Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


Yesterday I finally watched the movie a lot of us had been waiting for - Mike Newell-directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After the huge disappointment the third film proved to be - and Azkaban is, according to me, easily the best book in the series - I must confess to having been a bit apprehensive as to what the fourth film would have to offer. And Goblet of Fire, mind you, is pivotal in various respects, not least because this is where Harry - and we - get to finally meet Lord Voldemort himself in the flesh. And I'm delighted to say I wasn't disappointed.

Mike Newell did what neither of his predecessors had managed so far - stick closely to Rowling's storyline and plot details, and yet do so imaginatively enough to stamp the film with his own mark. Chris Columbus adhered so faithfully to the books that the first two films became nothing more than mere celluloid versions of Rowling's imagination; and Alfonso Cuaron was so busy getting creative with the third film that he robbed the story of its soul. Goblet of Fire, though, has not one superfluous moment - the film, replete with dragons, mer-people, dangerous mazes and Death Eaters, also has its lighter moments in the form of classes, tricks, romances and friends falling out with each other, which go a long way in making the characters more human, and endearing.

Goblet of Fire takes off from where Azkaban left off. Wormtail (brilliantly played by Timothy Spall) has returned to his master, and the two, along with a third unknown Death Eater, are plotting something new, something that can only be detrimental to Harry. Harry himself, now 14, returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year after the excitement of the Quidditch World Cup to find that his school would be hosting one of the greatest wizarding events, the Triwizard Tournament. The Hogwarts students are joined by those from two other schools - Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang. One student from each school would be chosen as Triwizard champions by the Goblet of Fire , and they would have to undertake several perilous tasks before one could win the trophy. An unwilling Harry finds himself chosen as one of the champions, and the story hurtles on from there to its gripping finale, the face-off between Harry and Voldemort that everyone's been waiting for.

Daniel Radcliffe once again does a decent enough job as Harry - he's particularly endearing in those moments when he realises just how big a problem girls can be - 'I'd rather taken on a dragon right now', as he says. Emma Watson is, as always, brilliant in the role of Hermione, and the usually wooden Rupert Grint, who for once has more to do than hang around Harry and Hermione and say 'Huh?' at regular intervals, proves that given a good enough role and a capable director at the helm, he can act. The crowning moments of the film are easily the Triwizard tasks - and this is where Newell imbues the film with a creative imagination that's all his own. The cinematography in the first task where Harry meets the Hungarian Horntail is superb, the underwater sequence with the mer-people is everything the depths of the Black Lake purported to be, and the maze was positively frightening. And throughout you had an undercurrent of menace - of a dark force gathering more power and becoming more threatening with each day.

Ralph Fiennes, of course, steals the show. He doesn't just bring Voldemort to life, he is Voldemort. (And here I must confess to having been a little doubtful about the wisdom of casting Fiennes as the Dark Lord - I thought he was pretty ineffectual in Red Dragon - he was way too goodlooking to play the Tooth Fairy!) Fiennes' Voldemort is supremely evil, though in the subtlest manner possible. With his floating robes, soft voice and languid gestures, Voldemort appears graceful, effete even, yet none the less menacing for all that. Just watch the Death Eaters cowering before his barely controlled anger, the almost casual flick of his wand as he duels, and the gleam in his eyes as he prepares to kill Harry, and you'll understand what makes him the most powerful and evil wizard in all time, and what makes Ralph Fiennes such a marvellous actor.

Tempering the dark moments with scenes from the everyday life at Hogwarts and Harry and his classmates' adolescent pangs was a stroke of genuis on Newell's part. The absolutely ridiculous pranks played by Fred and George (and it was so wonderful to get more than just a passing glimpse of these two characters!), Hermione's first brush with romance and Ron's jealous outburst when confronted with it, the dazzling Yule Ball, Neville Longbottom's delight at having partied all night, all took the edge off from an otherwise dark, complex story. Brendan Gleeson played Mad-Eye Moody quite admirably, and Miranda Richardson was perfect as the obnoxious Rita Skeeter. And while Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum) and Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour) were just about all right, Robert Pattinson was good enough as Cedric Diggory for there to be a few misty-eyed moments at the end of the film. Mention has to be made of David Tennant, who was great as Barty Crouch Jr in the few moments he came on screen.

I have to say, though, that I'm more than a bit surprised at the way Draco Malfoy keeps getting sidelined. For an important (and faithful readers who have read all six books will know just how important) character, his appearance is limited to just a few minutes, and then all he has to do is adopt a sneering expression and toss out taunting remarks in the general direction of Harry, Ron and/or Hermione. Surely Tom Felton, an adequate actor, needs to be given an opportunity to explore Draco's quite complicated character? Also, Newell's treatment of the Quidditch World Cup was rather shoddy - the match seems to be over before it even begins, and suddenly there are people screaming, tents on fire, and hooded people (reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, as I'd stated in an earlier article on tehelka.com) wandering about. Unless you'd read the book, you'd have been left rather lost at this juncture. And for at least a few of us dedicated ones, the absence of Winky (and Dobby) was a big disappointment.

These glitches notwithstanding, Goblet of Fire is easily the best among all the Potter films. Enthralling and entertaining, it effortlesly moves into a world darker than any that the protagonists have ever found themselves in. It paves the way for a world in which 'everything's going to change now, isn't it', as Hermione so prophetically remarks. And most of the reasons for this success can be laid at Mike Newell's door.