This past weekend, in Jakarta, just like any major city in the world, fans of Harry Potter thronged cinemas, standing in line for the best seat to see the latest installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the first part of what is billed as the last in the Harry Potter franchise.

Cinemas in the city premiered the film on Friday. Fans were already standing in line for tickets early
Friday.

Some who arrived early failed to get tickets for the session they wanted.

Octavian, 29, killed time by playing video games in the lobby of XXI Cinema in Senayan City, South Jakarta, after he failed to get a ticket for the 4 p.m. show.

“It was sold out and I had to settle for the 6:45 p.m. show,” he said, Word of mouth had been effective in convincing him to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

“People say it is a good movie, and this is the last movie in the series so I am really curious to see what happens,” he said.

There were many disappointed would-be moviegoers. One couple, Husni, 26, and Santi, 24, literally stood next to the box office to get the best seats for a 6:45 p.m. show after failing to get admission to the 4 p.m. show.

“We will return on Monday if we fail to get tickets now,” Husni said. He said that reviews had
been friendly to the film and he believed them.

Santi, a fan of Harry Potter and avid reader of JK Rowling’s books, said seeing the movie was a must.
“I read the books and they are all good, so I have to see the movies too,” she said.

Reviews of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been mixed. Richard Corliss of Time magazine said the movie was a “pointless extra episode,” whereas Peter Traverse of Rolling Stone magazine said the movie “plays like a 146-minute trailer for the actual final chapter” — Part II, which opens next July in 3D.

Scathing reviews aside, fans determinedly set off to see the movie when it first arrived in theaters.

Resi Andini, 28, said she stood in line again on Sunday after failing to get a ticket on Saturday.

“Today, I was lucky enough to get a ticket because someone canceled their tickets at 1 p.m. while we were standing in line,” she told The Jakarta Post.

Resi said she had seen all the Harry Potter movies and would not have missed the latest installment.
“It is said to be the final movie. So I better go see it,” she said.

A number of security guards in the city’s upmarket cinemas spoke of the long lines of Harry Potter fans forming at almost every box office.

One woman manning a box office in a South Jakarta cinema, who declined to give her name, said many people ordered tickets online. “The queue may not be long but we ran out of tickets fast,” she said. (map)

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