I think I've finally reached my zen moment for the Harry Potter movies. For a long time, I was rather critical of them but always hypocritically excited out of a long-standing loyalty to the books.
This afternoon, I saw the first half of the last Harry Potter movie. My memories of the book were a bit fuzzy, but I really couldn't wait another day before seeing the movie. I tried to figure out yesterday when I read the first Harry Potter book. I'm pretty sure I was actually eleven, meaning that these books have been a dominating force for half my life now.
I checked out the theaters in my area. There's the big, fancy, new theater down at the Hauptbahnhof and the kind of sketchy looking independent theater a couple blocks away. I'd been meaning to check out the sketchy little theater, so I headed down there.
I got a late start, so I ended up there about eight minutes before the showing. I was a little worried that I wouldn't end up with a ticket and have to kill time until the next showing. I walked up to the counter, and waited for a minute behind a lady in her late 30s carrying a large pink umbrella. She walked off to her movie, and I stepped up.
Now, some days, my German is so good, people don't guess that I'm not German, let alone an American. Some days, I can hardly get a sentence out. Today was one of those second kinds of days. Somehow, I managed to still buy a ticket for the 2:00 showing. I bought a coke in a fancy glass bottle and a bag of Haribo for the movie.
"Kino 1," the ticket lady said, giving me that look that Germans give when they want to make sure that you've understand what they said but they're not entirely sure that you speak German. I nodded and said, "Ja, danke." Or something along those lines.
I checked my ticket and realized there was no seat assignment on the ticket. Most German theaters, when you buy your ticket, you also get to choose what seat you want to sit in. A very sensible idea, I think. But this ticket didn't have that. I worried and fretted for the half-second it took me to walk into the room and have my eyes adjust.
Guess how many people there were! No, really, guess.
Ok. One. There was one other lady in this theater. This movie came out on Wednesday. What. Then I remembered that it has been literally years since I've seen a Harry Potter movie at a showing other than the opening. I don't actually remember ever seeing a Harry Potter movie not at the opening showing. Maybe this is what it's normally like.
I picked my seat and sat down. Then the lady who'd been in front of me in line came in and sat down. It was us three. The entire movie. Three women who had come alone to see Harry Potter 7. Hilarious.
Anyway, typical German movie. All of the previews play, then there is an ice cream ad. Then, the curtains close, the lights come up and you have one last chance to run to the bathroom or go buy some ice cream. The three of us didn't move. We sat there in an awkward silence waiting. Or at least, I thought it was awkward because I was trying really hard not to burst out laughing at the situation.
The film starts. At this point, I have decided that I am just going to set aside everything that I know is going to happen that I won't like. Like the fact that Deatheaters travel in ominous clouds of black smoke. That's the big one.
I almost choked up when Hedwig died. And that's a big deal for me. I had approximately the same reaction as I did when I read it for the first time at 2 am after buying it in Canada at midnight and driving home. This time I knew it was going to happen. I was impressed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, much more so than most of the others (I'm still a big fan of Prisoner of Azkaban), which I had not expected. Oh, did I mention that the entire movie was in German? I don't know when or where there are English showings in Kiel, if there are any, but I will need to see this movie in English some time. It's not that I didn't know what was going on, but I really love British accents.
After the movie, I returned the glass Coke bottle, went grocery shopping and came home. It was nearly 5, so it was totally dark out, because it's winter in Germany.
So, the movie happened, and it was great, though it doesn't feel quite complete because it was also a giant cliffhanger setting you up for the next movie that doesn't come out until JULY. July is a long time away. I'll probably be in America by then. Maybe that's why I couldn't write an actual film review just now. I'll try again later. Possibly.
No comments:
Post a Comment