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Posted: |
Nov 25, 2010 - 4:07 PM
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By: |
Gunnar
(Member)
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Having seen HP 7-1 and listened to the score for a few times over the last two days, I have to say that I really, really like it. Throughout the whole film, I found it very fitting, and as a standalone listening experience, I find that it has almost a sort of hypnotic pull, although my very first listen was not overly enthusiastic.
To me, David Yates did everything right with his films, and HP 7-1 is possibly my favourite film of the whole series. He took advantage that six films already introduced the magic aspects of the Harry Potter world and now uses magic with great restraint, focusing more on the human side of the story. If there is magic, it's generally breathtaking in its beauty (the death-eater's smoke trails) and perfection (Kreacher). But very often, it's wonderfully subtle, like the protection charms when the trio is hiding, which is mostly done only by changes in sound.
As for the music, I found the change in style that Yates went for by using first Hooper and then Desplat totally justified. The first films mainly had to introduce us to this new world - hence the slightly formulaic storylines in the first to parts. We learned about this world through Harry, and his boyish sense of wonder and excitement was perfectly captured in Williams' scores. Also, these scores had to convince us to believe in this new world and all its magic (and might have had to help out here and there when the visual effects were less than perfect).
Now, towards the end of the series, the characters have matured, the magic has become normal, and the personal development as well as the more threatening developments in this world have taken over. I can hear all of this in Desplat's music, and hence, for me it works. I also cannot see great set-pieces in this film, and hence the absence of equally great standalone compositions is only consequential. And finally, if we buy into the idea that Hedwig and her theme were our guides and introduction to the world Harry encountered after his 11th birthday, its virtual absence is justified by both the way the poor owl is dispatched in HP 7 and the fact that this world that Harry encountered, through the rise of Voldemort, is no more.
Sorry for the rambling post, I will step off my soap box now.
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