Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Director: Mike Newell

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Mark Williams, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Robert Patlinson, Tom Felton, Stanislav Ianevski, Brenden Gleeson, Michael Gambon, Shefali Chowdhury, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman

9/10

There are simply no howler points to be cut in this most spectacular and ambitious of all the Potter films, of any film made for children, in fact. But dare call Harry a child, he’s going to stutter that he’s 14! He may be The- Boy-Who-Lived the attack of the One-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but to ask Cho Chang for a dance date, Harry fumbles and sweats like any boy his age. He may be the only wizard with the courage to look into the eyes of the Dark Lord, but when Myrtle the ghost lands up in his bathtub, he is all coy and eyes lowered and has his fans in splits the way he keeps gathering around him soap bubbles, so conscious of his body.

Harry has grown. So has Hermione, who looks a stunner in her Yule ball dance gown as she dances with Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang Institutes Triwizard champion. Like normal teens, Ron’s eyeing Fleur, the Beauxbatons Academy’s Triwizard champion, Harry’s eyeing Cho, Cho’s eyeing Cedric, Hermione’s eyeing Victor, and even Hagrid is trying to act naughty with Madame Maxime.

But the beautiful ball, the flying chariots and ships, a hilarious Rita Skeeter with her snoopy scoops are only temporary relief for Harry and his friends as they prepare to face the dark and difficult times ahead. The admiring oohs and aahs every time the beautifully visualised Goblet of Fire throws up a name turn to cries of disgust as one last unexpected name is thrown up after the three participating champions have already been chosen. Harry Potter’s.

Disgust which gives way to fear as realisation dawns that the tournament can bring eternal glory, but could also bring death. And indeed, the moment of Harry’s triumph comes at the cost of great sorrow. It’s sheer brilliance how director Mike captures the changing reactions of the cheering crowds as Harry lands with the Triwizard trophy, when they realise that with the trophy there’s something else too he has brought. The moment of glory is also for Hogwarts a moment of great gloom.

It’s a similar sequence with which the film begins. In one of the most extravagantly visualised and shot scenes, wizards from the world assemble for the 422nd finals of the Quidditch World Cup. In the midst of celebrations never seen before, destruction strikes when the Dark Powers attack and burn down the camps and Harry’s mark reminds him that the Death Eaters are gathering and growing in strength.

And how strong, he discovers when he and Cedric find themselves plunged before Voldemort in the graveyard right after the Triwizard tournament. Unlike the first three films, the fear here is more real and actually ends with more tragic consequences.

This has lead the Muggles of the world to say the film is too dark and terrifying for children. They see the darkness but not the strength and power of these children to dispel it, revealing such beauty and brilliance that once out of the theatre one’s actually afraid to even speak, lest the spell is broken.

Deepali Singh