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Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (film)
''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is a 2004 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, it is the third film in the popular ''Harry Potter'' series. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as the teenage wizard Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Gary Oldman and David Thewlis joined the cast as the new characters Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. In this movie, the role of Albus Dumbledore was played by Michael Gambon who took over from the late Richard Harris who died of Hodgkin's disease. Steve Kloves returned as screenwriter, while Chris Columbus (the director of the previous two films) became a producer, alongside David Heyman. The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and on 4 June 2004 in the United States as the first film released into IMAX theaters.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — Academy Award for Original Music Score and Academy Award for Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards held in 2005.
Plot
Harry Potter is with Dursleys for the summer, learning to do more spells, and awaits an imminent visit from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge. Harry loses his temper when Marge insults his family, and unintentionally causes her to inflate and float away. Harry flees, as he expects to be punished for performing magic outside of school. The Knight Bus appears and takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron where Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge tells Harry he will not be expelled. Harry learns that Sirius Black, who is said to be a supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban and that Black will likely come after him.
Harry journeys to Hogwarts with his best friends Ron and Hermione. On the Hogwarts Express train, they share a compartment with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, who is sleeping when they enter the compartment. Abruptly, the is stopped and a Dementor boards, searching for Black. Harry faints when the Dementor enters their compartment, but Lupin awakens and repels the Dementor after hearing a woman-like scream. At school, Albus Dumbledore informs the Hogwarts students that the Dementors have been set as a guard around the school grounds as a protection against Black. In addition to Lupin, Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Lupin's lessons prove enjoyable; he teaches useful spells and helps less confident students like Neville. However Hagrid's class does not go to plan; on the first day, Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the Hippogriff Buckbeak into attacking him. His father Lucius Malfoy successfully has Buckbeak sentenced to death.
During a Quidditch match, several Dementors approach Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick. Because of this Lupin teaches Harry to defend himself against Dementors with a Patronus charm. A Patronus is the opposite of a Dementor: as Dementors feed on depression and darkness, so a Patronus must be created with a happy memory. As Harry was unable to get permission to visit Hogsmeade from a Parent or Guardian, Fred and George give Harry the Marauder's Map so that he can sneak out of the castle. At Hogsmeade, Harry overhears that Black was his godfather and his parents' best friend. Black is said to have divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Voldemort and murdered their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. Harry vows to kill Black, but is later astonished when he sees Pettigrew's name on the map.
In Divination class, Professor Trelawney enters a trance and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to Harry that night. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid to console him over Buckbeak's impending execution and discover Scabbers, who had been missing earlier that year. Just then Fudge, Dumbledore and an executioner visit Hagrid's to carry out Buckbeak's execution (which the trio watch sadly), when Scabbers suddenly bites Ron and escapes. While the trio is chasing Scabbers, a large dog drags both Ron and his rat, Scabbers, into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow before Harry could get to them. The Whomping Willow attacks Harry and Hermione but Hermione uses the swinging willow branches to their advantage. Harry and Hermione follow, to the Shrieking Shack. It turns out the dog is the Animagus form of Sirius Black. Harry attacks Sirius and takes him to the ground, but before he can do anything, Lupin arrives, disarms Harry, and embraces Sirius as an old friend. After being confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf. And at this moment Snape appears, planning to catch Black and Lupin and hand them over to the Dementors, but is knocked out by Harry. Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew, who is also an Animagus, and that he is the one who did for what Black served time in Azkaban. Lupin and Sirius force Pettigrew back to his human form and then prepare to kill him, but are stopped by Harry, who tells them that it was not what James Potter would have done. Instead, he wants to turn over Pettigrew to the Dementors. As the group head back to the castle, the full moon rises; Lupin transforms into a werewolf, which allows Pettigrew to escape. Lupin and Sirius fight in their animal forms, until Lupin is distracted by the sound of another werewolf and Dementors attack Sirius and Harry. As Sirius is about to have his soul removed, Harry sees a figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the Dementors and saving their lives. Harry believes the mysterious figure to be that of his father James.
