almost there ( film )
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almost there tells the story of three men in search for meaning and happiness in the autumn of their lives .
the observational documentary meets the observer effect in almost there as filmmakers chronicle how their solitary subject is changed by their own scrutiny .
“ almost there poignantly tells the tale of community, responsibility, aging, and art. ” – pamela powell, reel honest reviews
watch trailers, read customer and critic reviews, and buy almost there directed by aaron wickenden & dan rybicky for $ 14. 99 .
there are no security measures discussed or implied before entering the burrow in the film .
almost there
has some extraordinarily fine elements, but its big reveal destroyed all the goodwill it expected i would feel by film' s end. your mileage may vary .
in its most effective segment, “almost there” explores the ramifications of this discovery and how better due diligence could have led to this information much earlier. there’s a power to this section that makes the viewer vibrate with rage and uncertainty. rybicky and wickenden ask the right questions of their interviewees, their subject and of themselves. and then, almost as suddenly as it was raised, the issue nonchalantly falls by the wayside as “almost there” works its way to its warm, fuzzy finale .
doc nyc, big sky documentary film festival, big muddy film festival, true false film festival, geneva film festival, cleveland international film festival, sebastopol film festival, midwest independent film festival, wisconsin film festival, sarasota film festival, minneapolis st. paul international film festival, arizona international film festival, sheffield doc / fest, nantucket film festival, indy film fest, southern circuit tour of independent filmmakers, middlebury new filmmakers festival, ebs international documentary festival – eidf, camden international film festival, big eddy film festival, milwaukee film festival, if film festival – louisville, dallas videofest, santa fe independent film festival, indie memphis film festival, driftless film festival, cork film festival, houston cinema arts festival, bisbee film festival
“i think as a journalist — i don’t think as a filmmaker, ” one interviewee says, almost off - handedly, late into “ almost there. ” this first feature from dan rybicky and aaron wickenden demonstrates that these documentary filmmakers might do well to think more like journalists sometimes .
almost there theatrical release | digital | vod catalog no. : ftf - 062 | in theaters: december | directors: aaron wickenden and dan rybicky | length: 93 minutes | year: 2015
“ almost there reveals how an individual can connect with others and follow his artistic obsessions despite adversity, even (or especially) if that adversity is himself. ” – laura adamczyk, the university of chicago magazine
zacharias smith does a commentary during the quidditch match in the book, while there is no commentary during it in the film .
there is no sign of any pamphlet showing the safety measures issued by the ministry .
the film follows the two filmmakers’ discovery of “outsider” artist peter anton, whose rundown home houses an impressive collection of unseen and fascinating artwork. “almost there” premiered at doc nyc 2014 and was an audience favorite at true / false 2015 and sheffield doc / fest 2015 .
house - elf kreacher and the hippogriff buckbeak are omitted from the film, and there is no mention of hagrid getting buckbeak back .
john bailey, “let there be light: john huston’s journey into psychic darkness” —online here .
now, there’s almost there, a poignant, humane, sharp - eyed look at peter anton, a miserable wretch of a man at the end of his life, toiling away in his parents’ home in east chicago, indiana. filmmakers dan rybicky and aaron wickenden (the film was executive produced by justine nagan who recently took over as executive director of pov) enter anton’s mold - infested shanty of a house to discover a treasure of paintings, drawings and, most important, a series of scrapbooks entitled “almost there, ” that tell — through paintings, pictures and words — of anton’s life of disappointment .
the resulting essay - documentary ,
almost there ,
returns friday for a weeklong run at the siskel film center. it' s an intriguing, narratively unpredictable work embracing a hornet' s nest of ethical issues, some of which remain unresolved, many of which limit the movie. they' re also what make it interesting. so there' s another ethical dilemma for you .
a great film critic recently explained to me that the two - and - a - half star rating is appropriate when there are many elements of a film that one loves, but also several bad elements that one cannot reconcile. if one feels more strongly about the latter, the most honest thing to do is choose the 2 - 1 / 2 star grade. “almost there” has some extraordinarily fine elements, but its big reveal destroyed all the goodwill it expected i would feel by film’s end. your mileage may vary .
