Compasses, scholars and ice bears, oh my!

New on DVD

[Comment Below]

By Robert Lay

Hang on, fantasy fans, because “The Golden Compass” is now available on DVD. Directed by Chris Weitz, the film is an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s controversial novel “Northern Lights,” (book one of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy) about a young girl’s quest to overthrow a tyrannical religious organization called the Church or the Magisterium.

Though widely criticized by religious groups as advancing an atheist and antireligious philosophy, virtually none of the alleged sacrilegious conceits of the novel find their way into the film. Weitz presents the viewers with a suitably distilled version of Pullman’s colorful epic while avoiding the more controversial aspects.

The film takes place in an alternate world, much like our own, but where individuals’ souls reside outside of their bodies in the form of animal companions called daemons. At the outset, we are presented with Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan left in the care of her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), a scholar at Jordan College. Lord Asriel announces to his colleagues at the college that he has discovered irrefutable evidence of the existence of Dust, strange particles that bind their world to an infinite number of alternate universes.

While Lord Asriel returns to the North to prove his theory, Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon (or Pan for short) fall into the clutches of Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman), who is an agent of the omnipresent governing body called the Magisterium, which sets out unyielding beliefs for the people and condemns any dissenting opinions as heresy.

The plot revolves around Mrs. Coulter and the Magisterium kidnapping children in order to sever them from their daemons to make them more docile and less questioning. Lyra, of course, takes it upon herself to rescue these children and is aided by her Alethiometer – a device capable of discovering the truth behind the Magisterium’s deceptions – and a motley cast of characters including the aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot), the witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green), the fearsome ice bear Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Sir Ian McKellan) and a host of seafaring Gyptians.

The film culminates, as any good fantasy movie does, with an epic battle between the forces of the Magisterium holding the children captive and Lyra and her allies. The film’s conclusion is only slightly satisfying, though, as Weitz leaves the story open for the two sequels: “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass.”

Unfortunately for fans of the series, New Line Cinema has not yet made a final decision about producing the two sequels.

Dakota Blue Richards’ portrayal of the headstrong Lyra Belacqua opposite Kidman’s role as the cold-yet-beautiful Mrs. Coulter is truly the high point of the story. Theirs is the sort of conflict that inspires cheers every time Lyra narrowly escapes from Coulter’s devious designs. The film’s CGI effects draw the viewer into a fantastic world full of talking, shape-shifting animals, floating zeppelins, and epic scenery. In that, “The Golden Compass” is not so much a film as it is an experience.

While it tries to emulate the success of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia,” Weitz manages to avoid making “The Golden Compass” a mere copycat film. Devoid of its more irreligious overtones, the film adaptation is more about questioning authority and opposing those who would make us believe whatever they say. Purists of the book might decry the watering-down of the plot and omission of the controversy, but any fan of the fantasy film genre is sure to enjoy “The Golden Compass.”

Originally Published: Issue 607 - May 6, 2008

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