On Saturday, January 1, HBO Max (in Russia - on the Amediateka service) will release a Harry Potter special entitled Harry Potter 20 Years Later: Return to Hogwarts.

It was attended by director Chris Columbus, who directed the first two parts of the series, performers of central roles in all eight films of the franchise - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - as well as many other actors.

Among them are Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley) and others. ...

Foreign film critics, who managed to get acquainted with the special issue earlier than other viewers, first of all note its magical atmosphere, which is well known to those who have watched the Harry Potter films.

Variety author Caroline Framke writes that Return to Hogwarts is fascinating from the very beginning when Emma Watson, Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Robbie Coltrane find recognizable envelopes bearing their names.

Watson gets an invitation to Hogwarts in a second-hand bookstore, and Lewis is stuck in a taxi stuck in a traffic jam.

Framke notes that the actors open the envelopes with the same childish amazement "we saw in the first Harry Potter film 20 years ago."

Metro author Sabrina Barr says that after receiving the letter, Emma Watson gets on the Hogwarts Express and arrives at the school of witchcraft and wizardry in the midst of the ball.

There, the actress meets her colleagues.

“From the first minute of the reunion, there is the very feeling that made the Harry Potter films so special.

This familiar, shivering feeling comes over you when you realize that there is real magic happening right in front of your eyes, ”writes Barr.

The set contains references to all eight films in the series, and takes place in a familiar setting.

In them, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson talk about their childhood, during which artists were inextricably linked with each other, and fame.

  • Harry Potter 20 Years Later: Return to Hogwarts

  • © kinopoisk.ru

Caroline Framke notes that some of the actors' revelations were previously known and will not surprise fans of the films.

So, in the episode it is told that Alfonso Cuarón forced the trinity to write essays about their characters.

The artists also remember that they were related to each other, so filming the scene of the kiss of Ron and Hermione was extremely uncomfortable for them.

The special issue also paid attention to the actors who had passed away.

Among them are Alan Rickman, Richard Harris and Helen McCrory (they played Severus Snape (Snape), Albus Dumbledore and Narcissa Malfoy, respectively).

As expected, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling did not take part in the recording of the special.

However, the video contains excerpts from her 2019 interview.

Sabrina Barr points out that Rowling is fondly mentioned several times throughout the episode.

“In a flashback about how her writing became a film sensation, Rowling was quietly sidelined.

Her absence could be embarrassing, so Return to Hogwarts cleverly focuses on how these adaptations influenced the world more as blockbusters than as the Rowling vision that inspired them, ”writes Framke.

The reviewer found the meeting between Daniel Radcliffe and Chris Columbus touching.

They worked on the first two films when the actor was about 12 years old.

Now filmmakers communicate on an equal footing.

Framke also remembers the participation of Helena Bonham Carter, who "sweeps through the special like a mischievous tornado, inspiring others to follow her example."

“If this reunion had a host, she would be the only worthy choice,” says Framke.

Sabrina Barr draws attention to the fact that Daniel Radcliffe, despite his fame, remained modest and showed the same charm that made the authors of the Harry Potter films choose him for the main role.

The 32-year-old actor recalls how much fun he had with the late Richard Harris, and also admits that he considered the painted phoenix Fawkes to be a real trained animal.

  • Harry Potter 20 Years Later: Return to Hogwarts

  • © kinopoisk.ru

Barr notes that there are many reasons to laugh in the special: the actors talk about their own children's hilarious antics on the set.

In "Return to Hogwarts" was not without unexpected declarations of love.

Daniel Radcliffe said that he was secretly in love with Helena Bonham Carter, who is 23 years older than him.

After completing work on the last issue of the franchise, the artist sent the actress a note in which he confessed his feelings.

Radcliffe expressed regret that he was not born ten years earlier - so he could hope for reciprocity.

Emma Watson, in turn, admitted that she was in love with Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy.

When she came to the set, she checked every time whether her colleague was present there.

The days of both actors on set were particularly exciting for Watson.

Felton noted that he always treated Watson like a younger sister.

“It's a pity to disappoint the Dramione shippers, but Emma insists there has never been anything romantic between them, despite her teenage crush on her colleague,” writes Sabrina Barr.

Watson also revealed that she was ready to leave the franchise after finishing work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

According to the actress, this happened at a time when she felt lonely and was frightened by the fame that fell on her.

Rupert Grint said he had similar feelings.

Film critics agree that the special issue of "Harry Potter" is interesting primarily to fans of the franchise - they will cause the strongest nostalgia. 

“From the point of view of a person whose attitude (towards Harry Potter. -

RT

) is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum (as in the case of the author of this article, whose obsession with Harry Potter faded away as she grew up),“ Return to Hogwarts ” it manages to demonstrate enough genuine feelings, and at times even sentimentality, so as not to be like a sugary-sweet treacle pie, ”says Caroline Framke.

  • Harry Potter 20 Years Later: Return to Hogwarts

  • © kinopoisk.ru

A special edition of "Harry Potter", timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first film in the popular series, was announced in mid-November.

According to the president of Warner Bros.

Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics by Tom Asheim, the event is organized as a tribute to everyone who has participated in one way or another in the production of the Harry Potter films, as well as to fans of the wizarding universe.

In early December, the first teaser for the special was published.

It featured Robbie Coltrane, Matthew Lewis and Mark Williams.

They played the roles of Hagrid the forester, a Hogwarts student Neville Longbottom and Arthur Weasley, the father of Harry Potter's best friend.

The project, which unites many artists involved in the filming of films about the young wizard, was not originally intended to involve J.K. Rowling, whose books formed the basis of the story.

Earlier, the writer found herself at the center of a scandal due to her statements on a social network, as a result of which users and some representatives of the film industry accused her of hatred of representatives of the trans community.  

The organizers of Return to Hogwarts did not comment on the author's absence from the special.

However, it immediately became known that the video will include archival footage of J.K. Rowling.  

The announcement of the special issue caused a mixed reaction from fans of the Harry Potter franchise.

Some social media users have begun urging others to boycott the event due to J.K. Rowling's absence from it.

The bloggers also said that the actors should refuse to participate as a sign of solidarity or donate the proceeds from the project to charity.

Some have accused the artists of hypocrisy, claiming that they willingly make money from Rowling's projects, while publicly denouncing the writer.