“we want so badly for artists to be geniuses whose lives we can only dream of emulating. almost there paints a different, more down - to - earth picture. art is rarely made in a vacuum, no matter how remote or isolated the artist’s environment is. ” – dmitry samarov, rust belt magazine
chicago musician ken goldstein had his mind changed about a steel mill. there' s now a song and a movie .
there is no mention of crabbe and goyle using polyjuice potion and standing guard for malfoy outside of the room of requirement .
in 2006, rybicky and wickenden met anton at a pierogi festival. his sketched portraits of festival attendees attracted the duo’s attention, but a scrapbook of anton’s work pulled them into his orbit. entitled “almost there, ” the scrapbook is part of a 12 - book autobiography and is filled with sketches, sayings and other minutiae that anton sought to include. on page 657 of the “almost there” series, anton wrote “ one of the final goals of my life is to tell my story. it may be left to others to do so. ” in 2008, rybicky and wickenden became anton’s co - conspirators in relaying his story to the general public .
igor karkaroff' s murder is not mentioned in the film. however there is an image in harry potter limited edition of a daily prophet article talking about karkaroff' s murder. [ 77 ]
i couldn’t continue on that same path; i remained trapped inside the messiness of the film’s big secret, especially in light of the difficult questions it raises regarding the separation of an artist’s actions from their art. that’s a fascinating, loaded topic, one that deserves more time than “almost there” can handle without harshing the viewer’s mellow. i sensed the film wanted me to give a benefit of doubt that i simply could not give, and my emotions hardened with suspicion .
the film was the top grossing film at uk cinemas in 2009, taking £50. 7m, closely followed by avatar. - guardian
and yet... as the filmmakers work through their messy, messed - up place in the life story they' re capturing, the film gathers a head of steam. you can almost sense rybicky and wickenden wising up, through the years, behind their own camera .
the artist, peter anton, had lived in his hoarder' s nightmare of an east chicago childhood home since 1941. in the vicinity of whatever cats happened to be living there at the time, he slept in a corner of the mold - infested basement. anton' s magnum opus, an illustrated 12 - volume autobiography titled
almost there ,
caught the attention of wickenden and rybicky, who soon found anton had stories to tell, and stories behind the stories .
almost there goes a step further than the films listed above by doubling back on itself when the directors stumble on new information well into production, and they appear to have a crisis of conscience. how do they get through it? partly by revealing rybicky’s personal connection to the subject matter, namely his own family’s history of mental illness and dysfunction .
almost there is one of the best documentaries of the year; a lack of buzz and its late release, last week, might preclude it from landing on some top ten lists of 2015, but it will surely be making mine. if you’re in chicago or la, you can still catch it in a theater or else you can find it online here .
there was also no debate or meeting at headmaster' s office between professors to discuss whether or not dumbledore would be buried on hogwarts grounds .
the christmas season shown in the film is a big contradiction on what the chapter' s title is. there are no signs of snow outside the burrow and ginny' s nightdress seems unfit for a frosty season .
in surveying this setting, one might think “almost there” is a documentary about impoverished, elderly folks who have sadly fallen through the cracks in the system. instead, it’s an uncomfortable journey through the later life of an artist, a warts - and - all look at the filmmakers’ process that fails to get past its most troublesome wart. herein lies the problem for me as your humble reviewer, for the filmmakers have asked that we not discuss the major revelation in “almost there ,
a revelation that colored my viewing experience to an irreconcilable degree. so i' ll have to tap - dance around the elephant in the room. to be safe, i’ll issue a spoiler warning in case i’m not cryptic enough to keep viewers in the dark .
when returning from the cave, harry and dumbledore appear on high street in hogsmeade, where they encounter madam rosmerta (absent from the film), who warns them that the dark mark has appeared over the astronomy tower. harry and dumbledore borrow her broomsticks and head up there. in the film, harry and dumbledore apparate there directly. there is a dark, uneasily tranquil feeling conveyed as views of various parts of the school are shown, as though something bad would happen at any moment. however, the dark mark is not cast over the school until after dumbledore' s death .
there is no mention of how the weasleys were able to open the store because of the winning prize of the triwizard tournament held two years before .
the entire village of budleigh babberton is recreated from the book, including the old war memorial. there is a pub called babberton arms in the background .
diagon alley is almost completely boarded up and vacated. the only life to be seen comes from weasleys' wizard wheezes joke shop. the
u - no - poo
posters are not mentioned (though the product is shown in the background, and was created as promotional material for the film). however, there is a statuesque, moving sign of one of the weasley twins' lifting a top hat to reveal a rabbit. the sign is over a story tall .
almost there displays the vulnerability of both filmmaker and subject in such a way that process and product are woven together. as directors rybicky and wickendon unravel peter anton’s past, they allow themselves to become vulnerable to the audience as well, thus painting a complex portrait of the relationship between filmmaker and subject, art and life, and the joy of coming up from being down. ” – amy lee ketchum, tiny mix tapes
the film doesn' t show harry questioning dumbledore as to why he trusted snape .
in the film, the memory of the wool' s orphanage doesn’t include talks of tom riddle hurting kids at the cave, of which only a crude picture is shown taped up on riddle' s bedroom wall. however, there is a deleted scene where dumbledore tells harry about tom doing so when they are at the cave' s entrance later in the film .
safety measures issued by the ministry and about the inferi were not discussed throughout the entire film .
in the book, the felix felicis is gold. in the film, it is clear .
what was almost unprecedented in let there be light was its reliance on unscripted interviews, something common in documentaries only after the mid - 1950s with direct cinema, cinema vérité, and the british free cinema movements. when the film was finally released in 1980, however, the prints—reportedly 16mm reductions from the 35mm original—were so poor that the los angeles times reviewer could describe “lighting as flat and nasty as the inside of a phone booth. ” the soundtrack was also garbled, and thus the film’s most innovative and affecting side—its live dialogue—was frustratingly incomprehensible. it’s only now that the soundtrack restoration fully conveys these moving interviews, with men who often initially can only mumble or whisper their stories .
there’s a compelling strain of documentary film that lifts the lid on outsider artists who work in the shadows. 1994’s crumb, about r. crumb, who certainly had some measure of success before terry zwigoff’s film, set the mold. a decade later, in the realms of the unreal (pov 2005) took the form to a higher level by animating the work of artist henry darger. the devil and daniel johnston, about a manic depressive musician followed a year later and, more recently, among others, there’s been marwencol and art and craft (pov 2015) .
almost there
exists on the other end of the doc spectrum. the filmmakers, on camera and often self - consciously, argue with anton, bring him to tears, confront his exasperating qualities and then keep on filming. at one point, fed up with anton' s wheedling demands, we hear rybicky say that it was time for he and wickenden to recede .
we stepped back to film what would happen ,
he says ,
and hoped for the best .
at such moments it' s hard not to look at anton' s chroniclers as genial stumblebums .
the show is a success. we see anton playfully interacting with visitors and reuniting with some of his old neighbors. the film is half - over, and uplift is already in the air. then “almost there” lowers the boom on us. here’s where i must tread lightly. one of intuit’s visitors is olga briseno, the editor of the times of northwest indiana. fascinated by the rapport anton has with the people who knew him, she figures he’s a local celebrity. so she digs into her archives to find stories on peter anton. what she finds is so unpleasant it stuns the filmmakers .
there' s not a documentary filmmaker alive (or dead) who didn' t face a moral dilemma, or a hundred of them, in the course of their field work. a camera changes everything. even the most observantly self - effacing of directors, such as frederick wiseman, affects the social experiment of whatever he' s filming simply by being there, watching, filming .
let there be light was huston’s third and final war documentary, after report from the aleutians (1943; viewable through the internet archive at this link) and the harrowing combat film battle of san pietro (1945; featured in the nfpf’s first treasures dvd anthology). john huston narrated the first two himself, but called upon his father, the actor walter huston, for let there be light. the noir touches at the opening of this documentary may look out of place, but it’s worth remembering that hollywood’s film noirs often center on the traumas of veterans returning home. huston’s second film after the war, key largo, with bogart as the returning veteran, worked with the pattern .
in the film, draco' s reluctance to go with the death eaters is much more obvious .
there was a petal, floating on the surface, which gradually sank and turned into a fish just as it reached the bottom. the fish was named francis. slughorn discovered that the fish disappeared the day lily evans died. in the book, however, there is no mention of the present; harry brings up the topic of his parents' death after hagrid mentions them just before falling asleep .
film showing the bayshore amusement park in its heyday, preserved by the maryland historical society with nfpf support .
aragog' s size appears smaller than described and shown in both the books and the second film adaptation .
when ron is brought to slughorn' s office, slughorn mistakenly refers to him as
wemby
in the film. in the book, slughorn calls him
ralph
. also in the book, slughorn later tells harry that he has had every bottle tested by a house elf since ron' s incident, mistakenly referring to ron as
rupert ,
likely a reference to the actor who plays ron in the film series, rupert grint. there is no mention of any precautionary measures taken by slughorn in the film .
much of the first chapter has been omitted. this includes cornelius fudge discussing the murders, hurricanes, and bridge collapses that have been going on to the muggle prime minister, as well as the former' s resignation as minister of magic, and rufus scrimgeour introducing himself to the latter. however, there is still a minor reference in the daily prophet at the beginning of the film that mentions there is a new minister for magic. the film instead begins with bellatrix' s final line (
i killed sirius black !
