Where The Magic Began

I was only 7 years old when the first Harry Potter film was released into cinemas back in 2001 and I never would have thought back then that this now successful film franchise would stretch itself into my own upbringing from adolescence, into my late teens. For a whole generation of us who mainly grew up in the 90’s and early 2000’s, Harry Potter is a fantastical story concept that has always lingered in our lives and indeed, has expanded our interest in reading. But I think it would be foolish to completely abolish the film adaptations. Their commitment to good cinematic work is potentially just as important for young people’s filmic education, as J.K. Rowling’s accomplishments were for our literary upbringing. This ultimately starts with the very first production in the series, The Philosopher’s Stone, where we’re not only viewing a film that introduced to us a mixed cast of recognisable British stars and young up-comers that would go on to do different things in their careers, but Christopher Columbus stayed true to the original source material in a cinematic manner that implemented both cinematography and setting in accordance with each other…

Fixated on fantasy and set in both the realistic and the fictional, The Philosopher Stone, the first of seven tales, centres it’s story around Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), an ordinary bespectacled 11 year-old boy who lives with the Dursley family ever since his parents died in a ‘car-crash’. But his world soon turns upside down when, on his birthday, Harry soon learns that he is no ordinary boy. He is a wizard, and has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he’ll learn the magical trade. With the help of a giant that goes by the name of Hagrid, Harry soon learns that his parents were too wizards, and were killed by the evil Voldemort; truth that was hidden from him all his life. Upon learning the truth of his parents and being seen by many as ‘the boy who lived’, Harry embarks on his new life as a wizarding student, befriending Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). With adapting to this new world, in learning magical spells, leaning to play Quidditch and tackling a fully grown troll, Harry and his friends soon find themselves tangled up in a mystery; a mystery that involves Nicholas Flamel’s Philosopher’s Stone, which is hidden within the walls of Hogwarts school, and the evil Voldemort, who desires the stones power…

Admittedly, being that I’m reviewing this many years after The Philosopher Stone film was released, roughly 15 years ago now, and that all the rest of the Harry Potter films and books are available to view, it is a certainty that this particular film doesn’t necessarily become the best title in a well-known story franchise. There will be other Harry Potter films, that I review down the line, where there stylisation and story-telling are cinematically told on a much more grande representation. Having said this however, non of this recognition and appraisal for the rest of the Harry Potter films wouldn’t have been possible, without the expected release of The Philosopher Stone, a film that was heavily touted to become an animation that Steven Spielberg would have directed. Unlike most children’s and even Superhero film franchises, to an extent, where they excessively and needlessly spend the majority of their films creating exposition for their next film, The Philosopher’s Stone is a rare instance of a film where it has an advantage over these films that spend too much of their time building up their own next film. The Philosopher’s Stone knows that it’s the first in the series and doesn’t self-contain itself in building itself up for the next film. What you get instead, is a film that not only simply offers up a compelling story that the younger demographic can relate with, but it manages to deliberately thread contextual information, of setting up the characters and setting, in a manner where you’re seeing build up for the next film. The story information is received at face-value and doesn’t bury itself in leaving bits-and-pieces hanging for the next film. Indeed, this first instalment of the Harry Potter franchise seems to be, in a rather heartfelt and innocent way, replete with the same enthusiasm it intends to engender it its audience, very much echoing the same sought of feelings I have Star Wars. The one negative that is very much understandable in terms of this films narrative progression and consistency, is the two-and-a-half hour running time which in fairness, is considerably long for any film like The Philosopher’s Stone. 

That being said, what director Christopher Columbus ensures in his film, is clever casting that assures near-perfect characterisation of the highest degree. The combination of having a mixture of the old and recognisable British stars, such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, with the young up comers of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson playing the central trio of the story certainly adds a depth to the proceedings. Overall, we are re-assured with a spectrum of character colour that feels believable; ranging from Alan Rickman who gives off a rather slick yet rather oddly funny performance as the mysterious Snape, to Radcliffe as the main role who manages to embody the character of Harry Potter.

What many understate about The Philosopher Stone, being that it was the first film in a now recognised film series, is it’s persistence of using good cinematic effects. Over the may years of cinemas existence, as an audience member, we have become accustomed to great technological advancements that have changed the way we view a film and in some ways, made films look more ‘realistic’. While there are occasions in this film where the special effects used do look out of place, such as in the sequence where we see the Weasley brothers launching themselves in-between platforms 9 and 10 and the whole construction of the troll in Hogwarts school, it does have to be said that for when it was released back in 2001, the first film manages to create something that is naturalistic in a fantasy setting. Similar to that of the original Star Wars films, The Philosopher’s Stone meshes together the C.G effects with the practical; again creating something that is believable which in turn makes us engaged. The subtly of the settings and the characters rendering together into one, as shown either with the large-three-headed dog in fluffy or with the floating ghosts that wonder the school walls, goes to show how at every turn of the frame, The Philosopher’s Stone performs the feat of making the impossible look absolutely like the norm. The cinematography, which gets better and better in the rest of the films, again offers this dynamic and stylised approach to the film. This is seen within the segments of the Hogwarts school, where the camera establishes the grandeur of the Great Hall and the changing staircase where the camera moves in accordance with the characters on screen and we never really see the camera become stationary. 

Fitting into the similar vain that the original Star Wars seems to fit into, Christopher Columbus’s attempt of making an imaginative filmic experience in the form of The Philosopher’s Stone, that the younger demographic can enjoy and ultimately remember, succeeds in it’s simplest forms as it is a film that will stand the rest of time alongside other theorised and discussed children’s filmic entertainment. I think it’s fair to say that most children’s stories are best told when they’re propelled by fear; filled with motifs that engage with death and the mysterious which in turn see’s young characters face the threat posed by the natural or the supernatural. The first Harry Potter film, on the silver-screen, does this and supports this claim with near-perfect casting, the blend of different cinematic effects and that supports my statement of The Philosopher Stone being part of this importance of providing good filmic education. With memorable sequences to show off, such as with the Quidditch match (which can be a hit-or-miss with some) and a dramatised chess match that literally involves pieces knocking pieces off the board, The first Harry Potter film will be forever deemed as a modern-classic…

Right, I think that about ends what I have to say! As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest film review and I hope you’ve enjoyed the read. If anyone has an opinion on the film or on the review itself, please feel free to drop a comment down below in the comments section. I will be back next week, as always, where I ‘ll starting my little film review series where I review films that I watched when I was growing up in the 90’s. Until then, thank you once again for reading and I’ll be seeing you next week! Adieu!! 🙂

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte