I feel obliged to write a review of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It is a movie that I’ve seen now at least half a dozen times. It’s the penultimate movie of the series, and I for one have enjoyed the darkening tone of the movies.

For me the things about this movie that raise a large emotional response is the teaser before the titles. Hermione erases all memory of her existence from her muggle parents. Emma Watson’s voice trembles her eyes water up as she casts the spell to make it so.

I think having the protagonists set free of ‘Hogwarts’ and being forever on the run really gives this film a breath of fresh air. There is a lot to tell and as the J.K. Rowling books have got fatter with detail, more and more has to be left out. It is clear where J.K.Rowling influences lie, the Horcrux’s are like the ring from ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the Ministry of Magic and mudbloods comes straight from Nazism. The production designers leave little to the imagination.

Of great surprise to me is just how strong Rupert Grint is as Ron. He seems to have lost his bumbling ways and is driven by an internal, disciplined anger. It is missing in all other 8 films.

David Yates, knows how to make an emotional connection with his audience, and while there is a lot of unknowns to those unfamiliar with the books there is at the heart of this movie a simple movie narrative. Good versus Evil. Protagonist versus Antagonist. Underdog only half a step in front of despair and failure. What really works for me is the top and tailing of the film with 2 highly emotional moments. The first the erasing of Hermione from her parent’s memory and the last with the burial of one of Harry Potter’s greatest friend and fan.

Ralph Fiennes is perfect casting as Lord Voldemort and no matter how fantastical the story and situations having the cream of the British film & television industry on screen even in the smallest roles (Michael Gambon, David Thewlis, Jason Isaacs, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith & Jim Broadbent to mention but a few) would make reading the White Pages exciting.

But, it is David Yates direction that brings the emotional kick in the guts that keeps me coming back. His instinct is note perfect, and nowhere is this demonstrated better than when he uses Nick Cave’s ‘O Children’ for a scene  with Hermione & Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) in nothing more than a canvas tent. That’s why ‘Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1’ works for me. Stripped of the magic, the effects, the glorious external locations, is a scene in a canvas tent of a teenager and one of his best mates dancing for but a few moments. The melancholia of Cave’s ‘O Children’ reminds us in the audience that this tender moment is but a brief respite from the brutal fact that they are hunted by pure evil.