The Golden Compass

Plot synopsis:
Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is (ostensibly) an orphan living at Jordan College in the Oxford of an alternate universe. In Lyra's world, every person is accompanied by a daemon, a physical representation of their soul in animal form. Because she is young, Lyra's daemon, Pantalaimon (voice: Freddie Highmore) -- Pan, for short -- can change his shape to appear as any animal he chooses. He most often appears as an ermine, or at need a moth or a cat. Adults' daemons settle in to one shape and don't change.Lyra overhears an interview between the Master of Jordan College (Jack Shepherd) and Fra Pavel (Simon McBurney), a representative of the powerful and sinister religious body called the Magisterium. They're discussing an expedition to the far north planned by Lyra's uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig); Asriel wants to study a mysterious substance called Dust that seems to enter Lyra's world from parallel universes. Fra Pavel pressures the Master to withhold his support from Lord Asriel's expedition. The Master refuses, so, when left alone in the room, Fra Pavel poisons a decanter of Tokay wine that has been decanted specially for Lord Asriel.Lord Asriel soon arrives (accompanied by his daemon, a snow leopard), and pours himself a glass of the poisoned Tokay, but Lyra emerges from her hiding place to stop him from drinking it: she dashes the glass to the floor where it shatters. Lord Asriel sends her back to eavesdrop on the meeting that is about to begin. The Master and fellows of Jordan College, plus Fra Pavel, convene to hear about Lord Asriel's proposed expedition and research on Dust, which they agree to fund. Asriel is sure that Dust is connected with a means to get from one universe to other parallel universes. Pavel tells Asriel that talk of Dust is heresy.Even before we meet Lyra, boys and girls have been disappearing, snatched off the streets. The children call the kidnappers Gobblers. Lyra and her friend Roger (Ben Walker) promise one another that if either is caught, the other will come to the rescue. That night, while Lyra is at dinner being introduced to Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), Roger and another friend, Billy Costa (Charlie Rowe), are taken by the Gobblers.At the dinner, Lyra is seated immediately across the table from the Master when Mrs. Coulter arrives, accompanied by her daemon, a golden monkey. The Master and all the scholars are evidently in awe of her. Mrs. Coulter takes a seat right next to Lyra, who is most impressed with her new acquaintance and agrees eagerly when Mrs. Coulter says she is also planning a trip to the far north, and proposes that Lyra come along as her assistant. The Master is evidently forced (by Mrs. Coulter's influence in high places) to agree.In the morning, just before Lyra's departure, the Master comes to Lyra's little upper room in college and gives her a strange golden instrument called an alethiometer, or "golden compass". He tells her that it is capable of telling the truth, but he can't tell her much about how it works. He admonishes her to keep the alethiometer to herself and above all not to let Mrs. Coulter know that she has it.Lyra spends some time in Mrs. Coulter's company, going to expensive shops to be bought new clothes and restaurants to dine with posh people. All the while, Lyra keeps the alethiometer with her in a shoulder bag. One day Mrs. Coulter orders her to stop wearing the shoulder bag, and when the girl shows reluctance Mrs. Coulter has her daemon, the golden monkey, half strangle Pantalaimon. Lyra runs to her room, now hating Mrs. Coulter, hides the alethiometer, then goes to explore Mrs. Coulter's private study. In a waste paper bin Pan finds papers which show that Mrs. Coulter is deeply involved with an arm of the Magisterium called the General Oblation Board (the Gobblers!); that the General Oblation Board is using children to investigate something called intercision; and that Billy Costa and Roger the kitchen boy are on a list of boys who have been taken. Immediately after discovering this, Lyra catches Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey daemon trying to steal the alethiometer. Pan changes into a bird, grabs it back, and they flee through the upstairs window. They're pursued and caught by Gobblers, then rescued by fierce but friendly Gyptians, who have been watching over Lyra at Lord Asriel's request. One of their rescuers is Ma Costa (Clare Higgins), Billy's mother.Lyra travels with the Gyptians and becomes acquainted with John Faa (Jim Carter), lord of the Gyptians, and his advisor Farder Coram (Tom Courtenay). She learns how to ask the alethiometer questions and how to interpret its responses. She also meets Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green), queen of the witches, who tells Lyra that she is the subject of a prophecy concerning the fate of the world; that the missing children are being held at Bolvangar in Norroway; and that Lyra will find help in Trollesund, a town on the coast of Norroway. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter has dispatched a pair of mechanical spy flies to locate Lyra. When the spy flies find the Gyptian ship, Farder Coram captures one and seals it up in a tin, explaining that its sting contains a sleeping potion. The other escapes, though it's not clear that it does Mrs. Coulter any good.When they arrive in Trollesund, Lyra meets the Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot), who offers to help her -- but first he wants to get a friend out of a jam. The friend is Iorek Byrnison (voice: Ian McKellen), one of the great Panserbjørne -- armored ice bears -- of Svalbard. Iorek, exiled from his home after losing a fight, is a virtual prisoner in Trollesund; the townspeople got him drunk and stole his armor, which he cherishes the way humans cherish their daemons. Now, alcoholic and despairing, he works as a mechanic and metalsmith in exchange for whiskey. Consulting the alethiometer, Lyra learns that Iorek Byrnison was heir to the throne of Svalbard until he was betrayed and defeated by Ragnar (voice: Habib Nasib Nader), the current king. She also learns where the armor is hidden and tells Iorek, who promises in return to help her find the missing children. Lee Scoresby and the Gyptians dissuade the soldiers who try to stop the re-armored bear, and Lyra and her allies march into the interior toward Bolvangar.When they camp for the night, Lyra puzzles over something the alethiometer is telling her and seeks out Iorek Byrnison. She asks him to take her to a valley nearby, where she finds Billy Costa, weak and anguished because he's been separated from his daemon. This, Lyra realizes, is what intercision means; it's a fate so horrible she and Pan can hardly bear to think about it.Iorek Byrnison and Lyra take Billy back to the Gyptians' camp, which is immediately set upon by the ferocious Samoyed people who live in that area. They capture Lyra and carry her to Svalbard as an offering to the armored bears. Recalling that Mrs. Coulter told her King Ragnar longs to have a daemon of his own, Lyra asks Pan to hide and introduces herself to Ragnar as Iorek Byrnison's daemon. As she hoped, Ragnar becomes furiously jealous. Lyra tells him that if he can defeat Iorek in single combat, she will become Ragnar's daemon. Ragnar agrees to fight Iorek Byrnison, and Iorek gallops up on cue, intending to rescue Lyra. When Lyra explains what she's arranged, apologetic and frightened because after running all that way Iorek seems in no shape to fight, Iorek surprises her with his enthusiasm. He wants nothing more from life than a chance to fight Ragnar, and dubs her Lyra Silvertongue for her skillful manipulation of the usurper-king.Iorek fights Ragnar and kills him by feigning an injury, then hitting Ragnar so hard his jaw flies off. This victory wins back Iorek Byrnison's rightful place as king of the ice bears, but he leaves his kingdom to complete his obligation to Lyra. He takes her most of the way to the experimental station at Bolvangar where the children are being held, but has to leave her and go for help when the bridge over a crevasse breaks, leaving Iorek on the wrong side.Inside the experimental station, Lyra asks Roger to get the other children ready to escape. He shows her to a room where she can be alone with the alethiometer, but she has to hide under the table when the experimental station staff and Mrs. Coulter come in. After Mrs. Coulter leaves, Lyra's foot slips, giving her away. She's captured by the staff and she and Pan are put into the intercision device, the machine used to separate children from their daemons. The separation is almost complete when Mrs. Coulter, looking terrified, runs in and stops the procedure.Lyra and Pan wake up with their bond intact, and a distraught Mrs. Coulter assures Lyra that she's safe and she'll never be hurt. Lyra, shrinking from Mrs. Coulter, asks why they're separating children from their daemons. Mrs. Coulter explains that Dust (which she seems to equate with original sin) came into the world long ago when people first disobeyed the Authority (God). While children are immune from Dust, it contaminates adults