) from the previous film echoing as harry is seen standing in front of a mob of reporters, with their cameras flashing, when dumbledore begins to lead harry away. the scene then cuts to the bridge attack .
after harry is told to take professor slughorn' s potions class, he and ron immediately head there in the film. in the book, the potions class is later in the day, with harry, hermione, and ron doing other things, including a defence against the dark arts class, before heading to potions .
the duel is longer and more intense in the film. in the book, malfoy turns around and attacks, and harry almost immediately uses sectumsempra after the two of them cast about two spells each at each other. in the film, harry and malfoy shoot several spells at each other, hide behind stalls and shoot spells at each other underneath the stalls, run around the stalls while shooting spells at each other and finally harry uses sectumsempra on draco when he sees him standing on the other side of the bathroom, directly after coming out from under cover .
about the restoration the soundtrack of let there be light was restored by chace audio by deluxe. chace' s services were donated through the nfpf grant program and awarded to the national archives and records administration in 2006 .
on january 2nd, 2009, websites reported that the film had been rated
pg
by the mpaa, for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality. this is the first and only time since the third film that a harry potter film has been rated pg, although in britain it is a 12a .
bill weasley does not appear in the film, much less get bitten by fenrir greyback as he does in the book. however, in the next film, he is shown bearing scars from being attacked by greyback. this creates a plot hole in the next film since it is unknown where, how and when the scarring happened .
in the 1980s, critics and academics were quick to condescend to what struck many as let there be light ’s sadly old - fashioned documentary form. but such critiques may have dated more rapidly than huston’s film. in that decade, authenticity in documentary was still judged by resemblance to the gritty, handheld look of cinema vérité. now that more elegant interview styles have returned to documentary—most inventively those from errol morris—huston’s work can be judged by broader standards. the hollywood gloss of let there be light honors the service of psychologically wounded soldiers of world war ii by giving their life stories all the careful attention of a studio production. has a u. s. government film ever conveyed more emotion? john huston’s own verdict, looking back over his career, was that let there be light was “the most hopeful and optimistic and even joyous thing i ever had a hand in. ” —scott simmon, uc davis
factory 25 and the production company kartemquin will premiere the film theatrically on december 4 in nyc and december 11 in la. the film will be available to stream on fandor starting december 5, followed by a full vod release .
pansy parkinson sits beside blaise and across from draco in the film, rather than beside draco, stroking his hair. very little of her as well as her relationship with draco is seen in the film series as a whole .
harry potter and the half - blood prince is a 2009 film based on the sixth novel by j. k. rowling. it is the sixth film in the harry potter film series. david yates, the director of the fifth film, harry potter and the order of the phoenix, directed this film. david heyman and david barron produced, [ 3 ] and steve kloves, though he did not write the fifth film, has returned as screenwriter for this instalment. [ 4 ] filming began on september 24, 2007. the film was released in the uk, canada and us on july 15, 2009 in regular theatres, and an imax 3 - d release on july 29, 2009. [ 5 ] [ 4 ] [ 6 ] unlike the previous film, the sixth film was released in regular theatres on july 15 and imax 3 - d on july 29 because of the imax release of transformers: revenge of the fallen. [ 7 ] the film was chosen to be screened at the royal film performance on november 17, 2008, but due to the date of release being pushed back, it was not shown. on january 2, 2009, the film received a pg rating in the usa. on july 7, 2009, at the world film premiere of harry potter and the half - blood prince in london, the cast and crew all wore white ribbons in memory and tribute of 18 - year - old british actor and co - star robert knox. knox, who played marcus belby in the film, was stabbed to death on may 24, 2008 .
in the book horace slughorn was said to have a big silver moustache like a walrus and was supposed to be quite large, both are changed for the film. in the film, he does not have a moustache, and is only slightly chubby. additionally, slughorn is portrayed as a soft - spoken, senile man in the film .
since the slug club meets later in the film, harry goes right to spy on draco when leaving his compartment .
in the 1950s, when he resembled a wannabe dave garroway or steve allen, anton ran the calumet region talent club, a showcase for local fledgling tap - dancers, fire - eaters, what have you. his dreams of show business glory never came true. at one point anton sings a bit of
i' m always chasing rainbows ,
a theme picked up by composer joshua abrams' original score. by the end of
almost there ,
a kartemquin films project, the rainbows have changed but for anton, now in his mid - 80s, they' ve become attainable .
