The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 01:52 AM PDT When turning a book into a movie, there's intense debate on how closely an actor should mirror his book counterpart. And when the issue of race comes into the picture, things get touchy pretty quickly... TOO blonde. Too old. Too tall. Too white. That's what fans were griping about when Jennifer Lawrence was cast in the movie adaptation of the popular young adult book, The Hunger Games. Lawrence, an actress who won an award for her role in indie movie Winter's Bone and recently seen as Mystique in X-Men: First Class, will play the main character, Katniss Everdeen, who takes her sister's place in a brutal gladiator-like contest where contestants fight to the death. In the book, the dark-haired, olive-skinned Katniss was 16 when she took part in "the Hunger Games". Lawrence is 22, pale and blonde. "I'm going to say this again, but she's too old. The Hunger Games are kids killing kids! Not a bunch of 20-year-old gladiators running around killing each other!" protested Rin Aelius, one of the many fans at The Hunger Games Trilogy Fansite (http://bit.ly/fKR0fr). But just how closely must actors mirror their book counterparts? Directors and producers have been wrestling with this issue for ages. The award-winning sci-fi television series Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) got off to a rocky start because they changed the characters' gender. Fans vehemently protested when Starbucks, originally played by Dirk Benedict in the original 1979 series, was turned into a woman (played by Katee Sackhoff). Lieutenant Boomer, originally an African-American character played Herbert Jefferson Jr, became Lt Sharon Valerii, played by Canadian-Korean actress Grace Park. However, what seemed like a disastrous casting move turned out to be a stroke of genius. With Starbucks and Boomer as women, it not only balanced out the formerly male-heavy cast but introduced two of TV-dom's most fascinating and strongest female characters. But there's nothing more contentious than the issue of race. Kenneth Branagh was refreshingly colour blind when he cast Denzel Washington as Don Pedro in his Shakespearean adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing. Several eyebrows shot up over Brannagh's choice, as the role of Don Pedro is traditionally given to a Caucasian. (Furthermore, Don Pedro's brother Don John was played by Keanu Reeves.) Nevertheless, many critics enjoyed Washington's contribution to the film and largely forgot that he was even African American. Branagh did it again when he cast Idris Elba to play the Norse deity Heimdall in the summer blockbuster Thor. However, some fans protested that British actor was not the right guy to play a god that was described in Norse mythology as "the whitest of the gods". Elba, who has a Ghanaian mother and Sierra Leonean father, said in an interview with TV Times: "There has been a big debate about it: can a black man play a Nordic character? Hang about, Thor's mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That's okay, but the colour of my skin is wrong?" Fans are even less forgiving when white actors play characters who were originally of ethnic origin. Accusations of "white washing" will almost certainly give a movie or television series unfavourable publicity. There's M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, where white actors were cast to play characters who were originally Asians. The movie was based on a popular and critically-acclaimed cartoon series, which was heavily inspired by Asian cultures. For example, the people of the Water tribe, resemble the Inuits; the Fire Nation had Japanese influences; the Earth Kingdom is based on China and the Air Nomads are inspired by Tibetans. Fans were upset that these elements were not honoured and the roles not given to Asian actors. The 2008 movie 21, is another case. Based on a true story about mostly Asian MIT students who used their mathematical skills to become top-notch casino gamblers, almost all the characters were played by white actors in the movie. According to organisation Media Action Network for Asian Americans, producer Dana Brunetti allegedly said: "Believe me, I would have loved to cast Asians in the lead roles, but the truth is, we didn't have access to any bankable Asian-American actors that we wanted." The main contention with "white washing" is not just that the characters should be ethnically similar to the original characters but more about the discriminatory casting practices in Hollywood. Minority actors are considered not as bankable or have the same draw as Caucasian actors. Therefore, due to these practices, they are often sidelined and not given enough opportunities in Hollywood. On the one hand, it's logical to assume that in certain movies, such as historical biopics, characters should be played by actors of the same ethnic origin for the sake of authenticity and realism. Yet, on the other hand, it is refreshing not to be constricted by race and to allow actors to play roles that allow them to shine, no matter what their ethnic origin. One would love to be in a colour-blind world where actors are judged worthy of their role not by the colour of their skin, but by what they bring to the role. But is this realistic? What do you think – should race be an important factor in casting an actor? E-mail your thoughts to entertainment@thestar.com.my. > Elizabeth Tai loved Idris Elba as Heimdall and wishes for a world where people will be judged for their talent rather than their skin colour. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 01:49 AM PDT Fans brace themselves for the final Harry Potter film. SO, it is really and finally happening, huh? The end that we waited for is nigh and no amount of wands nor Impediment Jinxes in the world can stop the final Harry Potter movie from hitting the theatres worldwide. Well, that is obviously not because the wands or curses don't actually work, but because Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is set for its release this Thursday. Unless, of course, someone uses the Blasting Curse on Earth and blows us all up before then... (hmm, now what was that spell again? Confringo?) Like any fan of a much-loved franchise would know, saying the final goodbye is never really easy. And with Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe playing their characters to perfection, you'd understand that these are no Tom, Dick and Harry we are bidding farewell to. Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter – along with Albus Dumbledore, Rubeus Hagrid, Severus Snape, Fred and George Weasley and more – are characters we have come to adore and secretly wish we could trade places with (well, maybe not so much Snape). Just as how difficult it was for fans to read the last few pages of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows and brace themselves for the final line in the book (FYI, it's "All was well"), the time has now come to do the same for the movie series. Yes, it is true that fans were given plenty of time to prepare for the final instalment of the franchise (what with the last book made into two movies and the first part released last year), but still, life as we know will never be the same (this is not an overstatement). Oh well, with the final movie out, it simply means that we would get to see Ron and Hermione finally kiss (sorry, spoiler); Lord Voldermort erm...hmm...survive (or not) and Harry erm...hmm...die (or not). Seriously, to those of you who have not read the books and want to be surprised at the end of the movie, this is for you: "You guys! You're making this story very difficult to write!" Written by J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter book series is one of the best-selling books and movie franchises of all time and in a nutshell is about a boy wizard who fights an evil Lord and neither can survive while the other lives. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ties up all the loose ends that the fans were left to wonder about previously, and brings closure for all. Sugania Narayanan, 28, was introduced to the magical world of Harry Potter – with its Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Bean, chocolate frogs, jinxes, Quidditch, butterbeer, et cetera – at 15 when everyone in school was talking about the books. She further fell in love with the series after watching the movies. "When you read the book, you imagine the Harry Potter world in your head, scene to scene. It's wonderful to see it come to life on screen. I remember clapping my hands in the theatre when Harry caught his first Snitch in the first movie. I realised that I was the only clapping after a while," says Sugania, who is now an engineer. It is not hard to adore Harry, the bespectacled boy with a little lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and the magical world he lives in (well, at least when he is not stuck with the Dudleys, his only living relatives, during the school holidays). The storyline Rowling created for the series, just begs one to go back again and again. "Harry Potter is interesting and different from other movies. It is very unpredictable and is probably the best movie saga I've ever come across. It beats Twilight and Transformers for sure!" says Jo-Ann Ang, 17, who is going to sorely miss the movie franchise when it comes to an end. Nevertheless, the Form Five student already knows how she will cope with the void that the last movie would inevitably leave. "I have not read all the Harry Potter books. That's because when I was younger, I didn't like reading thick books and I had my brothers tell me the stories instead. Now, I'll start reading the books because I feel like such an 'incomplete' fan without having read them all," she says. For Ho Hui Jan, however, solace is Pottermore (www.pottermore.com) – the website created by Rowling, which "builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books". "I am excited but sad about the final movie, because that would mark the end of the series. "No more books, no more movies... but there's still Pottermore!" says the 18-year-old student. She will also "re-re-re-re-read" the books, from the first to the last. In order. Without skipping a page. Which is something most fans say they will do once the Harry Potter movie saga reaches its climactic conclusion. Also taking her books off the shelves and dusting them off (or maybe not, since they wouldn't have collected any dust as they are always being read) is 17-year-old Deanna Anuar. Deanna has been a fan of the series since she was 11, when she got her first Harry Potter book as a birthday present. "I grew up thinking that the magical world was real. It was so detailed and simply extraordinary. I am really going to miss it once the series ends," she says. Deanna admits that while she likes all the movies, she didn't particularly enjoy Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (the sixth movie in the instalment). "I didn't really like it at all, but after watching the first part of the final movie last year, I got hyped up again. I know that this last movie is going to be awesome and I'm going to be really sad. So will the other fans who grew up with it. It's been a huge part of our childhood," she adds. If there is one thing Deanna really looks forward to seeing in the final movie, it has to be the epilogue, where Harry ... dang it, you guys-who-have-not-read-the-books. I can't reveal the ending ... hmmph, just go watch the movie then. > Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 opens in cinemas nationwide on July 14. Related Stories: |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 01:48 AM PDT The movies > The Harry Potter movies have so far amassed a worldwide box office tally of nearly US$6.4bil (RM19.392bil); the first movie, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, grossed the most of all the movies so far, with US$974.7mil (RM2.918bil), the eighth biggest box-office takings of all time. > The directors of the eight films are: Chris Columbus (Sorceror's Stone, 2001 and Chamber Of Secrets 2002), Alfonson Cuaron (Prisoner Of Azkaban, 2004), Mike Newell (Goblet Of Fire, 2005), David Yates (Order Of The Phoenix, 2007; Half-Blood Prince, 2009; Deathly Hallows: Part 1, 2010 and Deathly Hallows: Part 2, 2011) The novels > J.K. Rowling completed the manuscript of her first Harry Potter story, called Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, in 1995, having written some of it in local cafes in Edinburgh, where she was an unemployed mother living on welfare. > After being rejected by a series of publishers, Barry Cunningham, then of Bloomsbury publishers, signed up Rowling, and the author and company never looked back. Rowling is known as the world's first "billionaire author''. > She has sold 400 million copies of her Harry Potter series about the young wizard, his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his battles with the evil Voldemort. > Rowling told US television talk show host Oprah Winfrey in October 2010 that she cried uncontrollably when she finished the last of her best-selling Potter books. – Reuters Related Stories: |
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