through their daemons. The goal of the intercision research is to prevent people from ever being affected by Dust. (This explanation is a slightly more palatable version of the one given in an earlier scene, in which high officials of the Magisterium, disturbed about Jordan College's rebellious support of Lord Asriel, look forward to a future when intercision will mold a population that never questions the Magisterium's authority.) Mrs. Coulter says that intercision doesn't hurt -- "it's just a little cut."If intercision is such a good thing, Lyra counters, why did Mrs. Coulter stop the lab staff from doing it to Lyra? Mrs. Coulter admits that the procedure isn't perfect yet. When she mentions taking Lyra home, Lyra says venomously that her home is Jordan College. Mrs. Coulter reveals that she is Lyra's mother -- a relationship Lyra rejects -- and that Lord Asriel is her father. Lyra pretends to cooperate when Mrs. Coulter asks for the alethiometer, but gives her instead the tin holding the spy fly. The fly's sting knocks out Mrs Coulter and her daemon. Lyra escapes and leads the children out into the snow, pausing only to sabotage the intercision device, which explodes in a very satisfying way.Outside the experimental station the children confront the guards, who attack them. Iorek Byrnison intervenes, but is nearly overcome before the arrival, at dramatic intervals, of Lee Scoresby, the witches led by Serafina Pekkala, and the Gyptians. There's a ferocious melee; whenever someone is killed, their daemon disintegrates in a swirl of Dust. Lyra's friends win the battle.Lyra sets off with Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby to find Lord Asriel, who has been captured by the Samoyed people. Roger insists on coming along. Meanwhile Mrs. Coulter, having learned that Lord Asriel has bribed his captors and set up a laboratory to continue his research on Dust, sets off to stop him. In the final scene, Lyra and Roger curl up with Iorek Byrnison in the back of Mr. Scoresby's flying machine, heading north.

Tags: fantasy, boring, violence, intrigue, alternate reality, psychedelic, storytelling, sci-fi

Review:
I am a huge fan of the His Dark Materials books, and was reading all three in preparation for the movie to come, I was praying this would be the new fantasy epic to watch.
The Golden Compass is not a bad movie, its definitely better than the first Narnia movie and Harry Potter movie, but after reading the book I couldn't help but criticise because I know how amazing this movie could have been.
Its a great film to watch for Christmas and will hopefully do well at the box office so the Subtle Knife is made very soon.The biggest surprise of the cast definitely comes from Dakota Blue Richards as the lead, Lyra.
Occasionally it is a blessing to get a two hour movie rather than a bloated two and a half hour once, but this story requires all the time it can get, and with events just taking up mere seconds and events being cut out (fans of the book will hate The Cocktail Party not being in the film) makes the film feel too short and missing something.
An evil empire called the Magestirium attempts total control of the population by hiding the secrets or parallel universes and a unifying particle called Dust in Chris Weitz's clunky but entertaining adaptation of Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass"."Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" have never apologized about their overt paganism.
Since we currently live in a world where a born-again Christian sits in the White House and wages wars in Muslim nations, it's easy to see why folks from both sides of the aisle, ardent fans of the books and conservative Christians alike, have been worked up into a mindless and silly frenzy over even just a watered-down film version of the first of Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, with one side saying it's not wickedly subversive enough, and the other side saying it's still subversively wicked.However, viewing the film out of the context of the books upon which it is based and the ridiculous faux-controversy surrounding them, it makes the grade as a big-budget fantasy flick.
There's also the disturbing subtext of child abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church as seen in the Magestirium's cruel experiments with kidnapped children, which makes the film feel charmingly grotesque.Bottom Line: Any movie that depicts Nicole Kidman walking around with a monkey and preaches the importance of free will, making bonds, sticking together, and fighting for your friends and loved ones can't be all that bad.