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in the book, leanne is crying when she tells mcgonagall about what happened, but in the film she is calm .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
but that’s just to say that the film is brave enough to reveal its own seams, and it is, overall, the stronger for it. it’s a powerful and honest film about art, family, aging and, heck, being human .
there is no scene where the owls bring the examination results; the first reference to harry' s exam results comes when professor mcgonagall informs him (in the hogwarts corridor) that he may take potions as he had exceeded expectations in this subject .
john huston’s world war ii documentary let there be light is so legendary for its censorship controversy that its sheer power as a film has been easy to miss. produced by the u. s. army in 1945, it pioneered unscripted interview techniques to take an unprecedented look into the psychological wounds of war. however, by the time the film was first allowed a public screening—in december 1980—its remarkable innovations in style and subject, which in the 1940s were at least a decade ahead of their time, could be taken as old hat, especially because of the poor quality of then - available prints. this new restoration finally reveals the film’s full force .
in the book, harry follows blaise zabini into the slytherin' s car, while under his invisibility cloak. in the film, harry uses peruvian instant darkness powder, creating a thick, dark cloud of smoke to engulf the coach, while he climbs undetected onto the luggage rack, and remains there under his cloak for the duration of the journey, as he does in the book .
as the scene with fudge and the muggle prime minister is not featured in the film, after the kidnapping is shown, the film cuts to harry reading a copy of the daily prophet in a muggle café located along surbiton station, then leaves it on the table when he sees professor dumbledore outside. also, the muggle waitress at the cafe flirts with harry and asks about the newspaper he reads in the film. this scene is entirely unique to the film, and harry does not appear until later in the book .
to download a copy of the film (mp4, 1. 2 gb), right - click here and save to computer .
the 22 months between start of filming and release of the film was by far the longest interval in the series to date and was in fact several months longer than the equally protracted schedule for the 2009 star trek film, which began production several months after hbp but was released several months before hbp. at one point the film was scheduled for a late 2008 release, but this was pushed back .
the army was evidently feeling some pressure throughout 1946 and responded in a revealing way—more revealing indeed than the mere suppression of huston’s documentary. in early 1947 it commissioned essentially a remake, a film that would copy many of the situations, scenes, and even camera movements of let there be light but this time with actors impersonating the returning soldiers. the assignment went to journeyman director joseph henabery (who had assisted d. w. griffith—and played lincoln—in the birth of a nation in 1915). his instructions were to produce the neuro - psychiatric problem in the army, which was retitled shades of gray when it was released in january 1948. notwithstanding an army spokesman who announced that the new film was “definitely not connected in any way with let there be light, ” henabery and his producers seem to have seldom taken their eyes off the original. the actors clearly used the interviews in let there be light as models—and few impersonations are more ludicrous than their versions of the verbal tics and physical symptoms of the real soldiers. copied closely too are the scenes of hypnotism and of hysterical paralysis .
narrated by mr. rybicky and its subject, an outsider artist named peter anton, “almost there” opens with the filmmakers discovering mr. anton at a pierogi festival they’re shooting in whiting, ind. , in 2005. here, mr. anton is seen drawing rudimentary but sincere portraits of town folk. (the movie takes the value of outsider art as a given, which might be a stumbling block for viewers who don’t .) mr. rybicky and mr. wickenden find out this artist has a huge stash of wide - ranging material in a crumbling, hazardous house in east chicago, ind. for a while, the movie feels like an episode of “ hoarders ” inflected with a hipster aesthetic .
opens: friday and continues through thurs. dec. 17 at gene siskel film center, 164 n. state st. ; urltoken .
oulsnam, alex (2007 - 11 - 22) .
potter film role for ashley
, kentish express, p. 22 .
for many, peter anton’s house embodies an end - of - life nightmare: the utility companies long ago shut off the heat and electricity, the floorboards are rotting, and the detritus of a chaotic life is precariously stacked to the ceiling. but for the filmmakers dan rybicky and aaron wickenden, anton’s home is a treasure trove, a startling collection of unseen and fascinating paintings, drawings, and notebooks, not to mention anton himself, a character worthy of his own reality tv show. though aging, infirm, cranky, and solitary, anton also is funny and utterly resilient. the film’s remarkable journey follows a gifted artist through startling twists and turns. by its quietly satisfying ending, almost there has provided enough human drama for a season of soap operas, plus insights into mental illness, aging in america, and the redemptive power of art .
in the film, harry, hermione, and ron are not seen back at the burrow after spying on draco. instead, they are next seen on the train, and it is here that they discuss what draco may have been doing at borkin and burkes in the film .
with the film’s picture restoration, its visual qualities too are more evident. indeed, it is crafted and lit like a polished hollywood feature—unsurprisingly, with stanley cortez as lead cinematographer, fresh from shooting evocatively dark domestic interiors for the magnificent ambersons and since you went away. although let there be light takes its title from the king james bible (genesis 1: 3), that title also suggests the visual representation of the film’s narrative arc: away from shadowy, noir - inflected shots of gangplanks and hospital corridors and toward sunlit baseball diamonds and grassy fields .
harry potter and the half - blood prince won the 2007 urltoken award for film you
can' t wait for .
[ 83 ]
furthermore, the role of bellatrix lestrange has been greatly expanded in the film. in the book, she does not fight in the battle of the astronomy tower or witness dumbledore' s death. upon witnessing it in the film, she reacts by destroying everything with sadistic glee and delight .
john huston’s discussion of let there be light comes primarily from his autobiography, an open book (new york: alfred a. knopf, 1980), and interviews in gerald pratley’s the cinema of john huston (cranbury, n. j: a. s. barnes, 1977) .
anton’s tour of his decades of artwork inspires the documentarians to look into exhibiting several pieces at the intuit center. intuit specializes in “outsider art ,
a sub - genre that focuses on art done by those outside the cultural mainstream. “ most of the people whose art we exhibit are dead, ” says cleo wilson, intuit’s executive director. so she’s excited to present a living artist like peter anton, who’s still around to speak for his work. the exhibit will serve as the next chapter in the life of a man who once ran a talent group whose young entertainers put on over 1, 000 shows over a 20 - year period. we meet several of these children in “almost there ,
some of whom are in the paintings intuit exhibits .
as the filmmakers work through their messy, messed - up place in the life story they' re capturing, the film gathers a head of steam .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
in the film, harry is never mentioned to have inherited grimmauld place or kreacher after sirius black' s death, as he did in the book .
in the book, harry arrives at the burrow around 1: 00 a. m. , after ron and hermione have gone to bed, and they don' t see him until the next morning. in the film, it is unclear exactly when he arrives there (although obviously before so late). while it is dark when harry arrives, ron, hermione, and ginny are all still awake and go to welcome harry when he enters the burrow .
though the inferi in the book climb out of the lake and attempt to drag harry back in with them, they actually pull him underwater in the film .
in the novel, it says that a bright green light hit dumbledore (avada kedavra), while in the film, its more of a cyan colour .
there is much less conversation between draco and snape. snape only mentions to draco that he has made an unbreakable vow, then draco emphasised that he doesn' t need protection. harry eavesdrops on the conversation, like in the book, but rather than using his invisibility cloak, he just hides around a corner .
in the film, at breakfast before the first quidditch match, luna lovegood, not hermione, notices harry faking to slip felix felicis into ron' s drink .
the film omits the details that fenrir greyback is a werewolf, and also the part of lupin mentioning that greyback was the one who turned him into a werewolf .
for many, peter anton' s house embodies an end - of - life nightmare: the utility companies long ago shut off the heat and electricity, the floorboards are rotting, and the detritus of a chaotic life is precariously stacked to the ceiling. but for the filmmakers, anton' s home contains a startling collection of unseen and fascinating paintings, drawings and illustrated manuscripts; not to mention anton himself, a funny and utterly resilient character. determined to form a coherent future out of a fractured past, they set out together to host an exhibition of the old artworks at america' s leading
outsider art
museum. the film' s self reflective odyssey follows a gifted artist over years of startling twists and turns that compel him to face a dark chapter from his past and the filmmakers to face their motivations. almost there is about what it means to grow old in america, how this process can be complicated by mental illness, and how the whole bizarre panoply of life can be redeemed by art .
however, the goal of let there be light —to educate viewers about psychological wounds—failed with its initial audience: the army brass who watched it and then forbade its release. the film itself had tried to prevent such a response by including one doctor’s warning to a group - therapy session: “undoubtedly there will be people on the outside who won’t have any understanding of the condition, who may think of it as being a rather shameful condition. that’s why we’re having an educational program, trying to educate the public into understanding. ” huston handcarried a print to washington in february 1946 and got the impression that release was greenlighted for later that month. but an army public relations group convinced the war department to issue an order in march 1946 restricting screenings to a handful of army hospitals and a few overseas military venues. as huston remembered ,
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the discussion between harry and hermione inside the hogwarts library is included. romilda vane was introduced but she does not speak. madam pince is not present in the film .
