Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Scris de **|Weirdo.|** Sam Iun 28, 2008 8:44 pm

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001fantasy/adventurefilm based on the novel of the same name by J.K. Rowling. Directed by Chris Columbus, it is the first in the popular Harry Potter films series. The story follows Harry Potter, a boy who, on his eleventh birthday, discovers that he is a wizard and who is then sent to Hogwarts — a school of magic — whereby he can complete his magical education.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The adult cast features Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Ian Hart.
Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999. Production began in 2000, with Columbus being chosen from a short list of directors to create the film. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book and the film. Rowling also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves. The film shot primarily at Leavesden Film Studios, as well as historic buildings around the country, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States in November, 2001. Along with mostly positive critical reception, it made in excess of $976 million at the worldwide box office and received three Academy Award nominations. The second, third, fourth, and fifth books have also been adapted into successful films, with the sixth and seventh confirmed.

Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary eleven-year-old boy, living with his negligent relatives, the Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a mysterious stranger, Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the wizarding world for surviving an attack by the evildarkLord Voldemort, when Harry was only a year old. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry failed, leaving only a lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead. Harry is invited to begin attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry defies his aunt and uncle, and attends Hogwarts where he begins to learn magic and make new friends, as well as enemies, among the Hogwarts students and staff. Voldemort has been near death, and in hiding, since the attack on Harry ten years earlier, but a plot is brewing for the dark lord to regain his power and strength through the acquisition of a Philosopher's Stone, which grants immortality to its owner. Harry and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, discover the plot and seek to prevent the theft of the stone, which is hidden in a protected chamber at Hogwarts.

Differences from the book
Columbus repeatedly checked with Rowling to make sure he was getting the little details in the film correct.^[29] Kloves described the film as being "really faithful" to the book. He added some dialogue, which Rowling approved of. One of the lines originally included had to be removed after Rowling told him that it would directly contradict an event in the then-unreleased Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.^[50]
Even so, as with many book to film transitions, there are differences between the plot of the film and the original source material. The first chapter of the book begins from the point of view of Vernon and Petunia Dursley in the very day before they are given Harry to look after, highlighting how Muggles react to magic. The film scraps this, beginning with Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid leaving Harry with the Dursley's. Next, a month of Harry's summer, including several of Vernon's attempts to escape the constantly arriving Hogwart's letters and his less than pleasant times at Mrs. Figg's, is cut from the film while the Boa Constrictor from Brazil in the zoo becomes an Anakonda from Burma in the movie. Some conflict between Harry and Draco, including their original first meeting in Madam Malkin's robe shop, is not included. The character of Piers Polkiss is cut and some of Nicolas Flamel's role is changed or cut altogether. Norbert is mentioned to have been taken away by Dumbledore in the film; whilst the book sees Harry and Hermione have to take him by hand to friends of Charlie Weasley. Rowling described the scene as "the one part of the book that she felt [could easily] be changed."^[28] As such, the reason for the detention in the Forbidden Forest is also changed. In the novel, Harry and Hermione are put in detention for getting caught by Filch when leaving the Astronomy Tower after hours, while in the film, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are put in detention because Malfoy caught them in Hagrid's hut after hours. The Sorting Hat's song is axed, as is Snape's potion riddle task and Quirrel's troll room on the way to the stone.^[51] Visual changes included both Aunt Petunia and Dudley being made brunette, and Firenze, who in the book is described as being palomino with light blonde hair, is shown to be dark in the film.^[52] Additionally the Quidditch pitch is altered from a traditional stadium to an open field circled by spectator towers.^[28]