The Sadness of Coming of Age

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2005)

This fourth Harry Potter movie may be the best so far. Yes, there are far too many characters, probably more so than in the first three films, and of necessity most of them, especially those introduced here for the first time, have little or no dialog and are not fleshed out. Also, Hermione and Ron are more relegated to supporting characters than before. Still, the movie works on a number of levels, as pure adventure, suspense, and with a couple generous dollops of horror.
But the most horrific parts of the film come less from the very good special effects and more from what the movie evokes from the heart and experiences of those viewers who have lived beyond their teen years.
WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD! Nothing involving Voldemort, snakes, or spells was more disturbing to me than Harry's reaction when he returned from the maze with the corpse of his slain friend and fellow student. This was the first time, in my recollection, that Harry out and out wept - and his sobs were gut-wrenching. Those 30 or so seconds brought a spirit to this series that I'd never seen before. In Harry's weeping, I got the feeling that suddenly this wizard business wasn't much fun for him anymore, that the tournament, past trophies and triumphs, his own fame, none of it mattered much anymore, because now everything was tainted. Sometimes, people aren't just temporarily frozen or turned into ferrets until the proper magical antidote is conjured. Sometimes, they actually die, and their deaths aren't especially pretty or glamorous, just as was shown in the scene preceding this one. Harry's world has been tainted with the very close and personal experience of mortality and loss, and as his own sobs mingled with the wailing of the slain boy's father, the scene became, for me, almost too unbearable to watch in its horror and sadness. As Hermione tearfully acknowledged in the final scene, everything is going to change. It's going to change because these kids have come of age, and just as in the muggle world we inhabit, prior innocence can be remembered, but never recaptured.
During the drive home from the movie, our two teenagers chimed in with their thoughts. My son found it disappointing that Dumbledore didn't seem to have the air of calm, majesty, and invulnerability about him that he had in the previous films. It occurred to me then that, probably, Dumbldore hadn't necessarily changed; maybe it was Harry & company's perceptions of him that had changed, again because they are growing up. Most of us when we were very young perceived our parents and teachers as emotionally and morally infallible, until suddenly they're not anymore. In most cases, they never really changed; we did.
I don't remember the last time any movie inspired in me such contemplation over what it felt like to grow up and start seeing things that really hurt, and you begin to change. Not because you want to, but because you have to, because for most of us, NOT growing up isn't an option.