Los Angeles Times television critic Mary McNamara says moviegoers have been under the spell of “Harry Potter” and its amazing cast for a decade and now it’s time for Oscar voters to feel the magic.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" (Warner Bros.)
There is something touching about the fact that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1” opened in mid-November. It’s the unofficial beginning of Oscar season, after all. Whether Warner Bros. is thumbing its nose at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or is still holding out hope for getting voters’ attention, it’s hard to imagine that things will be any different for this installment than they were for the previous six because Oscar just does not like Harry.
Think about it. Six films and no Oscars. None. Moving staircases, talking pictures, heart-stopping Quidditch games, villains that scare even adults and no Oscars. There have been nominations — for art direction, score, visual effects and costume design — but no wins, which, frankly, is hard to fathom. How could none of these films have won for costume design? Screenwriter Steve Kloves, an Oscar nominee for “Wonder Boys,” has adapted all but one of the books, a feat unprecedented in the annals of the Writers Guild, and he’s never been nominated for them. Ditto any of the directors. Or actors.
That’s right, none of the actors in six of the most popular films of all time has been nominated for an Oscar for their “Potter” roles. It’s not surprising that the young leads — Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint — have been passed over; the academy prefers to nominate children in supporting roles and even then only in such scrappy emo-heavy indies as “The Piano” or “Little Miss Sunshine.”
Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Tom Felton pose at the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" in New York November 15, 2010. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
But the supporting adult characters have consistently been played by some of the best actors around from Britain and Ireland: Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Julie Walters, Brendan Gleeson, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent and now Bill Nighy — the list borders on the absurd. All of these performers are, or have been, brilliant in roles that so easily could be overplayed or phoned in or made ridiculous. Consider the trappings — Rickman has pitch-black hair and a cape; Fiennes looks like a snake; Coltrane is a hairy half-giant; Brendan Gleeson has a revolving fake eye. These are not easy things to work around. And yet, they do.
No doubt some academy members regret not nominating Harris for his final role before his death, but Gambon has been consistently passed over too. As Albus Dumbledore, the two actors wore a ZZ Top beard, sometimes with little charms hung in it, and funny hats, and yet in both cases created a fully believable headmaster who is not just the wisest and most humble of men, but also the kindest, projecting a sorrowful optimism up until the moment of his death. Granted, none of the adults have a lot of screen time, but if Judi Dench can win supporting actress for uttering five lines and wearing an enormous side-bustle as Queen Elizabeth in “Shakespeare in Love,” then Gambon’s death scene, Broadbent’s combination of hubris and shame, or Rickman’s pained fury deserve at least a nomination…
THERE’S MORE, READ THE REST
– Mary McNamara
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It's a tragedy that Alan Rickman has been passed over for Best Supporting Actor as Snape. The scene in DH Part 1 with Charity Burbage is enough to show how he has captured such a beautifully layered character.
just wait for the last picture – i am so looking forward to alan rickman's severus snape revelations!
I just have to say Emma Watson was the standout in Deathly Hallows. She showed so much range. Her performance IMO was Oscar worthy. Let’s face it, she’s been carrying these movies,more than Harry Potter himself. How can her performance be ignored just because it’s in a fantasy film?
I agree shes great but I don't think its Oscar worthy, maybe in part 1. Although Rupert stood out to me the most. i think the young ones still have a lot to learn as they have from the pros.
Excellent article! It really does make the academy look foolish.
I agree, 100%, with Ms McNamara. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe have given stellar performances, through 10 years. Alan Rickman, being the wonderful actor, that he is, has given a new meaning to the word Sinister. He has turned out, a totally believable and consistent performance, as Professor Snape. It is truly, beyond me, how the Academy can also overlook the huge cast of actors, from Britain and Ireland….seasoned actors. From Shakespeare to Broadway..It's beyond me.
Great article!
The performances from the young actors and the adult actors is the best yet. Ralph Fiennes brings to Voldemort this real terrorizing presence while still rooting him in some relatable reality. Emma Watson exudes this sensitiveness of a young 17-year-old going through the worst teenage "drama" a 17-year-old could go through, while also showing the strength to be able to resemble the strength of a determined woman. And the list goes on.
The beautiful, almost naturally lit, cinematography by the Academy Award nominated Eduardo Serra along with a shaky cinema verite-feel create an authentic atmosphere that helps a story filled with so much magic and fantasy to maintain a sense of realism and hence feel immediate danger and threat with all the characters.
The special effects are so amazingly crafted. There is a close-up shot of Kreacher the house-elf talking to Harry and just grasping that the details on his face were all done manually on a computer is mind-boggling.
Alexandre Desplat's beautiful, moving, evocative, and tense soundtrack might seem too "adult" for a kid's film.
The set design, the costumes, the adapted script, the list just goes on and on. Wake up Academy!
I can't even express how much I agree with this article. ESPECIALLY considering the supporting cast and the insane special effects. To a degree I can understand the main trio not being picked for these major awards because of the age or what have you, but I feel they at least deserve attention from other, non-Oscar award shows. And given that each movie has shown vast improvement over the years and consistently been received well just makes the lack of awards astonishing. If this franchise ends without even a special effects or costume Oscar, it will probably be one of the biggest Academy blunders and a blatant disregard of a movie series that has become an experience.
