Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix –Although Harry Potter witnessed the terrifying return of the evil Lord Voldemort, the Ministry of Magic denies that this happened and uses its power over the newspapers to publicly deride Harry as a liar. To make matters worse, the Ministry have installed Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts and she not only punishes Harry for ‘telling lies’ but also crushes any hope of the students learning how to defend themselves against a threat that she  is determined to pretend does not even exist.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) – Director: David Yates

Rating: 12

Running Length: 138 mins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton

Genre: Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX’

‘Order of the Phoenix’ was probably one of the most plodding and teen angst riddled of the Harry Potter novels (as written by J. K. Rowling) but it is to the credit of director David Yates that he has somehow managed to craft the story into one of the most balanced and focused entries in this immensely popular series. This superbly crafted adaptation cuts away the majority of the unimportant elements and focuses on Harry’s increasing sense of isolation. The world at large does not believe him about the evil Voldemort having returned from the dead; the kindly Professor Dumbledore is going out of his way to avoid him, and his dreams are becoming frighteningly and violently real. If you strip away the fantasy and magical elements, what you essential have in ‘Order of the Phoenix’ is a movie about the confusing loneliness of adolescence. Harry spends a lot of time being angry at everything and everyone and this is very much a story about struggling powerlessly against both external injustice and internal conflicts.

As with previous Harry Potter movies, the targeted age of the audience has gone up another notch. Whereas the previous two movies (read our reviews of ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ and ‘Goblet of Fire’ for more information) had increased the intensity of the fear, ‘Order of the Phoenix’ is a more adult story that probably won’t be of interest to younger children. This isn’t a story about magic. It is a story that deals largely with the politics of the wizarding world, the prejudices and paranoia of those in power and the desperate burying of heads in the sand to avoid the horrible truth that Voldemort has returned. The star performance here has to be Imedla Staunton as Dolores Umbridge – the paranoia clouded eye that the Ministry of Magic implants into Hogwarts school to investigate the perceived threat of Dumbledore. Dressed in pink and with an office wall covered in magical pictures of cats, Umbridge outwardly seems in favour of good manners and well behaved children. However she quickly reveals herself to be a totalitarian fist of control squeezing all individuality out of the students, no doubt an antagonist that many young adults will have no problem in rallying against.

‘Order of the Phoenix’ is a fantastically made movie that throws a huge dose of ‘reality’ into this magical world; it shows that all that must occur for bigotry and evil to take root is for good people to do nothing. However it is not a movie for those wishing for a fantastical escape into magic and wonder. Therefore, depending on what the viewer wants, ‘Order of the Phoenix’ will probably be either the best movie in the series so far or a somewhat bemusing story about a confused teenager who feels that no-one understands him.

CONTENT: IS ‘HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

There is actually very little content in ‘Order of the Phoenix’ that is particularly unsuitable. As described above, it is more that the general plot of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ may not be of interest to younger children rather than the content making it so. However, we highlight some key moments below for your information.

The opening scene shows Harry sitting on some swings in a park. He is approached by Dudley Dursley (established in previous movies as spoilt child of Harry’s abusive adoptive family) who is flanked by five others. They verbally taunt Harry and intimidate him. At one point Dudley says, “Where’s your Mum, Potter? She dead?” which angers Harry. The scene quickly turns scary as the sky darkens and both Dudley and Harry flee from an unseen threat. They become trapped in a pedestrian tunnel and are attacked by Dementors. Dementors were established in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ as foul creatures that feed off happiness and drain the souls of their victims. One grabs Harry and lifts him by the throat whilst the other pins down Dudley and starts to drain his soul. This is depicted as a blurring effect on the face. There are several close up shots of the Dementors themselves which have black rotten faces and large empty mouths. The threat is short-lived but treated through the direction as very frightening. However if your child has previously seen ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ then they should be ok with the Dementors here.

