Woven through the mystery and suspense of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the humor and heartbreak of adolescence. Not only does Harry have to contend with the return of his immortal enemy, face death in the Triwizard Tournament and contend with a meddling reporter and a backlash by his peers – he’s got to find a date for the Yule Ball dance. But no magic can alleviate the painful awkwardness, shyness and hormonal imbalances that are the hallmarks of teen angst.
“One of the wonderful aspects of this story is the burgeoning interest Harry and his friends have in the opposite sex and the innate awkwardness this brings,” producer David Heyman points out. “Mike Newell has a wonderful sense of humor and incredibly intuitive comic timing, so watching these teens attempt to communicate with each other is painfully funny.”
Harry and his fellow students find themselves transfixed when the exquisite Beauxbatons girls and the impossibly masculine young men of Durmstrang sweep into the Hogwarts halls
“When the Beauxbatons girls arrive, the Hogwarts boys are in a state of shock,” says Newell. “They ooze femininity and render the boys – Ron in particular – speechless.”
Costume designer Jany Temime’s wardrobe highlights the differences between the different schools and the nervous tension underpinning these sequences. “The Beauxbatons girls are sophisticated and self-aware, so I draped them in the most sensual and feminine fabric I could find, a delicate silk in the blue color of the French flag,” Temime explains. “The fabric clings to their form, in complete contrast to the restrictive uniforms the Hogwarts girls wear. The Durmstrang boys radiate a masculinity the girls have never seen before with their rough, almost primitive thick wool clothing, heavy boots and wool coats.”
The arrival of the visiting schools and the commencement of the Triwizard Tournament triggers a change in the dynamics between best friends Harry, Ron and Hermione. For the first time, Harry and Ron find themselves at odds.
“Ron thinks Harry put his name into the Goblet hoping to be selected for the competition,” Rupert Grint explains. “He’s very angry with Harry and won’t speak to him. He’s tired of Harry always being the center of attention.”
Radcliffe elaborates: “Harry is already trying to cope with the criticism from everyone who believes he engineered his own entry into the competition, but he also fears he knows the real reason he was chosen, and it all proves too much. His fight with Ron exemplifies this.”
Meanwhile, the pressure to find dates for Hogwarts’ Yule Ball also proves too much for Harry and Ron, who finally recognizes a change in his feelings for Hermione. “Much to her surprise, Hermione gets herself a boyfriend in Viktor Krum,” Emma Watson says. “This proves to be a huge shock for Harry and Ron – particularly Ron, who has only just realized that Hermione is a girl!”
“We’ve always had the sense that there is something growing between Ron and Hermione, although neither are really aware of it,” Grint muses. “In this film, both begin to admit it to themselves. When Hermione turns up at the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, Ron finally realizes that he has feelings for her.”
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