In Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” — the seventh and final adventure in the Harry Potter film series told in two full-length parts — Lord Voldemort is on a mission: to end the life of “the Boy Who Lived.”
Director David Yates says, “Voldemort is on the cusp of absolute power. He’s been hiding in the shadows, biding his time until he could come back and impose his will on the rest of the world. Everything else in his master plan has come together; he just needs to deal with this one tiny detail. Voldemort doesn’t understand how this ‘child’ has become his strongest adversary, but he does know he must be the one to kill Harry Potter. First of all, it was destined and, secondly, there is the sheer satisfaction of it after being thwarted so often. It’s beyond personal at this point.”
Ralph Fiennes, who is virtually unrecognizable in the role of Lord Voldemort, says that his character is “driven by a deep rage. The only thing that fires him up is power and more power—the ability to control, to manipulate and to destroy people. It’s his addiction.”
Yates remarks, “Ralph is very scary when he’s playing Voldemort. He has the capacity to tune into some very dark places as an actor; you can literally feel the temperature in the room drop as he inhabits the character.”
The Death Eaters regard the Dark Lord with a mixture of reverence and fear, knowing he needs little provocation to turn on even his most loyal followers. If they need a reminder of that threat, it is there in the companion always at Voldemort’s side—and the only living creature Voldemort treats with actual tenderness—the great snake named Nagini.
Voldemort has summoned his most elite Death Eaters to Malfoy Manor to plan when, where and how to ambush Harry Potter. The last to arrive is Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman. Snape informs those assembled when Harry will be leaving his Privet Drive home, warning them that he will be “given every protection” by the Order of the Phoenix. Nevertheless, Fiennes states, “Voldemort believes he is finally going to defeat Harry Potter. He is enjoying his rule, emperor-like.”
However, Voldemort has discovered that he cannot kill Harry Potter with his own wand. He has extracted from wand maker Ollivander (John Hurt) that his and Harry’s wands are “twins,” possessing the same core and thereby robbing them of their power against each other. In a voice dripping with thinly veiled malice, he suggests that Lucius Malfoy have the “honor” of giving up his wand to Voldemort.
Jason Isaacs, who again assumes the role of Lucius Malfoy, says the loss of his wand may be only the latest comeuppance to befall Lucius, but it is, by far, the worst. “To take a wizard’s wand is to completely undermine him, and not only does Voldemort take it, but he also snaps off the snake head—a flashy, personal family adornment—and flings it on the table like a piece of dirt, which emasculates Lucius in front of all the other Death Eaters. Lucius had always been an incredibly vain and arrogant peacock; he’d always assumed he’d stand with Voldemort as his right-hand man. But after being broken by prison, after Draco failed in his mission to kill Dumbledore, and after this public humiliation, he has no idea what the future holds for him…if he has a future. All-in-all, a just reward.”
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” will be released worldwide starting November 18, 2010, and “Part 2” starting July 15, 2011.
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