Throughout the movie there are several moments when Harry experiences painful dream-like experiences. These are depicted with disorienting music and quick flashes of visual imagery, usually involving the scary looking Voldemort close-up. Mostly Harry just wakes from these experiences and is concerned by them but is otherwise fine. However one time he sees himself through point-of-view camera moving around a mysterious room. He comes across an established ‘good’ character and the camera lunges forward repeatedly, clearly ‘striking’ the good character. Each time the camera pulls back the character is more hurt and, after a few hits, becomes covered in blood. When this sequence ends Harry comes round and is very distressed at this quite intense moment.

One scene shows Harry being punished by Umbridge by being made to write lines. He is given a ‘special’ quill to do this but he comments that he has no ink. Umbridge tells him he won’t need ink and so he begins writing. However it becomes clear that the quill is actually using Harry’s own blood to write with. Each written letter opens up a likewise wound on the back of his hand whilst he grunts in pain. He looks at Umbridge, stunned. She tells him that, “…deep down you know you deserve to be punished”. Harry does not tell anyone the details of this and tries to keep the injury secret, although Hermione does notice and says, “…Umbridge is torturing you!” She tries to get him to tell Dumbledore but he refuses, shunning offers of help. This may or may not be comparable to the secretiveness of real-life self-harm, but that level of comparison is a very adult one to make and as this is harm being instigated by an antagonistic authority figure we do not feel that this scene is one to be concerned about in this respect.

There is a very threatening scene in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Several masked and cloaked figures advance on our heroes and a magical fight breaks out. One female ‘good’ character gets punched and although the camera angle obscures the detail of this she does later have blood on her face. However she is not particularly concerned by the injury. This is a long scene which starts with 5 minutes of threatening dialogue before moving into the fighting. There is a very strong emotional climax to this scene as something happens to a major character. The music swells and Harry inaudibly screams in anguish. He is furious and attacks a bad character, trying to cast the ‘Cruciatus Curse’ (which was established in ‘Goblet of Fire’ and earlier in ‘Order of Phoenix’ as an illegal torturing curse) but he only succeeds in knocking the bad character to the floor.

This scene leads in to a moment where Harry becomes possessed. His eyes turn milky white and his voice becomes that of another. This is an intense moment after several already intense moments as the action doesn’t really stop once our heroes reach the Department of Mysteries.

As previously mentioned, ‘Order of the Phoenix’ deals largely with a political power play and as such much of the previous ‘action’ is through the dialogue. The character of Umbridge is seen to be bigoted and her disgust at any character that isn’t completely human becomes stronger throughout the movie. In the third act she is with Harry, Hermione and Ron in the Forbidden Forest and they come across some Centuars. These half-horse, half-human beings were described earlier to be proud and yet dangerous. Umbridge screams at them that they are ‘filthy half-breeds’.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX’ FOR KIDS?

‘Order of the Phoenix’ managed to turn probably the most self-indulgent book into one of the most deep and relatable movies. Although it is much more adult than the movies that preceded it, for those that have watched, in order, the previous instalments it will seem a natural progression of tone. That said, due to the fact that ‘Order of the Phoenix’ is very dialogue driven, deals with themes of teenage isolation, and has a plot that focuses on the politics of power, we feel that although the content should be suitable for children aged 7 and up, ‘Order of the Phoenix’ is probably more appropriate for children over the age of 10.

• Violence: 2/5 (mostly mild, occasional blood)
• Emotional Distress: 4/5 (Harry broods a lot in this movie. The ending is very emotionally charged)
• Fear Factor: 3/5 (the dream sequences and Dementors are quite scary but are nothing stronger than what has been featured in previous movies)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 2/5 (more casual mild cursing from Ron throughout)
• Dialogue: 3/5 (almost all the ‘threat’ comes from dialogue and Umbridge’s iron control over Hogwarts)
• Other notes: Deals with themes of teenage life, not being able to rely on adults for help, censorship of thought, species bigotry and the power of taking matters into your own hands

Words by Mike Record

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