Overlooked Movies: the Golden Compass
Posted 07-09-2008 at 08:01 PM by Jason Marcel
There isn't one particular genre of movies that I love more than any other one, although if you were to look at my DVD collection, now approaching 500, the plurality of films tends to be dramas or comedy/dramas now refered to as "dramedies", and then you'll see the rest divided along the lines of foreign films, documentaries, old films, a couple silent ones, a few westerns, a few musicals, some thrillers, and some animated films.
I seem to be lacking mostly in pure comedies and fantasy/adventure films, and that's probably because they are the two most difficult genres to get right. I own the Superman series, Spider Man 2, Batman Returns, the Never Ending Story, Tron (which I'll have to write about seperately soon, it really moves), and the Kill Bill series if you want to count them in this genre.
I really liked the first couple Harry Potters, and especially the Prisoner of Azhkaban directed by the guy who made Children of Men. But overall that series is kind of light and breezy.
Then there was the Lord of the Rings series, which I still find to be way, way too long. I believe it to be a strong B movie series that behaved like it was an A movie. I had a good time at all of them, but was very surprised that the last one in the series The Return of the King, took Best Picture at the Oscars. A decent movie, but Lost in Translation, the wonderful Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World, or even Mystic River were stronger choices that year.
Since then the Chronicles of Narnia has been released, and that series looks like it's going to go all the way. It's nice to look at, but I found myself sinking in my seat, tapping my watch. It reminds me of the famous Broadway line, "I went away singing the sets".
So when the Golden Compass was released last year, I wasn't sure what to expect. Those who've read the books, by Philip Pullman, are diehards, but that didn't sway me much. To my surprise, it's one of the most engaging and entertaining films of the last couple years. It moves quickly and confidently, there are moments of humor and charm sprinkled throughout, but it's mostly about ideas!
The cast includes Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Derek Jacobi, Sam Elliott and the voices of Ian McKellan and Kathy Bates. They all lend credibility here, but the star of the picture is Dakota Blue Richards, in her debut role, and it is one of the strongest debuts ever. She stars as Lyra Belacqua, a tween aged girl with the rarest of abilities; she's the last one left who can read an alitheometer, a device that looks like a compass and can tell you the truth and give insight into what people are really thinking.
In the world of the Golden Compass, people are born with a daemon, an animal that accompanies the characters and when you're young, you're daemon constantly transforms into various other animals until it settles into one animal in adulthood.
I love movies like this that march forward and leaves us to pick up many of the pieces and figure out relationships on our own. There is something very political at work in this world even before the movie has started, and it involves a dark plot by the Magestirium(the ruling power that resembles the Vatican) that I will not reveal here.
Some protests were heard before the release of the film about it being anti-Catholic, but I can see no parallel between the Magestirium and the Vatican in terms of the plot of this film other than the usual "moral values" stuff.
The Golden Compass charges forward as a pure action movie, but it's really about something, and the characters really engage us here instead of seeming like victims to the plot; they all have their own secrets and motives, and that propels the action and makes it much more involving.
And then there's Dakota Blue Richards; smart, precocious, savvy and plucky. In many films, child actors seem like they're just repeating what the director told them to do, with stiff line-readings (I'm reminded of Haley Joel Osmont whispering "I See Dead People"), but here we can actually see Richards and the other kids actually thinking on-screen. I marvel at one scene involving a great bear King who wants a daemon of his own and Lyra uses her wit and intelligence and you can see her seducing the King. It's a great scene.
I've just finished watching it for the fourth time, and it's sense of adventure and dark mystery feel as fresh as the first time I saw. And there's so much information coming at us especially in the first hour, that it benefits from repeat viewings.
Not only is it a good action movie, but it engages us with it's politics. I can't recommend it any higher.
I seem to be lacking mostly in pure comedies and fantasy/adventure films, and that's probably because they are the two most difficult genres to get right. I own the Superman series, Spider Man 2, Batman Returns, the Never Ending Story, Tron (which I'll have to write about seperately soon, it really moves), and the Kill Bill series if you want to count them in this genre.
I really liked the first couple Harry Potters, and especially the Prisoner of Azhkaban directed by the guy who made Children of Men. But overall that series is kind of light and breezy.
Then there was the Lord of the Rings series, which I still find to be way, way too long. I believe it to be a strong B movie series that behaved like it was an A movie. I had a good time at all of them, but was very surprised that the last one in the series The Return of the King, took Best Picture at the Oscars. A decent movie, but Lost in Translation, the wonderful Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World, or even Mystic River were stronger choices that year.
Since then the Chronicles of Narnia has been released, and that series looks like it's going to go all the way. It's nice to look at, but I found myself sinking in my seat, tapping my watch. It reminds me of the famous Broadway line, "I went away singing the sets".
So when the Golden Compass was released last year, I wasn't sure what to expect. Those who've read the books, by Philip Pullman, are diehards, but that didn't sway me much. To my surprise, it's one of the most engaging and entertaining films of the last couple years. It moves quickly and confidently, there are moments of humor and charm sprinkled throughout, but it's mostly about ideas!
The cast includes Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Derek Jacobi, Sam Elliott and the voices of Ian McKellan and Kathy Bates. They all lend credibility here, but the star of the picture is Dakota Blue Richards, in her debut role, and it is one of the strongest debuts ever. She stars as Lyra Belacqua, a tween aged girl with the rarest of abilities; she's the last one left who can read an alitheometer, a device that looks like a compass and can tell you the truth and give insight into what people are really thinking.
In the world of the Golden Compass, people are born with a daemon, an animal that accompanies the characters and when you're young, you're daemon constantly transforms into various other animals until it settles into one animal in adulthood.
I love movies like this that march forward and leaves us to pick up many of the pieces and figure out relationships on our own. There is something very political at work in this world even before the movie has started, and it involves a dark plot by the Magestirium(the ruling power that resembles the Vatican) that I will not reveal here.
Some protests were heard before the release of the film about it being anti-Catholic, but I can see no parallel between the Magestirium and the Vatican in terms of the plot of this film other than the usual "moral values" stuff.
The Golden Compass charges forward as a pure action movie, but it's really about something, and the characters really engage us here instead of seeming like victims to the plot; they all have their own secrets and motives, and that propels the action and makes it much more involving.
And then there's Dakota Blue Richards; smart, precocious, savvy and plucky. In many films, child actors seem like they're just repeating what the director told them to do, with stiff line-readings (I'm reminded of Haley Joel Osmont whispering "I See Dead People"), but here we can actually see Richards and the other kids actually thinking on-screen. I marvel at one scene involving a great bear King who wants a daemon of his own and Lyra uses her wit and intelligence and you can see her seducing the King. It's a great scene.
I've just finished watching it for the fourth time, and it's sense of adventure and dark mystery feel as fresh as the first time I saw. And there's so much information coming at us especially in the first hour, that it benefits from repeat viewings.
Not only is it a good action movie, but it engages us with it's politics. I can't recommend it any higher.
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