373 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
373 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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culture
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harry-potter
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8127505
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# Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I: first review
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## The penultimate instalment in the Harry Potter franchise is the scariest
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yet - but a film of real poignancy. Rating * * * *
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560
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315
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TelegraphPlayer-8128237
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[<][1] [>][1]
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* [![][2]][3]
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Video
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[Rupert Grint: Ron has taken over my life][3]
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* [![][4]][5]
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Video
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[Emma Watson: I needed to feel like myself][5]
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* [![][6]][7]
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Video
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[Radcliffe on the end of Harry Potter][7]
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* [![][8]][9]
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Article
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[Harry Potter: the story so far][9]
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* [![][10]][11]
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Video
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[Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer][11]
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* [![][10]][12]
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Pictures
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[Harry Potter sneak peek][12]
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[1][1] [2][1]
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By Anita Singh 9:30PM GMT 11 Nov 2010
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[Comments][13]
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How to end the most lucrative film franchise of all time? By stringing it out
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for as long as possible. Thus the final book in JK Rowling's ludicrously
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successful series has been turned into not one, but two instalments - a
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delight for Potter fans and a gift to the accountants at Warner Bros.
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So Part I is the beginning of the end, and director David Yates sets out his
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stall early. "These are dark times, there is no denying," intones a doomy Bill
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Nighy in the opening scenes. The wizarding world has become a very dangerous
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place.
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The plot sees Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert
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Grint) on the run from Lord Voldemort and his henchmen. They must sever ties
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with home - and Hogwarts - and go it alone.
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Along the way, they embark on a quest to track down various things which will
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help them fight the evil forces - a horcrux containing a sliver of Voldemort's
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soul, the sword of Gryffindor, the meaning of a pendant that holds the key to
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the deathly hallows. Explanation of all this is provided for Potter novices,
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but a familiarity with the books is certainly an advantage.
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Without doubt, this is the scariest Potter film so far. There are moments when
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even adult film-goers will be watching through their fingers - a scene in
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which Hermione is tortured, albeit heard rather than seen, another in which a
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Hogwarts teacher comes to a very unpleasant end. (And if you're scared of
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snakes, you might want to give this film a miss altogether.)
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## Related Articles
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* [Harry Potter in full][14]
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11 Nov 2010
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* [Harry Potter premiere in pictures ][15]
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11 Nov 2010
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* [Radcliffe: Harry is on a crusade][16]
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11 Nov 2010
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* [Deathly Hallows gets mixed reviews][17]
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12 Nov 2010
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* [Is there life after Harry Potter?][18]
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12 Nov 2010
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* [Emma Watson on the Deathly Hallows][19]
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18 Nov 2010
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We also see a great deal of Voldemort, Harry's arch-nemesis, in a bone-
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chilling performance by Ralph Fiennes. Yates suffuses his film with a sense of
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dread that never dissipates.
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But this is also the instalment that takes us deepest into the emotions of the
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central trio. When Harry visits the grave of his murdered mother and father,
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and Hermione casts a spell to remove all trace of herself from her parents'
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memories, they are scenes of real poignancy.
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The most affecting scene did not figure in the book at all: Harry and Hermione
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dancing together in a tent to a crackling radio play of the Nick Cave track O
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Children. It manages to be sweet, funny and tear-jerking all at the same time.
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We have watched these three growing up and their performances have never been
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better - particularly Grint, who gets the opportunity to do more than just
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play for laughs. His jealousy of the friendship between Harry and Hermione
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feels entirely real.
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There are lighter moments too - we are introduced to the inner workings of the
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Ministry of Magic, where entry is gained by flushing oneself down a public
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lavatory. As always, it's the little details that delight: the self-filling
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champagne flutes at Fleur's wedding, Dumbledore's last will and testament
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unscrolling itself in mid-air.
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The set-pieces are terrific, from the sight of seven Harry Potters in the same
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shot to a mid-air chase sequence in a motorcycle and sidecar that manages to
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detour through the Dartford Tunnel.
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Returning cast members Julie Walters, Imelda Staunton and Jason Isaacs give
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brief but effective turns, and Nighy is a welcome addition as Rufus
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Scrimgeour, the curiously accented Minister of Magic.
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Yates' only misstep is his focus on the trio's camping trip in the wilderness.
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This part of the film goes on for too long, and the shots of Harry looking
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pensive against a variety of admittedly stunning backdrops look more like a
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Visit Britain advert than the adventures of the world's most famous wizard.