harry, slughorn, and hagrid sing a song while drinking after mourning aragog. in the film, this scene is shortened, and only the final verse is heard .
in the book, dumbledore drinks about three cups of the potion before falling prey to its effects. in the film, he starts reacting after his first drink. in the book, the potion eventually causes him to faint, but in the film, while suffering badly from the potion, he manages to remain concious the entire time .
in the book, dumbledore is left in a considerably weakened state after drinking the potion, which continues up to his death. this is less evident in the film .
dumbledore' s speech in the book explicitly states that lord voldemort is once again at large, and advises everyone to be careful and report any suspicious acts. in the film, however, he is more subtle, explaining that there was once a boy who attended the school, appearing to be a student like any other. the name voldemort is not spoken, instead dumbledore says this boy was named tom riddle, but is currently known around the world by another name. he goes on to state that, while at any moment there are dark forces attempting to enter the castle ,
... in the end, their greatest weapon is you ...
dumbledore says that is something to think about, and, as in the book, he concludes with a rather cheerful
now off to bed, pip pip !
rybicky and wickenden travel to anton’s home in east chicago, indiana to see more of his work. “ east chicago is the type of place you’d drive pass, but never into, ” we’re told. images of east chicago’s poverty accompany this narration, but fail to prepare us for the state of anton’s house. anton’s rationale for staying is understandable despite the filmmakers’ concern for his safety: he is very big on the notion of “home”, and this building has defined it for over 50 years. additionally, he has a small group of friends who look in on him, and they' ve remained with him through extremely tough times. we meet some of these people as “almost there” progresses, and we also learn why they stay by anton’s side despite his irascible, sometimes confrontational personality. we also gradually start to see parallels between the lives of the filmmakers and anton .
mrs cole taking dumbledore into her room to talk about tom riddle is omitted. but the former and latter are seen walking up the stairs and on tom' s floor where she tells dumbledore that in all the years tom was in the orphanage he never once had a family visitor and that there had been nasty incidents with the other children .
in the film, the spell lumos maxima is shown again, this time as a glowing ball of light that could be thrown rather than a more powerful version of lumos .
yates and heyman have noted that some of the events of harry potter and the deathly hallows may influence the script of the film, [ 12 ] and that there will not be as many memories in the film as in the book. yates noted :
we' re making a decision right now to compress those a wee bit, but we' ve still got some really cool ones .
[ 13 ]. steve kloves, who wrote the first four films, returned for the sixth adaptation. [ 14 ] rowling has read kloves' script and crossed out a passage in which dumbledore recalls a past female love, penning in the margin
dumbledore is gay .
[ 15 ]
before david yates was officially chosen to direct the film, many others had been offered the job, and previous directors had expressed an interest in returning. alfonso cuarón, the director of the third film, stated he
would love to have the opportunity
to return. [ 8 ] goblet of fire director mike newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film, and was not approached for this one either. [ 9 ] terry gilliam was rowling' s personal choice to direct philosopher' s stone. however, when asked whether he would consider directing a later film, gilliam said ,
warner bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it .
[ 10 ]
yates has retained composer nicholas hooper, costume designer jany temime, visual effects supervisor tim burke, creature and make - up effects designer nick dudman, and special effects supervisor john richardson from the fifth film. [ 4 ] since february 2007, stuart craig, the production designer of the first five films as well, has been designing sets, including the cave, and the astronomy tower, where the climax of the film takes place. [ 11 ] academy award nominated bruno delbonnel is the film' s cinematographer. [ 4 ]
neither harper nor malfoy are seen playing on slytherin' s team in the film, though since only part of the match was shown, they could have simply been off camera .
the film doesn' t show harry being admitted to the hospital wing, due to the absence of the quidditch match and mclaggen having knocked him off his broom with the bludger .
in the film, draco shows dumbledore that he has been branded with the dark mark, whereas in the book this is only an assumption by harry, with no solid proof .
this is the only film in the series (except deathly hallows part 2) that shows us events from the previous book (the first scene at the ministry of magic) .
