Harry Potter and the Hidden Heritage Films: Genre Hybridity and the Power of the Past in the Harry Potter Film Cycle

Abstract

The heritage film is generally considered to be a less commercial form of film-making, one which eschews populism for ‘quality’. This article seeks to question the distinctions drawn between the heritage film and more commercial film franchises by examining the links between the conventions of heritage cinema and the Harry Potter films. Bringing together scholarship on the heritage film, the Harry Potter series and film genre, the article considers these productions in the light of their themes, with the political or class-centred aspects of the narrative examined in relation both to the visual display and to Andrew Higson's early critique of the heritage film. The article argues for different associations of heritage iconography in contemporary film-making from the initial criticisms of heritage cinema made by Higson. Details of the visual style of the Harry Potter films are also considered in relation to the allegedly typical characteristics of the heritage film. Ultimately, the article argues for the success of this film cycle being due to the incorporation of genre characteristics from both the heritage film and the fantasy genre and suggests that because of the increased prevalence of generic hybridity it is time that we began to reconceptualise the heritage film and its associated audiences.