid series become something to be taken seriously, something that will break your heart. In eight wonderful films, this is my absolute favorite moment. Not quidditch, or the end of Voldemort, or Ron and Hermione's kiss or even the most delightful smile of young Daniel Radcliffe getting to become a wizard. This is the moment that made it all real for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment