The Hindu Business Line : Time for the `bovies'

Clearly, for Hollywood studios, original scripts are reserved for the difficult autumn and winter months when the race for the Oscars begins. And summer is meant for pushing franchises into theatres in bigger numbers.

There was a time when `bovies' was a bad word. `Bovies', also known as `movies made out of books', was coined by purists in the 1970s to heap sarcasm upon those benighted souls who thought they could translate the excitement of the printed word on to the screen. As far as the literary lights were concerned, the word was supreme; the image came a very poor second.

Slowly, the word faded out of currency, because more and more directors began optioning for bestsellers as soon as they hit the charts, and more and more movies based on books started filling the marquee. More than 50 per cent of the movies coming out of Hollywood these days are based on novels, but the debate — whether the book was better or the movie — is as contentious as ever. Like it has been for the `Harry Potter' films. In heavyweight print columns, TV chat shows, and on fan Web sites, discussion raged whether the first movies were faithful to the two J.K. Rowling books, The Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets.

Opinion was neatly divided: Children around the world unanimously embraced the Potter movies and visited cinemas in the kind of numbers that makes studios reel in glee. (The first, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, grossed $656 million, and Chamber of Secrets minted $615 million). But there was something about the movies, both directed by Chris Columbus, which was dissatisfying. And only when one saw the third, The Prisoner of Azkaban, did one realise what was lacking in the first two movies: a sense of magic.

Funny thing to say about movies which revolve around magic — Harry Potter, and his best friends Ron and Hermione are wizards (the latter, being a girl, is a witch!), and study at Hogwarts School, which teaches them about spells, the secret art of divination, and potions and apparitions. The school, like any other institution which boards its students, has its rituals — Quidditch, a game kids play whizzing about on their broomsticks, midnight feasts and playing pranks on ill-favoured tutors. Hogwarts also has things only a school of magic can have: a teacher of the Dark Arts, mysterious creatures, (Azkaban has the half bird-half animal hippogriff, which flies Harry out on a lovely, loping ride above a serene lake, and dementors, wraith-like creatures who can suck out your life, leaving you for dead).

One would have thought that with so much other-worldly stuff to play around with, the director of the first two instalments, Chris Columbus would have had a blast. But Columbus, best known for his Home Alone series, was clearly overwhelmed: The special effects called too much attention to themselves, the young cast went through its paces; in places the actors looked as if they were carrying out instructions, merely, and the impact was, somehow, leaden.

There's been a change of director for the third part, and all for the better. Alfonso Cuaron, the celebrated helmer of Y Tu Mama Tambien, a movie about teenagers-growing-into-men, makes Azkaban a wonderful movie about kids-growing-into-teenagers. And about magic, minus the deathly literalness of the first two parts. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson (Harry, Ron and Hermione), are comfortable in their characters' skin, and a touch of sensuousness is added by making no attempts at hiding the flowering of their bodies. And all the magicking is done with a light touch which makes it immediately more believable than the heavy-handed re-creation in the first two movies.

So, the first of the summer franchises, Hollywood speak for sequels which are expected to make more money than the original, is here. After Matrix 3 last year, The Prisoner Of Azkaban is the second movie in India to enjoy a day/date release (another trade term for a synchronised opening around the globe; the movie opened in the UK a day before). A Warner Bros press release quoted its India Managing Director, Blaise Fernandes, as saying, "This is the first time that India will be able to enjoy a Harry Potter movie at the same time as the rest of the world."

More franchises are on the way

Shrek 2 continues with the story of the jolly green ogre, which entranced young and old viewers alike two years ago. Shrek upturned conventional notions of animated story-telling on its head: The ogre is, underneath its ugly exterior, actually a softie, but he can do things which are not so nice. In the sequel too, much acclaimed at Cannes last month, Shrek reveals his not-so-nice side, and has a lot of fun while doing it.

Then there is the Spiderman sequel, which Columbia Tristar anticipates will open so big that it is calling the movie, simply, 2. Sony Pictures Entertainment, parent company of Columbia, made a huge killing with Spidey's adventures the first time around. Next month, when it releases in July in India as well as the rest of the world, we will be treated to Toby Maguire's special brand of vulnerability, the quality which makes this super hero so attractive. We will also wait with bated breath to find out how he goes forward with the girl of his dreams, whom he famously kissed while hanging upside down from a wall, in the first part.

Almost as anticipated is The Ladykillers, a Coen brothers remake of the 1950s' British classic starring Alec Guinness. Other remakes in the works include Around The World In Eighty Days, and The Stepford Wives.

Clearly, for Hollywood studios, original scripts are reserved for the difficult months of autumn and winter, when the race for the Oscars begins in earnest. Equally clearly, summer is meant for pushing franchises into theatres in bigger and bigger numbers. Kids are on holiday and parents are on the look-out for safe diversions; what better time to grab eyeballs (adults accompanying kids are a given) with movies which are familiar, and do not strain the brain.

Picture by G.P. Sampath Kumar

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