Reviewed by Andrew Wooding

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Director: Mike Newell (2005)
Distributor: Warner Brothers  Certificate: 12A

Have we really come to the fourth film in the Harry Potter series? It almost seems like yesterday that I enthused about The Prisoner of Azkaban, and yet here we are with the fourth (and middle film) of the seven-part saga.

Like The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire continues in a darker vein, with Harry’s struggles becoming more serious and definitely more deadly. This film comes to us from British director, Mike Newell, perhaps best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral.

My one and only criticism is something that possibly couldn’t be helped. The Goblet of Fire is a very long book and I fully understand that it wouldn’t all fit into a two-and-a-half hour movie. Mike Newell has worked valiantly to strip the story down to just its essentials, following Harry Potter on his reluctant quest to survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament and in turn face his darkest fear. He has probably done the best job he could have done with the material, and the story makes perfect sense, not letting up the pace for one second.

The genius of this series is that as the Hogwarts students are growing old, the actors are growing old as well. Watch the first film now on DVD and you can’t help but notice how young they all look. Now, Ron Weasley seems to have grown by at least two foot, and Harry himself is convincing as a young teenager with his first stirrings of attraction to the opposite sex.

In short, this film is highly recommended, but I eagerly await the DVD release to see if there are any much-needed deleted or missing scenes. Two things to watch out for: fans of Sheffield-based band Pulp will be pleased to see that Jarvis Cocker has contributed three songs to the soundtrack and is briefly seen as the leader of the band, The Wyrd Sisters, at the Hogwarts Yule Ball. And Doctor Who fans will be pleased to see two or three short but effective appearances of 10th Doctor Who David Tennant as the villainous Barty Crouch Junior.

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

Some key themes: Good is much more attractive and powerful than evil; putting others before yourself.

Above, I bemoaned the fact that in this film we don’t have many of the cosier scenes of school life at Hogwarts – things like Christmas, trips to town, hanging out in the Gryffindor common room, midnight feasts. To me, these are the strengths of the book and film series – yes, there is a battle between good and evil, but underpinning all that is the fact that everyday life at Hogwarts is fun and attractive and it is somewhere we would like to be. The characters (particularly Ron, Harry and Hermione) are fully rounded – they disobey rules sometimes, and often have arguments (just like we all do), but by and large they are people we would like to hang out with. They are not goody two-shoes characters – they are real people, with faults and failings, who are trying their very best to do the right thing. They are people we can identify with.

The problem I have with some fantasy films is that evil often looks more attractive and exciting than good. The “goodies” are often bland and boring and far too good to be true. Whereas, the “baddies” are much more interesting and exciting and fill up the screen when they appear. This is the opposite in the Harry Potter films, and is especially apparent in the scenes with Lord Voldemort in The Goblet of Fire. Voldemort is not appealing or attractive, and we certainly don’t want to hang out with him. But Harry is right to confront him because there is something worth fighting for: the friendships that Harry has, the school community he is part of, the goodness of wise Dumbledore. The scenes with Voldemort are effective in their scariness, but I was glad when they were over because I would rather have been watching “my friends” back at Hogwarts.

John Granger, who has written a guide on the Harry Potter series (called Looking For God in Harry Potter, states: Harry is a Christian hero parents can joyfully share with their families. JK Rowling’s books are filled to the brim with Christian themes, imagery, virtues and meaning, implicit and almost explicit, and this is the reason, oddly enough, that the books are so popular. The human heart longs for experience of the Christian message, even imaginative experience…”

One of the key messages that Jesus gave the world is simple but radical: other people are just as important as yourself. If only everyone held that view, the world would be a much better place! Jesus encourages us to lay down our lives for our friends, to love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves, and he told a rich young man to sell everything he had and give it all away to the poor. Challenging words!

On at least two occasions in this film, Harry Potter models this very principle during the Tri-Wizard tournament. I don’t want to give anything away, but when you watch the film, ask yourself two things: “Is this something Jesus would have done?” and “If I was in Harry Potter’s shoes would I have done the same thing?”

Harry Potter is a role model to children and grown-ups of all ages. He has feet of clay like all of us, but he also genuinely tries to put others first. Truly a “Christian hero” for our times.

Discussion questions....

· How would you rate the four Harry Potter movies so far: which comes first, and which comes last?

· Was director Mike Newell right to cram only the essential parts of the story into a single film, or should he have made The Goblet of Fire into a two-part film so that there is more time to breathe?

· This question is repeated from above – if you were competing in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, would you have done what Harry did? How can you follow his example today and put others first in your school, job or street?

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