The dark night of the teenage soul

Few things are as fruitless for a critic as writing about a franchise like Harry Potter (Half-Blood Prince being the sixth installment). Who, after all, is one's readership? Surely everyone in Christendom knows nearly everything they need or care to know about the ongoing battle between The Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named by this point. Love it or hate it, the die is cast, and nothing one can say is likely to sway a single soul for or against either the series or the film in question.

Nevertheless, a critic has responsibilities. Whether or not such an exercise is so much tilting at windmills is a question best left with the reader.

Half-Blood Prince furthers Dumbledore and Harry's investigation into Voldemort's past, and brings them to the brink of total despair as their enemies successfully plot to strike a fateful blow. The themes at work in the series as a whole - self-reliance, courage as coin of the realm and the power of friendship - continue to unfold. But, for the first time, the plot seems to have become a little too byzantine for its own good. Some of the motivation behind the seemingly sinister Snape's nefarious activities is dangersously unclear for the uninitiated.

Has J.K. Rowling really expended this much energy beating the "looks can be deceiving" drum only to allow her screenwriter to fall back on the thin mechanism of pure evil as a driving force for one of her central characters? It seems unlikely. But the only option we're left with to explain Snape's actions is a kind of accident of fate, an illustration of the banality of evil of the sort that has been absent from the series up to this point, and seems strangely at odds with her broader messages.  

In terms of technique, the new film is a marvel. The series has found an able pilot in director David Yates. Beginning with 2007's Order of the Phoenix, Yates has demonstrated considerable fealty to Rowling's narrative and themes, and proved himself a deft handler of actors, taking an evolving cast loaded with English actors of the first order and using them for all they're worth. The ensemble feel of the cast - unavoidable in part because of the length of the series, but welcome nonetheless - has deepened noticeably under Yates' direction. Also, his taste for murky aesthetics and powerful, yet organically incorporated CGI is an agreeable change from the arty and excessive gimmickry of Alfonso Cuarón (2004's Prisoner of Azkaban). Yates' cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel, has achieved a convincingly ominous look and feel with tight, yet roving camera work that is complemented by seamless and inventive editing.

All the ominous CGI and cinematography fails to mask the fact that much of the film (and the book) is consumed with the love lives of adolescents. In some ways, Half-Blood Prince is a marked improvement on the other films in this regard, insofar as previous pictures have muddled and, at times, completely botched the stories of the young couples in Rowling's books. This entry is more or less spot-on. As a result, it becomes a bit of a soap opera - or at least a melodrama - for long stretches, a fact that won't bother ardent fans but which might put off casual filmgoers.

Whatever one's feelings about the film's romantic subplots, it is an unassailable truth that the younger portion of the cast - quite good to begin with - has matured and improved profoundly over time. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are exceedingly good in their roles, however old-hat the whole affair must have become for them. For an untrained actress with no previous experience, Evanna Lynch is confident and effective in the role of Luna Lovegood.

The breakout performance is Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy. In previous films, Felton has been a one-dimensional weak link. But he comes into his own here, as a tortured coward struggling unsuccessfully to face his fears and become what he mistakenly conceives to be a man. Needless to say, the old pros are flawless, and the addition of Jim Broadbent is a pleasure.

Ultimately, one must take the tale on its own terms. For all its dramatic flair and brooding effects, Half-Blood Prince is ever the teen entertainment. As teen entertainments go, however, it's about as good as it gets.

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com