Hermione reveals that she possesses a time-turner, which how she has been taking multiple classes at once. She and Harry travel back in time three hours, watching themselves go through the night's events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Sirius, Harry realizes that he is the person who cast the Patronus, which gives him the confidence to do so now. Harry and Hermione rescue Sirius, who escapes on Buckbeak. At the end of the year, Lupin resigns, knowing that people will not allow a werewolf to teach their children. Later, Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt, an extremely fast racing broom.
Production
Development
With ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' production of the ''Harry Potter'' films switched to an 18-month cycle, which producer David Heyman explained was "to give each [film] the time it required."[ Cuarón's appointment pleased J. K. Rowling who loved his film ''Y tu mamá también'' and was impressed with his adaptation of ''A Little Princess''.][ Heyman found that "tonally and stylistically, [Cuarón] was the perfect fit."]
Filming
Principal photography began on 24 February 2003,[ at Leavesden Film Studios, and concluded in October 2003.]
Some of the sets for the film were built in Glen Coe, Scotland, near to the Clachaig Inn. The indoor sets, including sets built for the previous two films, are mainly in Leavesden Film Studios. The Hogwarts Lake was filmed from Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. Incidentally, the train bridge which was also featured in the ''Chamber of Secrets'' movie is opposite Loch Shiel and was used to film the sequences when the Dementor arrived on the train. A small section of the triple-decker bus scene, where it weaves in between many different cars, was filmed in Palmers Green in North London. Some parts were also filmed in and around Borough Market and Lambeth Bridge in London.
The set of Honeydukes seen in this film is a redress of the set of Flourish and Blotts seen in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', which, in turn, was a redress of the set of Ollivander's from the first film.
Rowling allowed Cuarón to make changes to the book, on the condition that he stuck to the spirit of the book.[ She let him place a sundial in the Hogwarts' grounds, but told him that he could not add in a graveyard, as it would play an important part in the then unreleased sixth book.][ Rowling said she "got goosebumps" when she saw several moments in the film, as they inadvertently referred to events in the final two books, she stated "people are going to look back on the film and think that those were put in deliberately as clues."]
Effects
Cuarón originally wanted to move away from CGI toward puppetry. He hired master underwater puppeteer Basil Twist to help, using puppets to study the potential movement of the Dementors.[ Once it became apparent that puppetry would be too expensive and unable to portray the specific elements of the Dementors, Cuarón turned to CGI; however, he and his team did use footage of Dementor puppets underwater as a basis for the flowing movements of the computer-generated Dementors.]
The Knight Bus segment when Harry is being taken to The Leaky Cauldron uses the film technique known as bullet time, popularised in ''The Matrix'' series of films. This segment takes humorous advantage of the magic quality of the Harry Potter world by having the Muggle world go into bullet time while inside the Knight Bus, Harry, Stan Shunpike and Ernie Prang (and the talking shrunken head) keep moving in real time.
Music
The Academy Award nominated score was composed and conducted by John Williams and released on CD on 25 May 2004. In general, his music for this third film is less lyrical and more sombre (and at times more frightening) than that of the previous films. Other than brief quotes of "Hedwig's Theme" and the "Nimbus 2000" theme, Williams' score also consists of entirely new themes.
Cast and characters
*Daniel Radcliffe reprises the leading role of Harry Potter, a teenage wizard who is now entering his third year at Hogwarts. Harry is told that escaped prisoner Sirius Black is likely to try and kill him. To help understand what an "alienated teenage Harry" was going through, Radcliffe listened to music by the Sex Pistols, The Strokes, and The Dandy Warhols, and watched the films ''The Bicycle Thief'' and ''The 400 Blows''.
*Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley: One of Harry's best friends who accompanies him throughout the film.
*Emma Watson as Hermione Granger: One of Harry's best friends who accompanies him throughout the film. She is given a Time-Turner to enable her to attend multiple lessons at the same time.
