I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I before any of my readers back home

Posted November 22nd, 2010 by Lauren in Leiden, the Netherlands

The wait before the movie was nothing like we’ve all experienced at home. No endless line. No crazy costumes. No sold out tickets.

Ellen, Annamarie, Greg, Chad, Grace and I walked to the Trianon, the Dutch movie theatre on the Breestraat, this frigid Wednesday evening , two days before Harry Potter would even be released in the States. We stood in the lobby, tickets in hand, and coupons for french fries on the back of each ticket. The Trianon only contains one theatre, so we waited in a cluster of Dutch students, adults and families for the doors to be opened. It was a surprisingly small crowd, but we were packed in tight, and when the doors opened twenty minutes before the show would start, the crowd rushed into the theatre like a heavy current.

The theatre itself was quite large and painted scarlet. We took our seats in the middle and waited for the highly anticipated show to begin. Although no previews were shown, a man entered the theatre to announce the start of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The movie was shown in English with Dutch subtitles, and we found it sometimes frustrating that the whispers that were not so easy to understand in English could be easily translated by the Dutch audience. Colas and beers were enjoyed in glass bottles rather than paper cups, and crates lined the exit for convenient recycling upon leaving the theatre.

The movie was a fantastic balance of tension and humor, and we were quite surprised when it stopped two-thirds of the way through for a ten minute intermission [during which there weren't even lines to get into the bathroom!]. Following its close, we left the Trianon and walked home in the cool night air and shouts of “Heel goed (very good)!” echoing down the streets.