Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

by Valentina Alexander

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire he director of the Harry Potter movies has changed again and you may ask if it’s for better or worse. I believe to be for the better. The director of the first two movies, Chris Columbus, was very much into the visuals and scenery. Alfonso Cuaron , the director of the third movie, was great with high-end digital and special effects. Now we have a director, Mike Newell, who really focuses on the relationships of the characters and brings a darker feeling to the series. This, the fourth movie, happens to be a lot more violent and there is a lot more blood, gore and death. No wonder this is the first Harry Potter movie rated PG-13.

Harry is growing up and experiencing what its like to be confused. By that I mean a variety of things. First of all he experiences his first crush on a girl and what it feels like to be turned down when asking a girl out. Then he has his first real big fight with his best friend Ron. To top it off Harry is unwillingly entered into an extremely dangerous contest by an anonymous person. It seems that there are some traps set for Harry and he must fight through many unreasonable obstacles in the game with his skills at magic. Harry never knows if he will drop dead any second. Anything in this game could kill him.

The Triwizard tournament is hosted at Hogwarts. This is a contest in which three different schools compete against each other. The contestants are put into dangerous situations, such as stealing an egg from a ferocious dragon, or being underwater for an hour to retrieve a treasure, or navigating an enchanted maze. The wizard who gets to the Triwizard Cup first is the winner. The competing school, besides Hogwarts, are Beauxbattons, considered the best all-girls school of witchcraft in France, and Durmstrang, an all-boys wizard school from Bulgaria. A popular and perky Beauxbattons girl named Fleur Delacour was chosen to represent her school. The famous Quidditch star, Viktor Krum, competes for Durmstrang. The third champion, competing for Hogwarts, is the Hermione Granger golden boy Cedric Diggory. Due to some mysterious circumstances, Harry Potter is chosen as a fourth contestant. Though all very different, these four must embark on an epic adventure trying to become the Triwizard champion.

The visit of the two foreign schools to Hogwarts generates a lot of excitement around the campus. One of the points of the tournament is to foster international relationships with young wizards from other lands and many of the Hogwarts students are forging new friendships with their visitors and learning to not only to cheer for their own school, but also to root for their new friends.

With the Triwizard tournament also comes the Yule Ball where the students of Hogwarts socialize with their guests to celebrate the Christmas season. The ball is where Hermione Granger and Quidditch star Viktor Krum go out. Suddenly there is the pressure of finding a date on time and people start to get jealous. Harry has a full plate. He has to struggle with all the social difficulties and pressure and, a the same time, fight for his life against Lord Voldemort.

I enjoyed the movie so much that I actually ended up memorizing all the dialog. I loved how realistically the director shows Harry and his friends growing up and dealing with the problems of adolescence. The movie captures the lives of real ‘tweens and teens and doesn’t just focus on magic. I can’t wait to see the next movie.

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