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Even at a running time of just under two-and-a-half hours, it feels as if
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Yates is cramming in as much as he possibly can. Can Part II be better than
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this? You'll have to wait until July to find out. But it'll be no mean feat.
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**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I: Seven Magazine review, by
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Jenny McCartney **
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**Seven rating: * * * * **
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As the Harry Potter franchise has moved towards its inevitable conclusion, so
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the films have shifted farther away from the childish audience that once
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thrilled to the cosy sorcery of Harry and his pals at Hogwarts.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the penultimate film in the
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series, is best suited to older children: if you put a five year-old anywhere
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near it, you would be guaranteed a month's screaming meltdown at bedtime.
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On reflection, I'm not entirely sure that doesn't apply to adults, too. In
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this film, England is a menacing and cold-hearted place with powerful echoes
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of Nazi Germany, as the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his cohorts
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wheel out repressive measures against 'Muggles' (non-magic folk, for readers
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who don't speak Potter) and 'half-bloods' (a mixture of magic and Muggle).
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When Voldemort seizes control of the government, Harry's face is plastered on
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'wanted' posters: once caught, he'll be killed. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe),
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Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) must dodge capture while
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simultaneously finding and destroying the 'Horcruxes': the scattered objects
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that enable Voldemort to remain immortal.
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But atmosphere, not plot detail, is the point here. Since The Deathly Hallows
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is being split into two films, there's no sense of rushing headlong towards an
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explosive finale; better dawdling to explore sub-plots, complicated feelings
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and the creeping chill of things never being quite as they seem.
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It all makes for a different style of Potter film, in which the gothic, comic
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grandeur of Hogwarts doesn't feature at all, and the Harry-Ron-Hermione trio
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spend much time shivering in frozen forests and by icy lakes, almost in a
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state of suspended anticipation, hoping not to be found by Voldemort's dreaded
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'Searchers'.
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Age has complicated their relationships: at one point, Ron storms off, jealous
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of what he perceives as the closeness between Harry and Hermione - and a
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subsequent tender dance scene between Watson and Radcliffe is ambiguous enough
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to hint that Ron might have indeed picked up on a trace of suppressed
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attraction between them.
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With Radcliffe, in particular, what sometimes appeared as a kind of blank
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perkiness in the earlier films has matured into a more profound sense of
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stoicism: the older Harry is in closer touch with his feelings and his fears.
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The stretching-out of the storytelling allows for lingering in some gorgeously
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surreal pieces of cinema which transcend even the expectations of the Potter
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genre: at one point, the three friends use a spell to inhabit the middle-aged
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bodies of Ministry workers and enter the corridors to Voldemort's
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administrative heart of darkness, never knowing when their disguises will
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crumble.
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For pure visual ingenuity and dramatic tension, I would take that scene above
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much that's noisily acclaimed as spectacular fare for adults, such as
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Christopher Nolan's dreary dreamscapes in Inception.
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The set, as ever, is a richly mouldering, eccentric delight, and the
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cinematographer Eduardo Serra uses a haunting grey and grainy palette to echo
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the darkness dominant in the land. David Yates, the director, has created a
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curiously effective film: structurally patchy yet so consistently inventive
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that it rarely grows tedious.
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Above all, it succeeds in whetting the appetite for the almighty battle
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between good and evil that's certain to roar through Part 2.
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[X][1] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][20]
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* Share: [Share][1] [ ][21] [ ][22]
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[Tweet][23]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harry-potter/8127505/Harry-Potter-and-the-
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Deathly-Hallows-Part-I-first-review.html
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Telegraph
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## [Harry Potter][14]
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* ### [News »][24]
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* ### [UK News »][25]
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* ### [Culture »][26]
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* ### [Film Reviews »][27]
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* ### [DVD reviews »][28]
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In culture
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[![][29] ][30]
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### [Harry Potter part 2 stills][30]
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[![Harry Potter costume designer accused of copying ALexander McQueen
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dress][31] ][32]
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### [Harry Potter costume designer accused of stealing Alexander McQueen
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design][32]
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[![Daniel Radcliffe, left, Rupert Grint, center, and Emma Watson in a scene
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from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.': How success cast its spell
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on Harry Potter star][33] ][34]
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### [Harry Potter DVD box set offer][34]
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[![Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ][35] ][36]
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### [Ralph Fiennes interview - exclusive][36]
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[![][37] ][15]
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### [Harry Potter premiere in pictures ][15]
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[X][1] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][20]
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Share:
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* [ ][1]
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* [ ][21]
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* [ ][22]
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* [Tweet][23]
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* Advertisement
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![][38]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][39] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][40]
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