Cuarón instructed Radcliffe, Grint and Watson to write an essay on their characters, explaining what they thought about them. In a case of life imitating art, Radcliffe was pleased with his short essay, Watson wrote sixteen pages and Grint did not even bother.
In addition, several new actors joined the cast:
*Michael Gambon takes over the role of Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Headmaster, as Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the previous two films, died on 25 October 2002. Despite his illness Harris had been determined to film his part, telling a visiting David Heyman not to recast the role.[ Four months after Harris's death, Cuarón chose Gambon as his replacement.][ as well as completing his scenes in three weeks. Ian McKellen was offered the role, but he turned it down having played the similar character Gandalf in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. He also felt it would have been inappropriate to take Harris' role, as the late actor had called McKellen a "dreadful" actor. Harris's family had expressed an interest in seeing Harris's close friend Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement.]
*Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black, an escapee from the Wizarding prison Azkaban and Harry's godfather. Oldman accepted the part because he needed the money, as he had not taken on any major work in several years as he had decided to spend more time with his children.[ He was "surprised by how difficult it was to pull off", comparing the role to Shakespearean dialogue.][ Oldman suggested Sirius's hairstyle, while Cuarón designed his tattoos.][ He had read the first book, and his children were fans of the series. The part made Oldman a hero with his children and their schoolmates.][ ]
*David Thewlis plays Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, who is actually a werewolf. He was friends with Harry's parents when they were at school, and teaches Harry to conjure a Patronus Charm to fight the Dementors. Thewlis, who had previously auditioned for the role of Professor Quirrell in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', was Cuarón's first choice for the role of Lupin. He accepted the role on advice from Ian Hart, the man who was cast as Quirrell, who told him that Lupin was "the best part in the book." Cuarón told Thewlis that he thought Lupin was gay, pitching him as a "gay junkie", although his idea turned out to be incorrect. Thewlis had seen the first two films and had only read part of the first book, although after taking the role he read the third. He was excited about the prospect of making a children's film, and thoroughly enjoyed filming.[ ]
*Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew: The man who was supposedly killed by Sirius, only to be found alive and well, masquerading as Ron's rat Scabbers.
*Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney: The inept Hogwarts Divination teacher, who unknowingly predicts the return of Lord Voldemort.
Additional cast members include:
*Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The Hogwarts Potions master who suspects Lupin of helping Sirius enter the castle. Head of Slytherin House.
*Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: The Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher and deputy headmistress. Head of Gryffindor House.
*Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid: The Hogwarts gamekeeper and newly appointed Care of Magical Creatures professor.
*Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy: Harry's rival.
*Dawn French as the portrait of The Fat Lady: The Gryffindor house portrait who is attacked by Sirius when she refuses him entry to the common room.
*Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw as Vernon and Petunia Dursley: Harry's uncaring aunt and uncle.
*Pam Ferris as Aunt Marge: Harry's offensive great aunt, who he accidentally inflates in anger when she insults his parents.
*Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley: Harry's overweight cousin.
*Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge: The Minister for Magic.
*Julie Christie as Madame Rosmerta: The owner of The Three Broomsticks
*Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom: The accident-prone classmate and friend of the trio. Neville was "clowned up" for the film, with Lewis wearing false yellowed teeth and oversized shoes.
*James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley: Ron's elder twin brothers who give Harry the Marauder's Map so that he can get into Hogsmeade.
*Mark Williams and Julie Walters as Arthur and Molly Weasley: Ron's parents.
*Lee Ingleby as Stan Shunpike: The conductor of the Knight Bus.
