Post by Lolua on Jun 9, 2004 19:16:26 GMT -5
I'd like to start off by sharing my thoughts on Richard Harris as Dumbledore, before we jump into Michael Gambon in the role.
Richard Harris was a great actor (and, as Big Brother will tell you, an even greater alcoholic). His Dumbledore was old, powerfully magical, and looked good in a long beard and pointy hat. He was the benevolent, distantly wonderful headmaster who swooped in at the end to pass judgment and explain everything to Harry.
However, the whimsical side of canon Dumbledore was missing from his portrayal. At first I thought that it was merely a casualty of the script, but then I recalled his attempt at the vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's bean in the first movie and the confusing nature of the look he shares with Ron after Hagrid's comment about Errol at the celebration feast in the second.
In the first film, Harris's delivery of "Alas, earwax!" sounds stoic and resigned. In the book, Dumbledore spits out the bean like a normal person would. Is Harris's Dumbledore so powerful that a little thing like a gross jelly bean won't deter him from his bean-eating course? Where is Dumbledore's humanity that we saw so clearly in the third and fifth books?
In the second film, Harris quirks an eyebrow at horrified-looking Ron, who feels guilty and embarrassed for having sent the unreliable Errol with Hagrid's release papers. Would canon Dumbledore have looked so sternly at Ron? It's a tough call, especially since the incident doesn't happen in the book: Ron is sent to take Lockhart to the infirmary and Dumbledore is still in the process of writing to Azkaban when Lucius Malfoy's arrival with Dobby interrupts him.
Questions of whimsicality aside, Richard Harris's Dumbledore was probably incapable of carrying off the kind of butt-kicking Dumbledore will have to do down the road. We saw this sort of thing from Ian McKellen as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies, particuarly vs. the Balrog in the first installment and against the forces of Sauron in the third. We bought that wizards in Tolkien's universe were agile for their age without being told it was so, because McKellen's facial expressions and body language as Gandalf connected well with what his stunt-double and CGI-enhanced self had done. Dumbledore doesn't have to be quite so kung-fu about the whole thing, but he will probably have to blow a door off its hinges (and be very frightening and powerful-looking when he does it) in Goblet of Fire and duel "Tom"/Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix. Richard Harris was very good at standing, sitting, clapping, and waving his hand around -- but would his Dumbledore have been believable in a duel?
Maybe I have these doubts because we've never seen Harris's Dumbledore perform wanded magic: he uses the Put-Outer in the first film, then does nothing overtly magical for the rest of the movie except raising his hand to bring on the Starting Feast's food and to change the colors of the decorations at the Leaving Feast. In the second film, he performs no magic at all. Gambon, however, does magic in the third. He lights and extinguishes a candle during the Sorting Feast and zaps Harry to break his fall during the Quidditch match. (I might be missing more, but I've only seen it once).
Gambon's Dumbledore has already shown us a glimpse of mysterious power, when he talks seriously about the Dementors during the Sorting Feast. He segues briskly into happy, good-times Dumbledore, talking about finding happiness when all around you is dark. He's mischievous when it comes to dealing with Snape, and is particularly so during the scene in the hospital wing (though Dumbledore continues to pick on Ron, grrr).
Richard Harris was a great actor (and, as Big Brother will tell you, an even greater alcoholic). His Dumbledore was old, powerfully magical, and looked good in a long beard and pointy hat. He was the benevolent, distantly wonderful headmaster who swooped in at the end to pass judgment and explain everything to Harry.
However, the whimsical side of canon Dumbledore was missing from his portrayal. At first I thought that it was merely a casualty of the script, but then I recalled his attempt at the vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's bean in the first movie and the confusing nature of the look he shares with Ron after Hagrid's comment about Errol at the celebration feast in the second.
In the first film, Harris's delivery of "Alas, earwax!" sounds stoic and resigned. In the book, Dumbledore spits out the bean like a normal person would. Is Harris's Dumbledore so powerful that a little thing like a gross jelly bean won't deter him from his bean-eating course? Where is Dumbledore's humanity that we saw so clearly in the third and fifth books?
In the second film, Harris quirks an eyebrow at horrified-looking Ron, who feels guilty and embarrassed for having sent the unreliable Errol with Hagrid's release papers. Would canon Dumbledore have looked so sternly at Ron? It's a tough call, especially since the incident doesn't happen in the book: Ron is sent to take Lockhart to the infirmary and Dumbledore is still in the process of writing to Azkaban when Lucius Malfoy's arrival with Dobby interrupts him.
Questions of whimsicality aside, Richard Harris's Dumbledore was probably incapable of carrying off the kind of butt-kicking Dumbledore will have to do down the road. We saw this sort of thing from Ian McKellen as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies, particuarly vs. the Balrog in the first installment and against the forces of Sauron in the third. We bought that wizards in Tolkien's universe were agile for their age without being told it was so, because McKellen's facial expressions and body language as Gandalf connected well with what his stunt-double and CGI-enhanced self had done. Dumbledore doesn't have to be quite so kung-fu about the whole thing, but he will probably have to blow a door off its hinges (and be very frightening and powerful-looking when he does it) in Goblet of Fire and duel "Tom"/Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix. Richard Harris was very good at standing, sitting, clapping, and waving his hand around -- but would his Dumbledore have been believable in a duel?
Maybe I have these doubts because we've never seen Harris's Dumbledore perform wanded magic: he uses the Put-Outer in the first film, then does nothing overtly magical for the rest of the movie except raising his hand to bring on the Starting Feast's food and to change the colors of the decorations at the Leaving Feast. In the second film, he performs no magic at all. Gambon, however, does magic in the third. He lights and extinguishes a candle during the Sorting Feast and zaps Harry to break his fall during the Quidditch match. (I might be missing more, but I've only seen it once).
Gambon's Dumbledore has already shown us a glimpse of mysterious power, when he talks seriously about the Dementors during the Sorting Feast. He segues briskly into happy, good-times Dumbledore, talking about finding happiness when all around you is dark. He's mischievous when it comes to dealing with Snape, and is particularly so during the scene in the hospital wing (though Dumbledore continues to pick on Ron, grrr).