Film feature
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The Golden Compass dazzles to distraction By Albertina Lloyd
In a parallel world where polar bears talk, witches rule the skies and people’s souls exist outside their body in animal form, a little girl called Lyra Belacqua has been given a Golden Compass and the power to save the universe.
So goes the tale of ‘The Golden Compass’, the big-screen adaptation of ‘Northern Lights’, the first book from Philip Pullman’s highly acclaimed children’s fantasy trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’.
But while this computer-generated spectacular – packed with exciting action sequences and impressive scenery – is a surefire success for family holiday viewing, it is also somewhat an empty promise. Like fools gold, this film appears to be something it isn’t. The story is lost behind the dazzling special effects and the star-studded cast seem wasted, given very little screen time amid all the flying sequences and bear fights.
The main problem is the way Pullman’s story has been dumbed down to create mass appeal. The original stories call in to question the existence of God, with the strict Catholic church in Lyra’s world trying to prevent anyone contemplating the possibility of worlds beyond their own. But in order not to alienate religious audiences this has been glossed over.
The Catholic church are represented in the film as robe-wearing authority The Magisterium who want to stop people exploring other worlds just to keep things simple.
Of course Lyra’s mission is not, as some religious extremists have claimed, to set out to kill God, she is simply going to save her friends, and ends up discovering worlds of possibility along the way. But the film is certainly weaker in substance than the books.
Pullman admits his story is a lot to pack into a two-hour film.
He said: “It can’t do everything in the book because the book is very long. When you read the book out loud it takes 11 hours. But it’s got most of it there and it does it pretty well.”
The story, as fantastic as it appears on the big screen, is rushed through and sometimes even pushed aside to accommodate a big bang or an action sequence.
The lead in the movie, 13-year-old Dakota Blue Richards – who makes her acting debut as Lyra – is certainly a strong presence, and manages to hold her own against computer-generated talking animals while flying through star-filled skies or racing across glacial landscapes.
But stars Daniel Radcliffe, Nicole Kidman and Eva Green are made very minor characters surrounded by all the sparkling dust that fills the film.
Dust is the name given to the particles which connect the parallel worlds, and Lyra and her uncle, Lord Asriel (Craig), are determined to prove the existence of dust.
But, evil Mrs. Coulter (Kidman) and The Magisterium want to keep it a mystery to the world at large and will stop at nothing to keep things as they are.
The story begins in the glorious setting of England’s prestigious Oxford University where orphan Lyra runs wild in the care of her uncle, a professor who is often away on research. After a series of mysterious events, coinciding with the arrival of the elegant and intriguing Mrs. Coulter, Lyra is given an Alehtiometre, also known as a Golden Compass.
The compass channels dust to tell the truth, but only if the owner has learned how to read it’s complicated symbols.
At the same time the Gobblers, evil henchman of the General Oblation Board who steal children in the middle of the night, have taken Lyra’s best friend Roger and she has vowed to come and rescue him.
Lyra is accompanied everywhere by her daemon, Pan, who represents her soul and her conscience, although she often ignores his advice. As Lyra is still a child, Pan (voiced by ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ star Freddie Highmore) has not settled into one form and can change shape into different animals including a ferret, a mouse and a wildcat.
Along her journey, Lyra meets and befriends a band of pirates called Gyptians, beautiful but brave flying witch Serafina Pekkala (Green), warrior ice bear Iorek Bynison (voiced by Ian McKellan) and Texas airman Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott).
Lyra’s new friends help her to learn how to read her compass and guide her on her travels north, where she believes both Roger and her uncle can be found.
Dakota was a huge fan of the books and was delighted to win the starring role as the fearless and bright little heroine.
She said: “I loved the books. I read them all when I was about nine and just fell in love with Lyra and her character, so this was dream come true. It was such fun to play her, especially as she gets to do such fun things.
“It was really good to work with such famous stars. It makes you feel so special acting with all these people. They’ve got so much experience. You learn so much and you become inspired by them.”
Kidman was equally pleased to play a bad guy.
She said: “It was fun being evil. I like to balance good and evil, I wouldn’t want to play just one or the other, but I had a lot of fun doing this.”
The daemons, the ice bears, the flying sequences and all the unusual terrains Lyra visits mean the film almost has more computer-generated characters than real human beings.
This added an extra challenge for the actors, having to conduct conversations or do battle with creatures that only existed in their minds, which would be added in later by computer animators.
Elliott admits it was hard, saying: “Most of the animals weren’t even there, they were just marks on the wall. That was probably the most disconcerting thing about it all.”
And Green was relieved that all her scenes were with actual human beings.
She said: “I was quite lucky because all my scenes were with a real actor, a human being, so I didn’t have to make up anything, it was all other actors, so it was really easy for me.
“But I really like the bear fight in the film it’s really amazing, the special effects are wonderful.”
Kidman embraced the challenge, saying: “It just requires concentration and imagination.”
And hopefully this film will capture children’s imaginations. Sadly though perhaps only on a superficial level, as the skimmed over plot does little to help audiences become gripped by the story.
The bones of Pullman’s brilliant book are there but they have been fluffed up with fireworks and tinsel.
There is no doubt this film will be a Christmas hit. It will be a box-office blockbuster that families will flock to take their children to see for a special festive treat. But, while the bangs and sparkles might make them “ooh” and “aah” during the performance, the sugar rush will die and their memories of the film will fade pretty fast.
So, come the release of the second instalment – guaranteed to make New Line Cinema another small fortune in box-office takings, and ensure the actors another job – audiences might find themselves having to pop on the DVD to remind themselves what has happened in the story so far.
Who knows, maybe it might just inspire them to pick up the book and read.
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