The Golden Compass (****) | ||
directed by Chris Weitz | ||
written by Chris Weitz based on the novel by Philip Pullman | ||
Rick Norwood
The Golden Compass is one of the most beautiful and original fantasy films of all time. Sadly, the call for
a boycott by the Catholic League of Decency caused the money men to order a short film, an hour and fifty-three
minutes (compare the more than two and a half hours of the first Harry Potter movie). As writer-director Chris
Weitz put it, "New Line is a company that makes films for economic returns. … They have expressed worry about
the possibility of His Dark Materials perceived antireligiosity making it an unviable project
financially." Faced with a hard choice, Chris Weitz has wisely avoided spreading himself thin. Only about half
the book made it to the screen, but everything there is opulent and intelligently crafted.
I did not become engrossed in the film until after the first fifteen minutes, which felt rushed -- well, they were
rushed. They cover about a third of the novel, giving us the information we need to understand the rest of the movie,
but they cover it far too rapidly. Once Lyra heads north, the story really begins and the film soars. At the end of
the polar bear fight, the audience cheered!
So, the League of Decency has succeeded in hurting the film, but not in killing it. Sadly, the box office, while good,
is probably not good enough for us to see films of the other two books -- unless those of us who like the film go to see
it more than once. I intend to.
The Catholic League of Decency! Imagine what Jesus Christ would make of such an organization. Not, "love your neighbor" but
rather, "force your neighbor to be decent." Not freedom of religion, but rather freedom of religion from any
criticism. If you want to read what they say, follow this link
http://www.catholicleague.org/images/upload/image_200710053349.pdf
You will notice that anyone who doesn't agree with the Church is accused of "hating" the Church. It's like Ann Coulter's
claim that anyone who doesn't agree with the war in Iraq hates America. The idea that a person might want to live their own
life and enjoy themselves is not an option. If you don't do what I tell you, it's because you hate Christians. And, since
freedom of speech means freedom from hate speech, and since anyone who disagrees with my point of view clearly hates
Christians, my civil rights are being violated if anyone makes a movie I don't like.
Well, enough of that. The Golden Compass is a great film based on one of the best fantasy trilogies of recent
times, and anyone who thinks it is Satanic probably thinks the same thing about The Wizard of Oz. (Even the League
of Decency admits that there is nothing objectionable about the movie itself. They have, however, discovered a cunning
plot. The movie is part of, in their words, "a stealth campaign" to cause innocent and unsuspecting children to, horror
of horrors, read the book!)
Philip Pullman is an atheist. With so many Christians preaching a gospel of materialism, bigotry, irrationalism, and hate,
who can blame him? I really think that the "League of Decency" would have better results if they forgot about "decency" and
returned to the teachings of Christ. There is room in my heart for both The Chronicles of Narnia
and His Dark Materials.
The movie ends at a point where the book still has several chapters to go, for reasons that will be clear to anyone who
has read the novel. I can accept this more easily than I can accept the rushed beginning. If I remember correctly, the end
credits say that the film is only based on the middle third of the novel. If there is a film of the second book, it will
probably begin with those missing chapters, which I understand were filmed but not shown. If the second book is never
filmed, as seems likely now, then we can look forward to a lot of extras on the DVD.
Meanwhile, see the movie. The Golden Compass creates a complex, fully realized, and exciting fantasy world unlike any other.
Rick Norwood is a mathematician and writer whose small press publishing house, Manuscript Press, has published books by Hal Clement, R.A. Lafferty, and Hal Foster. He is also the editor of Comics Revue Monthly, which publishes such classic comic strips as Flash Gordon, Sky Masters, Modesty Blaise, Tarzan, Odd Bodkins, Casey Ruggles, The Phantom, Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, Alley Oop, Little Orphan Annie, Barnaby, Buz Sawyer, and Steve Canyon. |
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