I’m 65 years old. Years ago when my children raved about Harry Potter, I purchased a
DVD as an annual Christmas gift. Until three years ago I never watched a single episode,
as I felt they were children's movies. After watching the first episode I was hooked.
Harry Potter is a gem, a classic. Harry Potter brings out the child in each of us and makes
one dream of possibilities. The Oscars are for those who like watching hand prints dry in
concrete in Hollywood. Harry Potter will live on long after all those hand prints are
jackhammered into dust to make way for a new shopping mall’s parking lot.
Your hyperbole goes to the extreme. Ranting about shopping mall parking lots outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the same breath as saying Harry Potter will stand the test of time. You sir, don't know what you're talking about!
You've just admitted that you care not for the Hollywood tradition, and then told us how AWESOME Harry Potter is. Just goes to show that 65 year olds can be sold on cheap predictable Disney fare while completely disrespecting the Hollywood shoulders that these movies are shamelessly standing on.
Apocalypse Now is an Oscar Winner.
Harry Potter is a children's DVD projected onto a wall for kiddies to consume over summer.
Grow up, grandpa.
why is it necessary to get so personal and, frankly, nasty, over a comment as trivial as this? The poster was just expressing his or her opinion. Leave your anger at the door.
What the heck does Disney have to do with the Harry Potter series? And "shamelessly standing" on Hollywood shoulders? People might have different opinions but yours are just blatantly disrespectful and biased towards such a great series.
And really, you didn't have to be so mean, impudent, and rude towards the elderly.
It shows just how much of an immature person you are. You grow up.
ALAN RICKMAN IS THE BEST ACTOR EVER!
He really deserves not just a nomination, he deserves the OSCAR!
daniel radcliffe and other potter cast deserves to win in oscars… he already proved it for10 years!!!! and he can still a better actor after this HP7 finale!!the special effects are great, the stories are spell binding the costumes are undeniable one of a kind!!! NO SPELL CAN TAKE HARRY AWAY FROM OUR HEARTS!
It's not over yet. Remember that when LOTR The Return of the King swept the board in all the categories it was nominated in, it was widely seen as a salute to the whole trilogy, not just to the one film.
There is also a LOTR analogy on the acting question. I don't think there were even any acting nominatons (there certainly weren't for The Return of the King) and I think it will be the same with HP; it's seen as an ensemble effort, and, to be honest, I'm cool with that.
This is absolutely unacceptable. Why is it that the Oscars and MTVs and Golden Globes all get handed over to TWILIGHT? I mean, I know it's vampires and werewolves and Robert Pattinson, but Harry Potter is a FREAKING LEGEND, and they deserve more than just nominations! They deserve to win Best Costume, Best Picture, Best Special Effects, Best Supporting — well, you get what I mean. The three leads have all done their part, and so does others! The films have been an absolute success and if July 15th's last Harry Potter film doesn't blow away viewers and the people that do the Oscars/Golden Globes/MTV awards, I will be very ticked off and might just get a wand and point it at the heads and say, "Avada Kedavra!"
They're NOT Oscar-worthy. The Harry Potter movies are not of the same standard as Oscar-winners. Period. They're practise for special effects that will be used in REAL movies.
The Harry Potter series is one of the most bloated, ordinary, over-rated, over-written, drawn-out, beaten-to-death, poorly acted, embarrassingly non-Oscar-worthy franchises that has been released in the history of all film.
We've been so fed a steady diet of mediocrity for 10 years that when the grand finale comes along the world will obediently leap to its feet and clap wildly as if it just watched a polar bear perform Swan Lake.
Gimme a break. Nostalgia only carries so far…
If the finale is any good it will be more like when your dog actually pees outside where it's supposed to for once… Like, a pleasant little surprise.
In the beginning, Harry Potter is born and there is a Bad Guy. Yada yada, pointless twists and turns, yada yada. Harry Potter defeats Bad Guy. The end. This is considered good story-telling?? If there was a chance Harry and his pals could be torn to bloody shreds by the Bad Guy (whose head looks like a penis) then I might be interested! But no…
Lord of the Rings is a similar franchise that HAS won Oscars. What's the difference?
One is trying to be serious grown-up's entertainment and the other is not (yet both succeed at being boring and convoluted with endings that can be predicted right from the beginning). But both ARE mind-numbing megaplex blockbusters and neither REALLY deserve to hog Oscar statues that could go to actual FILMS that aren't just glorified television series projected onto big screens.
It's one thing to get an oscar for best CGI in a feature, etc. But Disney movies with real people on screen simply fall flat because they don't take themselves quite seriously enough to be TAKEN seriously by the serious movie critics and Academy voters who have to watch thousands of movies every year and do the seriously hard job of not blowing their brains out at the repetition. Harry Potter doesn't relieve that suffering, it prolongs and expands it.
Ultimately, Academy voters are NOT this franchise's prime audience. People who don't know a good movie from a bad and ARE easily impressed ARE this franchise's prime audience.
*G* I wonder what Freud would make of this: "whose head looks like a penis" in the context of the rest of your post.If, after the first film, HP were childmovies, I've never grown up. And if being grown up means that one ends up grumpy and hateful like you, I'm very grateful for that. And for all the freedoms being a 40 year old child brings
Apocalypse Now is an Oscar Winner.
Harry Potter is a children's DVD projected onto a wall for kiddies to consume with their popcorn and frozen cokes over summer vacation.
(And watch it in 3D and you'll pay $6 extra for 25% less movie…)