A Reel 20: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

“For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.”

 

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. 

 

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and based on the third book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN was also the third film in the series, coming in after THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (2002), and THE SORCERER’S STONE (2001). The film followed young Harry Potter in his third year of school at Hogwarts and his quest to uncover secrets of his past, including his connection to the escaped Azkaban prisoner, Sirius Black. 

 

The first order of business to bring AZKABAN to the big screen was to find a director. Chris Columbus, who had helmed the first two films, had decided to move to a producer role. Considered for the job would be Guillermo del Toro, Kenneth Branagh, Marc Forster, and M. Night Shyamalan. The task would eventually fall to Alfonso Cuaron. 

 

Daniel Radcliffe would reprise his role as Harry, as would Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as his best friends, Hermione and Ron. Returning cast members would include Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, and Maggie Smith. Newcomers to the franchise would include Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, and Michael Gambon would slip into the robes of Professor Dumbledore; taking over for the late great Richard Harris who had passed away in late 2002. Also new to the series would be David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, and Emma Thompson. 

 

Filming would begin in February of 2003 and last into November. AZKABAN would be the first film in the series to extensively use real locations, with sets built at locations all over Scotland. John Williams would return to provide the score. 

 

THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN would be the first in the HARRY POTTER franchise to be released on both IMAX and conventional screens. It would be greeted with excellent reviews, with many critics and fans considering it to be the best in the series. It would finish as the second-highest grossing film of the year, behind SHREK 2. It would earn two Academy Award nominations (Best Score for John Williams, and Best Visual Effects), and four BAFTA nominations. Alfonso Cuaron would go on to become an Oscar-winning and acclaimed director, helming hits such as CHILDREN OF MEN (2006), GRAVITY (2013), and ROMA (2018). 

 

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HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN was This Blogger’s gateway into the magical world that had been populating movie screens and bookshelves all over creation in the early 2000’s. Working as a film projectionist back then, one of my duties was to preview the new film prints the night before release, and AZKABAN would be the first HARRY POTTER film I would ever see. Although I was slightly lost in places, hints of a greater and bigger mythology was there, and although I couldn’t say I was hooked on the spot, I was definitely curious and down the hole I went for the next 20 years. 

 

Looking at the film from afar and how it fits into the overall series, this is the film where things began to turn darker for Harry, his friends, and that magical world. Where the first two films were child-like wonder full of color, AZKABAN got serious and was presented in shades of grey. The film represents the perspective of children becoming adults, or at the very least dealing with adult problems. Hints of even darker times would be given, but always with a luminous light to lead the way. 

 

“…happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”