Cuarón and Columbus talk Potter

  May 15, 2004 at 10:17 AM ET
  Geri     MuggleNet (via Fantasy World)
 


The latest issue of Fantasy Worlds magazine has some interesting quotes from Cuarón & Columbus in which they discusses the process of working on a film this size, the DVD version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, working with the kids and the changes that have been made.

Cuarón on the film:

“For me, the whole thing that comes into terms with everything - the feel and spirit of the film - is the Time-Turner. In a way, it condenses the entire theme of the movie, and [represents] the emotional and thematic resolution. It’s almost like a little movie inside the movie. It captures all the different elements: the humor, scares, emotions and mystery. Everything is pulled together, and what I love is not only do Harry and Hermione learn from the experience of reliving what they went through, but so does the audience. They’ll learn how everything makes sense, and ultimately, that everything always makes sense.”

"This film is emotionally charged, that even if you already know the truth, you’ll still enjoy the moments in which the big information is revealed. I think the important this is that it creates a whole new twist: ‘Even though we know the Titanic is going to sink, let’s see how they carry on.’ And we still have the Time-Turner, which creates a whole other dynamic and relationship to that information. Whether you know [the secret] or not, the Time-Turner is going to blow every-bodies mind.”

Columbus on Cuarón:

“I realized that Alfonso was the first of several directors who are going to be dealing with this, and I want to make absolutely certain that the directors are respectful of the fans and the world. As a director myself, I know what’s annoying to me. If I have a producer over my shoulder constantly needling me, telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing, that doesn’t help me work. It just makes me tense and anxious, and it doesn’t create a good working environment. I felt Alfonso need the freedom to make his movie. Everything else was in motion. Everything else was set."

Columbus has already seen the movie 3 times:

“I love it. That’s why I mentioned the costumes before, because people are always talking about the wrong things. This picture is edgier and darker, but it’s in the same vein as the other Harry Potters. Since we came out with Chamber of Secrets, there has been Pirates of the Caribbean, which was very intense, but every five-year-old in American saw it. And you have to take into account the last Lord of the Rings picture. A few years ago, that would have been an R-rated film, and every kid in American saw that. Azkaban is a little less aggressive in its violence and darkness than either of those movies, so I don’t think we’re in any danger of losing our audience. I believe we’re actually going to gain a bit of a bigger audience with the 13- and 14-year-olds, because our fans are getting older. This material is more accessible and exciting to teenagers.”

See all the scans HEREopens in new window.

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