The Golden Compass

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of The Golden Compass, the film based on Northern Lights, the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Went to see it last night.

Verdict? Pretty good, though it could have been better. The visuals are definitely stunning, and those alone are worth the price of admission. Both the child actress who played Lyra and Nicole Kidman (as Mrs. Coulter) were absolutely excellent. Actually, it was a pretty stellar cast all around, though it would have been good to see some of these luminaries (like Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee) more. Daniel Craig was very good as Lord Asriel, but again, we didn't see him very much. Oh, and watching the credits at the end, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of Kate Bush - she composed and sang the theme song for the film, "Lyra", which was very nice to hear.

One of the greatest strengths of the books, in my opinion, is that - given they were written for teenagers - they are darkly philosophical. (Reading them for the first time, I kept thinking, "I can't believe these are for kids...this stuff is deep.") Unfortunately, and I suppose inevitably, alot of that depth has been jettisoned in the film. But perhaps the oddest thing about the adaptation is the way in which the controversial, "anti-Christian" material has really been whitewashed. In place of Pullman's unapologetic, unvarnished atheism, the film has much more of a general anti-establishment theme - so all those good Catholic parents, fearful for the souls of their impressionable kiddies, don't have anything to worry about. Quite honestly, though, I have no idea how any putative film versions of the second and third books in the series would be scripted. Pullman really has no use for organised religion, and that message comes through louder and clearer as the series progresses. Mainstream film producers obviously won't want to touch that with a ten-foot pole - so how to film the books without warping the original story beyond all recognition?

At any rate, it looks like all of us fans of His Dark Materials may not need to concern ourselves with such issues. The entertainment media reports today that the film has already been deemed a bit of a flop, having earned "only" $26 million in its opening weekend in the US. It seems set to do considerably better overseas, which is unsurprising as the novels have always been far better known outside North America (and where people have fewer evangelical hangups). A pity, really, as it's not a bad film at all - but in America, Pullman has never had the cachet of a JRR Tolkien or a CS Lewis, so perhaps it's to be expected. And if they can't make and sell a million Lyra action figures, will anyone in the business of making movies for kids be interested in sequels?