The Golden Compass (2007)

Director:

Chris Weitz

Writers (WGA):

Chris Weitz (screenplay)
Philip Pullman (novel)

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

"It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself."

Plot:

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

Plot Keywords:

Necklace | Talking Animal | Narration | Orphan | Candle

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Mrs. Coulter
Daniel Craig	...	Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards	...	Lyra
Ben Walker	...	Roger
Freddie Highmore	...	Pantalaimon (voice)
Ian McKellen	...	Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Eva Green	...	Serafina Pekkala
Jim Carter	...	John Faa
Tom Courtenay	...	Farder Coram
Ian McShane	...	Ragnar Sturlusson (voice)
Sam Elliott	...	Lee Scoresby
Christopher Lee	...	First High Councilor
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Stelmaria (voice)
Edward de Souza	...	Second High Councilor
Kathy Bates	...	Hester (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Icelandic | Russian

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-11 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43880) | Brazil:10 | Argentina:13 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Germany:12 | UK:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:All | Sweden:11 | Ireland:12A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | New Zealand:PG | Malaysia:U | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bergen, Hordaland, Norway

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Director Chris Weitz has himself adapted Philip Pullman’s work, citing the film and its sequels to be influenced by Barry Lyndon (1975) and Star Wars (1977). He also mentioned that the film would make no direct mention of religion or God, two of the key themes of the books - a decision attacked by fans of the trilogy. According to Weitz, New Line Cinema feared that "perceived anti-religiosity" would make the film financially unviable in the USA. However, Weitz reassured fans by saying that religion would appear in euphemistic terms.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Iorek, with Lyra atop of him, is bounding across an arctic plane, the CGI breaks down for a second, for his left hind leg flickers as he runs.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Serafina Pekkala: There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons.
Stelmaria: Are we going to see the child?
Lord Asriel: I should think so.
Serafina Pekkala: So many worlds. But connecting them all is Dust. Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice. In my world, scholars invented an alethiometer - a golden compass - and it showed them all that was hidden. But the ruling power, fearing any truth but their own, destroyed these devices and forbade the very mention of Dust. One compass remains, however, and only one who can read it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Lyra

A Noble Effort, an almost triumph -- May the Box Office Reward It

I went into this film fearing the worst. I had become concerned over the past months as it became increasingly clear that the film was at great risk of losing direction, the vision if you will, that had drawn readers to the books series in the first place. That it was doomed. I feared this strange kind of anti-Narnia, was likely being so diluted that BO disaster was certain. That may still be the case if the bulk of early reviews are to be believed (but see Ebert's all-out glowing review.) Admittedly, the movie probably works better if you have read the first book (I had), but those readers are precisely the people who would likely complain the most. I worried and yet . . .

Despite its breathtaking pace, both in terms of action and concept introduction -- we all agree this is not your typical fantasy -- the Golden Compass worked for me. I thought the people involved had done the best they could in making this movie tell the story, making the best possible film despite the conflict and panic that must have gone into it. The sincerity shows. The cast is superb, the action sequences, the effects, the sheer look of the film, are triumphs. I stayed through all the credits, which seemed to last for almost as long as the movie, and good gracious, what a lot of people worked on this! It's expensive all right, but the money is all on the screen. These people should be saluted.

Dakota Blue Richards (it appears if you want your daughter to have a movie career these days, you had best name her Dakota) in a great year for the debut of young actresses, stands out as the best of them. She has poise, indomitable courage, fierce determination and it just keeps coming. The whole movie depends on her and if she had faltered, they truly would have had a disaster on their hands, a "calender" movie with no where to go and nothing to do. Whatever the ultimate financial fate of the film, I think young Miss Richards has a great future ahead of her.

So I am recommending the film highly, though I respect the objections that have been made against it. I think if people just relax and go with it they will find themselves enjoying it immensely. However, if you grit your teeth and go into critic mode, yep, you guess it, you won't enjoy it at all.

As for myself, I would have liked the producers to have gone with the original extended version - everyone knows the last few minutes were cut. Moreover, with a full three hour version just like "Lord of the Rings," I think all the objections would have been met. A director's cut will likely appear some day and I think at that point people will realize how great this movie truly is. Such an enhanced cut would fill in a lot of the details of this world, more fully develop the scenes and characters, and truly give a feeling of being part of the adventure, instead of just watching it. Of course, for the Golden Compass series, by then it may well be too late.

Here's hoping it's not (I dare not say praying). Here's hoping that audiences will respond so this noble beginning of a great philosophical adventure and permit it to continue.

It's all bottom line at this point, folks.