Tonight on Italia 1 at 21:20 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” will be broadcast. This is the sixth film in the saga of the most famous magician in the world based on the book of the same name by JK Rowling. The first transposition entrusted to David Yates, let’s say the official director of the latest films and those of the Fantastic Beasts saga, who takes a lot of liberties. If in previous films we had only seen details, forgotten here and there by the various directors, with Yates we are witnessing big cuts that invalidate the plot. Because it’s true that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a good movie, perhaps one of the best in the series, but it doesn’t explain a lot of things that, instead, are contained in the books.Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the differences between the book and the film
Here are the differences between the film and the book. Harry and Dursley
A relationship never fully deepened by the films and least of all in this one, and that between Harry and the Dursleys. In the book, however, this is explained at length, also in view of the seventh book and the bond that will bind him and the “adoptive” family until his seventeenth birthday is completed. Dumbledore on Privet Drive
Another scene completely absent from the book and Dumbledore at the Durlsey house, during which they discover the immense wealth of their relative who has always been bullied by them. Harry and Nymphadora Tonks
Nymphadora we glimpsed her for a few seconds only in the previous film, yet, in the books, and her finding Harry petrified in the train by Draco. She works at the castle, as an Auror, we also know her proactive character as a preamble to the following scenes in which we will get to know her better. Scenes present in books of course more than in films. Christmas Holidays
If there were a Harry Potter film liturgy, this would be: summer, arrival at school, Christmas, spring and the end of the school year. Therefore, respecting this principle, even Yates finds himself staging Christmas. He does it by inventing from scratch the attack on the den, not present in the books. The ring of Gaunt
One of the fundamental points forgotten by the film is certainly the explanation for Dumbledore’s curse and the Gaunt ring. One of Voldemort’s Horcruxes that, from the film, we can’t understand anything, let alone how the Headmaster came into possession of it. Draco and Mirtilla Malcontenta
Another character forgotten in the films, almost like Dobby, is the ghost of Mirtilla Malcontenta. Present in the fifth book, disappeared from Yates’ camera. Yet Mirtilla will be the number one confidant of Draco’s pains. The kiss between Ginny and Harry
The goal in Yates’ films is clear: to make Harry look like a spotless and fearless hero. The gravity of the gesture towards Draco is almost minimized. Harry in fact, in the book, will be in detention for a long time, he will also be forbidden to play Quidditch and yet, during the final that leads to the victory of the Gryffindors, he kisses Ginny in a fit of joy. In the film, on the other hand, the much-coveted kiss takes place in the room of necessity, where Harry is not in detention but rather seems serene and more and more sure of himself. But Slughorn Yates’ dinner
has the merit of creating a truly unique aura around Slughorn’s world. Splendid scenes and photography and the good degree of comedy in the moments of the Luna Club and the Gala evening. The Cavern
The scene of the cave is, together with that of the fight Dumbledore vs Voldemort at the Ministry, one of the most beautiful ever. But, even here, all references are missing and for those who have not read the book, it is difficult to fully understand the importance, in the plot, of this moment. Dumbledore’s death
Dumbledore, in the clock tower, petrifies Harry to prevent him from committing nonsense. In the film, Harry watches helplessly as his mentor dies. Yates also forgets to mention the little battle that the boy’s friends wage against the Death Eaters right in the corridors of the castle. The Half-Blood Prince
Harry runs after Snape who reveals, in no uncertain terms, that he is the Half-Blood Prince. In the book, however, the professor gives many more explanations, telling part of his personal story that sees him as the son of a witch, whose maiden name was Prince, and the Muggle father. Hence his alter ego. The funeral of Dumbledore
He disappears from the room and there is no mention of the funeral of Dumbledore, completely forgotten by Yates, however, has ample space in the book.
Yates’ adaptation is certainly successful in visual terms, but the plot and explanations leave something to be desired. The fifth book is definitely one of the fundamentals that you cannot miss if you are a fan of Harry’s world.