Despite some of the themes of the books being exorcised and arbitrarily presented by a poorly chosen Chris Weitz (a director known for his comedies "American Pie" and "About a Boy"), "The Golden Compass" still has enough interesting elements and old-fashioned razzle dazzle presented with new age CGI to make it entertaining.
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.
There are moments in this, that i won't spoil for those like me who didn't know the plot, that really surprised me that they'd do in a family film.A big fight scene between polar bears and the end battle are suitably exciting and i found myself really invested.
Whereas in Narnia they hadn't done enough to make you care about Aslan's fate (criminal given how effectively the book and the 80s BBC TV serial managed it) this really has you on the edge of your seat for the good guys.Overall I really liked Golden Compass and would give it an 8/10  compared to LOTR 10/10, 9/10, 7/10 for the series, Potter 5/10, 6/10, 8/10, 7/10, 7/10 for the series and Narnia 4/10.
Having seen the Golden Compass I can honestly say Im hoping they don't make a follow up.The story was truncated beyond the necessity involved in translating a book to film, the intricacies of the characters (especially Lyra) were swept over with a series of single scene expositions, that despite the talents of all the actors involved failed to accurately portray their persona's or motivations.Whether or not you agree with Pullmans subtext in the book or not, the film failed miserably to deliver any semblance of the authors story.On the plus side the Daemons and other effects were expertly achieved, fantastically voiced.
The effect of this cowardice left behind a film that was a total waste of time, an insult to the original writer of the book and a waste of talent that should have been used better in a greater film than this mixed, unexplained unmitigated disaster.If there is going to be sequels and going by this film, I hope to all heavens there is NOT - can we the audience have a change of makers, scriptwriters and a producer, a director with a brain and at least someone with guts to stand up against the zealous religious right.To sum up: what a complete mess and waste of talent.This film could have been so, so so much better.Rating: one out of ten..
Most of the books that I have read that later became movies I really enjoyed, all the Harry Potter series so far and of course the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The film has virtually none of the depth of story and characters that the film has....the movie strings together all the action sequences of the book (in different order!) and gives the tiniest bit of exposition on the plot in between.
My advice is that if you have not read the book then you may enjoy the movie..it's beautifully done on the surface...there's some decent acting etc....but if you have read and loved the book you will be very let down at the lack of depth in both story and character development....it's hard to believe Pullman allowed his name to be on the credits of this turkey....
- The film treats the audience like retards, basically explaining things that should come naturally as the story progresses and also keeps showing flashy visuals for things (reading of the alethiometer) over and over again rather than actually filling the scene with some substance.
The visual effects are beautifully executed, and the way the characters interact with the CGI is perfect.However, beyond the enjoyment of the movie I have to say, the one thing that stood out was Dakota Blue Richards: a young actress with such screen presence and believability in her portrayal of Lyra that I hope she will be picked up and engaged by many studios.
This film will surely get new audiences to the bookstore and provides good value to old fans too.Any misgivings I have with The Golden Compass adaptation stem from cuts made by its studio, and when I say "cuts" I mean the kind that makes art bleed internally.
The Golden Compass is a film that will have you asking questions; but not the sort of questions that you knock about after the film regarding its appeal or intelligence but those that have you asking "Just what were they thinking?" Even as a Hollywood, CGI fun-fest; the film still manages to fail pretty miserably with its lack of conflict; lack of characterisation and its over reliance on gimmicks that I'm sure probably worked on paper but don't on the screen.I wasn't aware of the fact this was based on a book until some further research after watching the film; from what I've read, people don't like the adaptation.
