Thoughts on The Golden Compass

[owlmoose]

Short version: I enjoyed it. They cut quite a bit out, but that's to be expected when you're making a film from a book, especially from a book in which that much happens. It probably helps that I read the book awhile ago and am therefore fuzzy on a lot of the details. So even if it cut stuff out and moved stuff around, it still felt true to the spirit of the book to me.

The casting was perfect. The girl they found to play Lyra inhabited the character just right, and I pictured Mrs. Coulter as Nicole Kidman even as I was reading the book. Probably the best surprise was Sam Elliot as Lee Scorsby. I also think they did an excellent job with the daemons, Pan in particular. The bears were also well-done, although I was a little less impressed with them -- I liked how their speech had the feel of roaring, but the mouth movements were pretty far off. They did move like bears, though, and overall the film was stunning visually -- beautifully realized steampunk elements like the airships, the way that daemons exploded into Dust when their people died, Lyra reading the Compass. It's one of the most appealing films just to sit and watch that I've seen in a long time.

So, as always after watching a movie based on a book, now I'm feeling the need to read the books again... As if I didn't have enough to read already!

Comments

Re: I

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the first book is more vague on that point, although I picked up on the Dust/Original Sin parallel right away, and that point is made just as clearly in the movie. Even more clearly, maybe, than in the book. Talking with my friends afterwards, we have no idea how they would film the second or especially the third books without the anti-religion themes.

No worries, no disrespect taken. :) Really, I love the first two books about equally. I was less taken with the third, but I think I may have read it too quickly because I remember almost nothing of the details. Hence, the re-read.

I

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

I recall little of the third book as well. One of my many bad habits is reading something I like very much too quickly. That is why I am re-reading Pullman slowly this time with space between the books to allow for digestion. I have just finished The Subtle Knife and shall wait for a week or so before beginning The Amber Spyglass.

Right! I can see no way at all to do the remaining books devoid of the anti-clericism. I read that the director and producer hoped to slip this first film through and have a great success in order to have the flexibility to be more true to the books in the sequels. Too bad it is not doing all that well at the box office.