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Cuarón Vs. Columbus:
Obstacles and Achievements
by Farah Weheba
June 18, 2004
Alfonso Cuarón, director of "Y Tu Mama Tambien," recently accepted the challenge of directing "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," replacing the director of the first two movies, Chris Columbus. Unlike any of Cuarón's usual movies, Harry Potter has a magical, wholesome storyline. Cuarón had to adjust his directing techniques to fit the PG rating requirements. For example, the movie "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a crude Mexican movie about the sexual arousing of two teenage boys, very different from events that happen at Hogwarts. Cuarón was very qualified for the job, however, because of his uncompromising manner when it comes to landscaping, connecting to the characters, and special effects. He has directed one family-friendly movie called "A Little Princess," which is also based on a classic book.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is quite distinctive from the first two Harry Potter stories. It introduces an older, more mature Harry, along with more sinister ideas, and soul-eating fiends, or Dementors. Harry also meets his shadowy and mystifying godfather, Sirius Black, who has spent many years in the dreadful wizard prison, Azkaban. Harry is forced to face new realities about his parents and about himself.
Cuarón was brave enough to try the imaginations of millions of Harry Potter fans, knowing he had to stay factual to the original book, not get too carried away, and match or top the quality of the first two films. He also had to familiarize himself with the cast and their capabilities, for he had not worked with them as long as Chris Columbus had. All these things and more made Cuarón's task a truly difficult one.
The director of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Chris Columbus, remained a co-producer on the set of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," but left the directing to Cuarón. While Columbus deserves abundant respect for his tremendous efforts, he did make a few errors in the first two movies. Critics said he didn't know where to go with the endings, dragging them out forever and losing the interest of the viewers. Some said the movies were okay, but quite a disappointment compared to the books. No director can satisfy everyone; it's impossible. Yet Cuarón's edgy, "barely allowed" style and his suspenseful cliffhanger ending to "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" left viewers exiting from theaters asking their friends "So, when does the fourth movie come out?" He left the fans wanting to ask questions, go behind the scenes, and see the movie again. Cuarón just found a medium where the more mature part of the audience could enjoy the movie and shriek every once in a while, and the younger members of the audience could manage to hold in their tears and refrain from having nightmares. With all due respect, very few people could describe Cuarón's work as "boring," while many more could say this about Columbus's.
Chris Columbus was the first to create a movie set, including Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest surrounding it, employ the cast members, and even dare to direct movies that would be so carefully scrutinized by Potter fans. For these acts, he deserves all the credit in the world. Cuarón, however, stepped in and took the set and the spectacular cast to a newer, darker, more poignant level. He said, "Chris and I are two different minds; we have different approaches, for good or bad, but I think Chris created a very elegant universe and put together an amazing cast. It would have been not only irresponsible, but also stupid to come and say, 'OK, just for the sake of change, let's change all this stuff that is working fantastically well.'"
Although "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" received a tremendous response from its audiences, Cuarón declined the opportunity to direct "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". Mike Newell, director of "Mona Lisa Smile" has filled those shoes. Cuarón's co-producer David Heyman said, "One of the things that was so clear in 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' was that Cuarón has a real understanding of the nuances of teenage life." This experience and understanding allowed Cuarón to portray accurate feelings of frustration that Harry, Ron, Hermione and all of their friends shared.
Cuarón said something that truly reveals his understanding of what the Harry Potter stories are all about, "If you dig a little bit you see there are big comments about class and racism and power and greed and loneliness -- all the most important human emotions."
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