Its idea that these people (who inhabit an alternate 'Earth) have their souls on their outside is an interesting one and one that all credit must go toward the author of the novel and yet on screen, we are supposed to relate to these characters by way of their animal accomplices ie; Lord Asriel's (Craig) is a tiger: strong and powerful who knows what's what; Marisa Coulter (Kidman) has a monkey of some sort; suggesting not a playful and cheeky persona but one that could change from good to aggressive very quickly; the other example is of the hero; Lyra Belacqua (Richards) whose daemon keeps changing from cat to bird to chipmunk suggesting she hasn't quite 'found herself' yet although the fact she's only about ten probably has something to do with this.
This film basically turns into a recruitment process with Kidman's and Craig's characters hovering around in the background although never creating a presence; this is Indiana Jones all right: for nine year olds but then there's the complicated narrative and the fact the three Indiana Jones films were for people of all ages anyway.What we are led to believe is that in this world, they haven't made the technological advancements like cars and aeroplanes (their cars resemble horse and carts without the horses and they fly around in blimps) and yet build vast utopias that still find room to house criminals of some description whose main aim is to 'cut' away the souls of children at the first mention of the word 'dust'  yes, it's that bizarre.
This was an astonishingly good film.Without getting into any comparisons with its pop-culture-ordained rival, The Chronicles of Jerusalem (I mean Narnia), I will say this is the best fantasy movie to hit the shelves since Lord of the Rings.The story is explosive, dynamic and startlingly accurate if viewed in a historical sense.
Her character is a forceful blend of guts and intelligence to the point that several of her actions throughout the story made my jaw drop to the floor, thinking "wow, this girl is CRAZY!" in awe and admiration of her strength and courage.For those of you who have not seen this movie, if you want to see a child actor rival virtually every A-list blockbuster star in Hollywood, Dakota Blue Richards is your girl.I was also happy to see Daniel Craig in this film, as he was great in Casino Royale and it was interesting to see him in such a starkly different role.
I was very disappointed with how the Bolvanger scenes were handled, they are crucial to the film, as is the 'you cannot trick a bear' storyline from Iorek and now unexplained leaves the watcher confused as to why the fight scene is so important to the story.The scenery, set design, costumes and daemons (in particular) were great and clearly had time spent on them to ensure 'authenticity'.I thought Nicole Kidman was perfectly cast but am unable to assess Daniel Craig as he was barely on screen, another oddity.
"Northern Lights" written by Philip Pullman is the story of a little girl in a parallel universe called Lyra Belacqua who journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.The adaptation is directed by Chris Weitz and the screenplay is also written by the director and the adaptation is so close to the mark it is hard to believe they managed to fit the story of the book into just under two hours.
The pacing of this film is pretty good and it gives quite an in-depth introduction to the characters and story lines as does the author in the books making the characters and plot readily accessible for the second and third installments of the story, this is pretty well adapted to the screen and when you leave the cinema after the film you feel like you know the characters well enough to feel for them in their anguish and their joy.The acting in this film is superb including a star studded cast which includes; Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, The Hours, Fur), Daniel Craig (Munich, Casino Royale, The Invasion), Sam Elliot (Buffalo Girls, Conagher) and Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Nicole Kidman gives possibly one of the best performances of her career delivering the icy cold persona that Mrs Coulter embodies in the books and reminding us of the nasty and cold characters she has played in the past including Suzanne Stone in To Die For and Grace Stewart in The Others.
Eva Green and Sam Elliot give solid performances here and are practically what I imagined Scoresbey and Serrefina Pekkalla to look like when reading the books, but they are totally outshined by total newcomer Dakota Blue Richards who is radiant as Lyra; showing the wreckless yet intelligent sides of the young heroine and also embodying the adventurous lead character.
However after thinking about it before writing the review I decided that the film has enough great points to level out the flaws.Overall this film is possibly one of the best films this year and I feel it is one of the most faithful book adaptations I have ever seen on the big screen; great effects, great acting, great director.
Instead of the book ending we see the ending for part 2 of the book, which simply doesn't make sense given all the events that took place by that time.If you want to know how NOT to make a movie on an excellent book, read "His Dark Materials" and then watch the "Golden Compass".
