Yesterday I finally had the space to watch the Harry Potter 20th anniversary - 'Return to Hogwarts'. I had decided to wait until a day where I had the house to myself so that I had the freedom to enjoy it to whatever extent was needed without the judgemental eyes of my husband... and I am so glad that I did.
From the opening sequence through to the intimate interviews, the whole thing was so well put together. Seeing the way the actors re-connected after time apart and how much they impacted on each others lives while growing up was truly beautiful.
I loved being able to listen to the director's perspectives of what they wanted to bring to each film and especially the insight that Chris Columbus provided on the immense weight he felt being 'the chosen one' to turn the written words of J.K. Rowling into a live action film. Just as interesting was hearing from the producer of the whole series, David Heyman, who had purchased the film rights to the books in 1999 for $2 million. He had a vision of how the films were going to take place, but was also very precise in his choice of director for each subsequent film once Chris Columbus stepped away.
While I was still teaching I tried to weave the books and films into my programs where I could. I wrote two whole Year 7 Science units that were based around them - 'The Chamber of Secrets' was an introduction to high school Science unit and 'Spells & Potions' focused on the states of matter. Both units were extremely well received by the students, even though I was told Harry Potter was 'long gone'. I tried to revive those two units at my last school, however, wasn't as lucky :( I really do believe that current students would still enjoy the context to this date - I'm fairly certain this reunion will help spark a renewed interest and love in the books/films!
I held it all together fairly well until the section where they celebrated the lives of those who were lost during the filming of the series or those who have passed on since. Alan Rickman is one of my favourite actors. He is of the same ilk as Tim Curry - another of my favourties... both men I could sit and listen to for hours. (I was lucky enough to actually meet Tim in person in London in 2006!) Throughout the books and films, we grew to love Snape for his sacrifices and his love of Lily.
Overall, I was extremely happy with the way that the special was produced... and the last word of the 90+-minute feature was absolute perfection, even if it did send me into fits of ugly crying. So the decision to watch it alone was truly warranted!
From the opening sequence through to the intimate interviews, the whole thing was so well put together. Seeing the way the actors re-connected after time apart and how much they impacted on each others lives while growing up was truly beautiful.
I loved being able to listen to the director's perspectives of what they wanted to bring to each film and especially the insight that Chris Columbus provided on the immense weight he felt being 'the chosen one' to turn the written words of J.K. Rowling into a live action film. Just as interesting was hearing from the producer of the whole series, David Heyman, who had purchased the film rights to the books in 1999 for $2 million. He had a vision of how the films were going to take place, but was also very precise in his choice of director for each subsequent film once Chris Columbus stepped away.
While I was still teaching I tried to weave the books and films into my programs where I could. I wrote two whole Year 7 Science units that were based around them - 'The Chamber of Secrets' was an introduction to high school Science unit and 'Spells & Potions' focused on the states of matter. Both units were extremely well received by the students, even though I was told Harry Potter was 'long gone'. I tried to revive those two units at my last school, however, wasn't as lucky :( I really do believe that current students would still enjoy the context to this date - I'm fairly certain this reunion will help spark a renewed interest and love in the books/films!
I held it all together fairly well until the section where they celebrated the lives of those who were lost during the filming of the series or those who have passed on since. Alan Rickman is one of my favourite actors. He is of the same ilk as Tim Curry - another of my favourties... both men I could sit and listen to for hours. (I was lucky enough to actually meet Tim in person in London in 2006!) Throughout the books and films, we grew to love Snape for his sacrifices and his love of Lily.
Overall, I was extremely happy with the way that the special was produced... and the last word of the 90+-minute feature was absolute perfection, even if it did send me into fits of ugly crying. So the decision to watch it alone was truly warranted!
If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is available on Binge and Foxtel.
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