A DARKER DIRECTION DAVID YATES BRINGS US THE MOST DRAMATIC, INTENSE POTTER FILM YET.

Byline: - Bob Strauss

Mild-mannered British director David Yates had mostly worked in television and hadn't even read one of J.K. Rowling's books when he was asked to take the helm of the fifth film adaptation, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

Producers felt that his hard-hitting dramas -- "The Girl in the Cafe," "Sex Traffic," "State of Play" -- made Yates ideal for a story about the adolescent wizard wrestling with self-doubt and discovering that authority figures can be idiots.

Yates has delivered the most dramatic, psychologically charged Harry Potter film yet, and he must have done something right. He'll start directing "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in a few months.

Everyone must tell you that you're an unexpected choice to follow big-screen veterans Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell in the "Potter" director's chair.

A: I was as surprised as anybody to get the call because the dramas I'd been doing for television were quite intense and grown-up and political. So it didn't seem like an obvious match to begin with.

But then, actually, when you read the fifth book, it's full of interesting, sometimes quite provocative ideas, given that it's a children's book. One thing I love about the work that Jo Rowling does is that it's rich enough and it's got enough layers to make a film that's big and fun, but at the same time you can put some interesting things in there.

Q: There aren't too many special effects on British TV shows. Was it hard to adjust to all of the film's techno magic?

A: It's surprisingly easy to get your head around it, in truth. I had a lovely visual-effects supervisor called Tim Burke, and he'd say to me, "David, if you can think it, we can do it." In my previous film ("The Tichborne Claimant"), I had one visual effect, and this had 1,400, so it was quite a leap. But I enjoyed it. To be honest, when I was growing up I was a huge Spielberg fan, and my appetites as a filmgoer were for these huge, visual effects movies. So it didn't feel intimidating at all; I rather quite enjoyed it.

Q: But no Quidditch in this one.

A: Well, you know, Quidditch really didn't feed the story that we wanted to tell, which is Harry's journey, his struggle with himself and figuring out his place in the world. Quidditch would have sidelined that, in a way. But I think Quidditch is cool. We've probably got Quidditch in the next one.

Q: What else?

A: The next one is very different. This was the intense, emotional, coming-of-age, teenage rebellion, political Harry Potter.

The next one has got intensity and scares, but it's much more about the sexual and emotional politics of being a teenager. It's kind of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll Harry Potter. And it's funny. It's quite witty.

Q: All the parents who worry "Order of the Phoenix" will be too dark for their kiddies are gonna love that. By the way, is "Order of the Phoenix" too dark?

A: I had a wobble for about two hours the night before I showed it to the studio. I was just, have I taken it into too-dark territory? But then the studio saw it and was really enthusiastic.

And the audiences I've seen it with have liked the darkness and intensity. They think it's kind of cool.

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no caption (David Yates)