d_aulnoy writes, “Please tell me you’re planning to post a spoilerific [Golden Compass] review.” Ask and ye shall receive.
* * SPOILERS * * (As per request)
I had only middling expectations going into this one. I was half expecting the filmmakers to strip out all the subtext and emotional intensity of the novel and deliver only a lame and shallow action/adventure CG-fest for children. I read the novel years ago, and I thought it was brilliant, but I’m not the sort of hardcore fan who would notice or particularly care if they made moderate changes to the story, but from what I remember the movie seems pretty faithful to the book. I was also worried, having seen the trailer, that star Dakota Blue Richards didn’t have enough attitude to play Lyra, but I thought she actually did a terrific job. The screening featured a Q&A afterward with the director, Chris Weitz, and he mentioned that due to very strict child labor laws in the UK the production was always rushing to squeeze in rehearsal time and shooting time with the young star. Fortunately, he says, Dakota didn’t really need much help since she already knew the books inside and out and understood the character completely. In fact, she doesn’t particularly want to be an actor, she just really wanted to play Lyra. There’s been a lot of talk about the degree to which the movie would tone down Pullman’s critique of Christian mythology and the Catholic Church. This aspect seemed fine to me. A movie by necessity is going to have to cut out 90% of the novel (Serafina Pekkala’s part is reduced to about eight lines), and it didn’t seem to me that the philosophical underpinnings had been cut out disproportionately to anything else. The movie got a very positive response from the audience. People cheered at the bear fight and at the closing credits, and during the Q&A several people gushed about the movie, including one guy who’d brought along his 10-year-old daughter. He said they were both huge fans of the book and that they “loved every minute” of the movie. Chris Weitz seemed very committed to doing justice to the books, and said he’d been obsessed with the books since before he was picked to direct the film. The movie ends well before where the novel ends. Weitz said that the book has a very dark ending and that with a film this expensive there’s enormous pressure for it to have a happy ending. He felt that rather than completely compromising the ending of the book, it would be better to push those events back to the beginning of the second film, and he talked about how he hoped to do an “Empire Strikes Back thing” with the second film and make it much darker and more adult. The movie does have a few awkward moments. The characters sometimes over-explain what they’re doing, presumably for the benefit of younger viewers, and the movie sometimes creaks under the weight of trying to cram such a long, sprawling storyline into one film, resulting in moments that feel rushed or illogical. But overall I was extremely pleased, and I hope the movie does very well because now I’m really anxious to see the second one.
* * END SPOILERS * *
Which brings me to my next point. Apparently some twit named William Donohue, president of the “Catholic League,” is calling for a boycott of this movie because the movie “introduces [kids] to atheism.” Of course there are many legitimate reasons to avoid a movie that you might find stupid or offensive, but avowedly avoiding a movie for the reason that it might introduce kids to a religious viewpoint different from yours is about the furthest thing from a legitimate reason for a boycott that I can imagine. I’m not Christian, but no one was more excited than I was to go see the Narnia movie, and if I had had any kids handy I would have dragged them along too. Why? Because I don’t choose which movies I watch or which movies kids should watch based solely on whether or not those movies coddle my prejudices. Apparently Mr. Donohue feels that his religious views are so feeble that they can’t survive contact with a fictional story about talking polar bears. I think that’s pretty pathetic. And Mr. Donohue, no atheist parents in this country have the privilege of raising their children without “exposing” them to Catholicism, so I don’t know why you feel that Catholic parents should have some special privilege to raise their kids in an atmosphere of comprehensive ignorance. (Donohue also refers to the books/film as a “stealth campaign” promoting atheism. This is conspiracy-mongering at its most witless. Pullman could not possibly have been any more forthright and outspoken about the thematic underpinnings of his books, and the movie studio’s only motivation is — duh — to make money.) Anyway, I’m proud to see that The Church of Scotland is showing more respect for freedom and debate, rejecting the boycott and stating that the film “provides a golden opportunity to stimulate discussion on a wide range of moral and spiritual issues.” Hopefully the boycott won’t make any difference. The Catholic League also boycotted The Da Vinci Code, which still seemed to do all right at the box office. (Though it occurs to me, considering how much that movie sucked, that this may be the one time in my life that I’m sorry I didn’t do what the Catholic Church wanted.)
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