The Case for Alan Rickman’s Oscar
The latest film installment of Harry Potter has already broken countless box office records, including my personal favorite: the largest opening day haul ever. 92 mill is a lot of money. Bieber never did that. The thing that stuck out to me the most though was this was not really a story about Harry anymore. It was not just about the boy in the cupboard beneath the stairs, or about the boy who lived. Obviously that was a part of it, the most important part even, but it was not the underlying theme of the movie. This was the story of good vs. evil, and Harry’s story was just a vignette of that, a microcosmic part of something much larger.
The way this good vs. evil was portrayed was through everyone’s reaction to the evil. Many succumbed, took the easy road and joined the dark forces that stormed Hogwarts. But some resisted. More than anything, the final Harry Potter film was THEIR story. The most evocative moments in this were not about Harry, but about those that stood by him and in many cases, between him and Voldemort. This was McGonagalls story, Lupin and Tonks, Lily and James, Arthur and Molly, Fred and George, Neville and Luna, the Malfoys… their story. The most poignant of all was the story of Severus Snape.
In my opinion, Snape has joined the ranks of some of the most dynamic villain turned hero characters in literature, alongside names like Syndey Carton (A Tale of Two Cities), the Grinch, and Ebineezer Scrooge. The Snape of the books required but a single chapter to turn readers from angry and indignant at his crimes and wickedness, to sympathetic and understanding of his plight. I daresay that the movie did this even more powerfully. Before we even knew the entirety of Snape’s story, Rickman had won the audience. When Harry looked at his bleeding, dying body his hatred seemed to dissipate into sympathy. He looked into the eyes of Dumbledore’s murder and seemed to forget what he was guilty of. I loved the addition of Snapes last words “You have your mothers eyes.” Though not in the book, it has a powerful effect on the scene. In my opinion the most emotional point of the movie came as Harry watched Snapes memories, namely Snape discovering Lily’s body, and the conversation Snape has with Dumbledore when he produces the Doe patronus in honor of Lily. Dumbledore looks bewildered at Snape as the Doe flies out the window and asks “After all this time?” ”Always.” In that moment, the transformation was complete. Cold, slimy, vengeful Snape was replaced by the Petrarchan, pained Snape that in the end gave his life and his good name for the son of the one he loved.
I’ve seen Alan Rickman in a variety of movies, from Die Hard to Robin Hood, Love Actually to Dogma, and many in between, and this is undoubtedly his best performance yet. In the Potter saga he stands beside legends like Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branaugh, and Robbie Coltrane. In this overwhelmingly talented cast, he steals the show completely. If his performance isn’t deserving of a best supporting actor nod, I don’t know what is. Look at the best supporting actor nominees and winners of the past few years. Christian Bale beat out Geoffrey Rush, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and others. The year before, Christoph Waltz beat out Matt Damon, Stanley Tucci, and christopher Plummer. In years to come people will certainly remember Waltz’s “Jew Hunter” and Christian Bales Dicky Ecklund, and I’m pretty sure they’ll remember Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape.
On the top of my “to go” list. Click to see a photo of the actual place.