Some great scenes, some fascinating artwork, and, although in rather short supply, some enchanting acting performances such as from Eva Green who portrayed a witch, or from Sam Elliot who was superb, or from young Dakota Blue Richards who was indeed good, and Nicole Kidman, who always is impressive though this time maybe was not at her best.I enjoyed the film, yes, but...
The Golden Compass spends far too much time explaining the boring and generic mythology behind the dull and uninteresting world it takes place in; far too much time setting up the silly and poorly crafted antagonist's motivations, and almost no time actually entertaining the audience.Almost all of the actors' performances in this film come off as extremely pretentious and forced, especially Nicole Kidman who's career has been rocketing through bad movie after bad movie since the late 90's.The only real actor in this disaster is Mr. Daniel Craig, who, bless his heart, is given barely any screen time to speak of.Without giving anything away, the heart of The Golden Compass' problems is that its story is ridiculous, silly, stale, and spiritless.If you can manage to get past the incredibly dull first hour and half of the flick, you are eventually treated to 2 giant polar bears fighting, and an giant ending battle, where the lighting is so dark and poorly executed that it might as well have never happened.
When I first heard that they were going to make a film out of the most enthralling and inspiring books I have read made my very excited, but at the same time very nervous, as I needed to balance my love for the story with my movie critical mindLike most HDM followers I watched the films production via fan sites and rumour networks quite religiously (or should I say regularly!).
Though the acting in this movie is well done, and the special effects rather good, I found the story to be dull and uninspiring.Young Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is taken under the wing of Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman).
I also think some, especially those who haven't read the books may feel a bit let down at the end, but for me it felt more like it was building up towards the next two movies (if made) and I left the theater already wanting to see the next one..
Surprisingly lacking at the most important terms,and factors,but kids will love,maybe they love rather.At this moment seems like some economical problems finally the creators get with this project.The little girl who plays the main role,is very acceptable actress,creators has luck with her,cause the little money this film earned is just cause her,and it would be less without her.Daniel Craig is only for the marketing,cause at the start of the shooting it was clear for the creators that the story,and Nicole Kidman just will not enough to make money,and seems like this logic just followed the creators while they shoot-ed the movie actually.Unfortunately I have just less good feelings about this film,like I hoped I will.As a business it was a fail,but user rating says that most of users loved this film.I have to tell you I'am absolutely not a fan of everything,and any story,or film that has a material with fantasy elements,but my nature time ,after time pulls me to a mood when I wants to see these type of films,just cause I hope I will learn something new,this film was good to repeat an important question,but was not new for me.4/10-this is not a new story,but important..
The Golden Compass was a bit rush but because of that, you wouldn't feel bored watching this movie, since it doesn't go on and on to explain a background for like 10 minutes.
Nicole Kidman's Marissa Coulter leads the list; her actions and others' have to be stopped by Lyra (new talent Dakota Blue Richards), the film's main character and owner of a special 'compass'.
Lyra's young dæmons, Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore), is a shape-shifting weasel, and some of pair's affectionate exchanges prove surprisingly touching.What makes 'The Golden Compass' such an enjoyable adventure is the selection of diverse and colourful characters: Nicole Kidman is exceedingly creepy as the icy Marisa Coulter, Sam Elliott is a lot of fun as a kind-hearted Texan aeronaut, Daniel Craig's Lord Asriel is the film's most charismatic and interesting character {so it's unfortunate that he's afforded precious little screen-time} and even CGI-created Iorek Byrnison the Armoured Bear {his voice naggingly familiar  I should have picked out Ian "Gandalf" McKellan anywhere!} gives a genuinely affectionate performance.
The film I saw stuck as closely as one could expect to the plot of the book (excluding the ending, of which more later), had some great acting (sadly only cameo roles for most of the big-name actors, but Dakota Blue Richards was superb as Lyra), used visual effects to create a truly fantastical world, and kept up a great pace throughout.