there has been an additional scene in the film which has no book equivalent. the burrow is attacked by death eaters during the christmas holidays. bellatrix lestrange and fenrir greyback are the only death eaters shown. greyback flies and lands in a ball of flame and casts a ring of fire around the burrow (possibly fiendfyre, as the flames are quite large and take the form of a serpent). lestrange lands in black smoke and taunts harry, chanting
i killed sirius black! i killed sirius black !
harry takes off after her in rage. ginny takes off after him, trying to stop him. lupin, tonks, and arthur weasley follow them into the grassy marsh. while the five are lost in the field, looking for the death eaters, the death eaters take off and set the burrow aflame, burning it presumably to the ground, before leaving. there is no further mention in the film of how the home is restored or what happened to it afterwards. the burrow was supposed to be protected against the death eaters, and they simply set fire to it with no effort. by the time harry returns to it in the film adaptation harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 1, the burrow had already been rebuilt .
in the film, ron mutters hermione' s name while unconscious at the hospital wing with harry, hermione, lavender, ginny, dumbledore, mcgonagall, pomfrey, slughorn, and snape present, and lavender runs off in tears. this is how ron and lavender break up in the film, and is the first time lavender' s name is mentioned in full .
in the book, snape reacts with livid emotion when harry calls him a coward. however in the film, although harry hurls this same insult at snape, he does not react .
helen mccrory who plays the role of narcissa malfoy in this film, was originally chosen to play bellatrix lestrange in the fifth film, harry potter and the order of the phoenix. but she had to back out of the role due to her sudden pregnancy, so she ended up getting this role instead, while helena bonham carter was cast as bellatrix in her place .
carroll, larry (2006 - 10 - 16). terry gilliam on depp,' potter' and the film he panhandled to promote. mtv. retrieved on 2006 october 16 .
in the book, harry, ron, and hermione are the only gryffindor students to take slughorn' s n. e. w. t. potions class. in the film, many other students are present in slughorn' s class as well, including dean thomas, seamus finnigan, neville longbottom, padma patil, lavender brown, romilda vane, and katie bell, despite romilda and katie not even being in the same year as harry and the others. in the film, crabbe and goyle are in the class as well, despite the book specifically stating that they were not. pansy parkinson also appears, although in the novel there was one unspecified slytherin student in the class with draco malfoy, blaise zabini, and theodore nott .
the slytherin end of the hogwarts express is split into two sides, not compartments as had been seen in previous films. it looks like booths with a table in between them. there is no door to close as had been in previous films. the compartments where harry, ron, and hermione sit are similar to what was in previous films, with the sliding doors .
in the book, harry asks why they went to budleigh babberton, and dumbledore tells him that they are short on staff so they want to convince slughorn to return. in the film, harry does not ask, and when asked if he was curious as to why they went there, harry says that after all the years at hogwarts, he no longer bothers to question what they do anymore. dumbledore does not tell him anything about slughorn or them being short on staff, only telling him to draw his wand, and they proceed to enter the house .
the way harry is found is different in the film. in the book, tonks finds harry, stating that she did not see him leave the train and, knowing harry has his cloak, decided to double check the train. in the film, it is luna lovegood who finds harry with her spectrespecs, stating that she can see wrackspurts all over him. [ 78 ]
almost there is a 2014 independent documentary film , produced by kartemquin films . it was directed by aaron wickenden and dan rybicky . the film delivered a central pitch at the 2013 international documentary film festival amsterdam forum . it later premiered at doc nyc and sheffield doc/fest , followed by official selections at film festivals around the world . it has received coverage in the new york times , chicago tribune , the village voice , and many other outlets . almost there was nominated for the 2016 cinema eye honors spotlight award . it was recently acquired for distribution by factory 25 . 
almost there is a 2014 independent documentary film, produced by kartemquin films. it was directed by aaron wickenden and dan rybicky. the film delivered a central pitch at the 2013 international documentary film festival amsterdam forum. it later premiered at doc nyc and sheffield doc/fest, followed by official selections at film festivals around the world. it has received coverage in the new york times, chicago tribune, the village voice, and many other outlets. almost there was nominated for the 2016 cinema eye honors spotlight award. it was recently acquired for distribution by factory 25.
almost there is a 2014 independent documentary film, produced by kartemquin films. it was directed by aaron wickenden and dan rybicky. the film delivered a central pitch at the 2013 international documentary film festival amsterdam forum. it later premiered at doc nyc and sheffield doc/fest, followed by official selections at film festivals around the world. it has received coverage in the new york times, chicago tribune, the village voice, and many other outlets. almost there was nominated for the 2016 cinema eye honors spotlight award. it was recently acquired for distribution by factory 25.