'Golden Compass' Doesn't Shine
Kent Turner -- School Library Journal,12/04/2007
Put away your picket signs. Writer/director Chris Weitz’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass (Knopf, 1996) strips nearly all ecclesiastical references from the adventure saga, though it retains its strong anti-authoritarian bent. Charges of heresy are bandied about, but there's no mention of either the Holy Church or priests.
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| Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter (left) and Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) Photo Credit: New Line Cinema |
In the narrowed-down story, seemingly orphaned and rebellious Lyra (the serious Dakota Blue Richards) must rescue her kidnapped friends and imprisoned uncle from an evil governing body, the Magisterium, with the use of the truth-telling, symbolic-laden Golden Compass, the only one of its kind.
Weitz provides a lot of exposition, so much so that Lyra doesn’t have to figure out what to do. In her encounter with the adversarial king bear, she already knows the monarch’s weak spot—he wants to be human and have his own daemon.
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| Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) and Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) Photo Credit: New Line Cinema |
Lyra gains the giant bear’s trust when she reveals to him that his armor has been hidden (without it he’s vulnerable) inside a wooden structure that looks like a church—which he proceeds to smash to smithereens. Only here is any Christian symbolism obvious.
For the most part, the special effects convince, save for one strange-looking daemon and Iorek, who looks real in his close-ups, but in the wide shots appears like the Coca-Cola polar bear run amok.
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| Iorek Photo Credit: New Line Cinema |
Directed by Chris Weitz
118 min.
Rated PG-13
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| Submitted by: | Maurynne Maxwell (msoapbox@aol.com) 12/6/2007 5:40:48 PM PT |
| Location: | Arizona |
| Occupation: | Author/library worker |
I've been avidly reading the series since receiving an advance copy of The Golden Compass in 1996. I've always thought they were far more deserving of accolades than Harry Potter--far more depth and truth. The books are anti-church, not anti-religion--and despite Pullman's atheism, I submit that any religious person can find "God" in them--just not orthodoxy.
You might try suggesting that just as the Devil can quote scripture, God can surely use an atheist. Unfortunately, only those who have ears to hear will listen. Say, didn't Jesus have that problem?
Despite this review, I'll see the movie. And be disappointed; the wonderful gift of books is the reader's participation--movies serve the director's vision, if any.
| Submitted by: | Jane L. Hyde (jhyde@christschool.org) 12/6/2007 5:21:54 AM PT |
| Location: | Arden, NC |
| Occupation: | Librarian |
I haven't seen the movie yet,but most of the reviews I've read praise it as a much better film than you suggest here. Pullman himself likes it. I contest your evaluation! I'll let you know more after I see it next week.
| Submitted by: | Charles E Carr (ccarr@bcls.lib.nj.us) 12/5/2007 12:51:12 PM PT |
| Location: | Burlington County Library Westampton NJ |
| Occupation: | Principal librarian |
My library has been under attack since the Philadelphia ABC affiliate did a story the day after Thanksgiving on the controversy over Golden Compass. We were accused on the internet of being anti religious for owning the book and unworthy of receiving taxpayer support. This has been especially hard to take since we have been dealing with the deaths of three retired employees in the past month. We had a funeral last Friday and another one this Friday.
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