*Jim Tavaré as Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron
Marketing
Reaction
Critical reception
''Prisoner of Azkaban'' achieved overwhelmingly positive reviews, garnering an 89% "Certified Fresh" approval rating with a 90% "Cream of the Crop" ranking at Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 81 out of 100 at Metacritic garnering "universal acclaim". Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars: "Not only is this dazzler by far the best and most thrilling of the three Harry Potter movies to date, it's a film that can stand on its own even if you never heard of author J.K. Rowling and her young wizard hero." ''The Hollywood Reporter'' called the film "a deeper, darker, visually arresting and more emotionally satisfying adaptation of the J.K. Rowling literary phenomenon", especially compared to the first two installments. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars saying that the film "is not quite as good as the first two", but still called it "a delightful, amusing and sophisticated installment". Claudia Puig from ''USA Today'' praised the film as "a visual delight", while Richard Roeper called the film "a creative triumph". Sean Smith from ''Newsweek'' said: "''The Prisoner of Azkaban'' boasts a brand-new director and a bold new vision", he also called the film "moving", praising the performances by Radcliffe and Watson, while ''Entertainment Weekly'' praised the film for being more mature than its predecessors. Some of the negative criticism came from ''The Washington Post'': "Put delicately, this is one long sit, made all the more so by a turgid story, a dour visual palette and uninspiring action". Rex Reed, of ''The New York Observer'', also pointed out some over the top style changes, calling it "The silliest, as well as the most contrived -- and confusing -- of them all".
Box office performance
The film opened in the United Kingdom on 31 May and on 4 June in the United States. It broke numerous records upon its worldwide release. It broke the record for biggest single day in U.K. box office history making £5.3 million on a Monday. It went on to break records both with and without previews making a stunning £23.9 million including previews and £9.3 million excluding them. The film made $93.7 million during its opening weekend in the United States, achieving the third biggest opening weekend of all time. It went on to make £46.1 million in the U.K.
''The Prisoner of Azkaban'' made a total of $795.5 million worldwide, which made it the second highest-grossing film of 2004 behind ''Shrek 2''. In the United States, it was only the sixth highest-grossing film of the year making $249.5 million. Everywhere else in the world, however, it was the number one film of the year, making $546 million compared to ''Shrek 2's'' $478.6 million. Despite its successful box office run, ''Azkaban'' is currently the lowest-grossing ''Harry Potter'' film (all the other ''Harry Potter'' films have grossed more than US $875 million worldwide). ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is currently the 21st highest grossing film in history.
Awards
''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' was nominated in the 77th Academy Awards held in 2005 for two Oscars.
*Academy Award for Original Music Score - John Williams (Lost to ''Finding Neverland'' by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek)
*Academy Award for Visual Effects (Lost to ''Spider-Man 2'')
''Prisoner of Azkaban'' was also nominated for Favorite Movie at the 2005 Kids' Choice Awards, but it lost to ''The Incredibles''.
Differences from the book
''Prisoner of Azkaban'' was, at the time of publication, the longest book in the series. The increasing plot complexity necessitated a looser adaptation of the book's finer plot lines and back-story. The connection between Harry's parents and the Marauder's map is only briefly mentioned,
On account of pace and time considerations, the film glosses over detailed descriptions of magical education. Only one Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is seen, and only Malfoy and Harry are seen interacting with the Hippogriff during Care of Magical Creatures lessons, and most other lessons, including all of Snape's potions classes, were cut from the film.[ The complicated description of the Fidelius Charm is removed entirely from the film adaptation, with no explanation given of exactly how Black betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort. Many of the lines in this scene are redistributed amongst Cornelius Fudge and Minerva McGonagall; in compensation, McGonagall's exposition of the Animagus transformation is instead given by Snape.]
The embryonic romantic connection between Ron and Hermione is more prominent in the film adaptation than the original book; in response to criticism of the first two films for sacrificing character development for mystery and adventure, the emotional development of all three lead characters is given more attention in the third film.[ However, some critics and fans thought that the result was a murky plotline. That said, any mention of the beginnings of Harry's crush on Cho Chang is removed. Malfoy, in the film, is made into more of a character to laugh at than he was in the novel. (For example, he was far less capable of composing himself in the scene where Hermione hit him and walked away in tears, rather than merely frustrated. Also, Harry and Ron did not take him as seriously, telling Hermione "he's not worth it" when she pulls her wand on him, rather than rushing to hit him themselves.) The darker side of Harry, first seen in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' is glimpsed in this film, when Harry proclaims, "I hope he [Black] finds me. Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him".]
Source: Wikipedia