Summary

Confused fantasy adventure set in a parallel universe, where a person's soul resides outside the body in an animal-like form called a "dæmon". The young Lyra, with the eventual aid of the armoured polar bear Iorek Byrnison, sets out on a mission to rescue kidnapped children from the clutches of the evil Magesterium and their associate Mrs. Coulter. Though technically competent, the film provides little artistically; offering a strange and unoriginal assortment of locations and characters seen elsewhere to greater effect. The biggest concern SFC has with respect to The Golden Compass’s content is its overall melancholic tone and its message that the truth is an elusive thing available only to a gifted and chosen few.

BBFC Rating: PG (SFC Opinion: n/a)

The Plot

The Golden Compass is a fantasy adventure set in a parallel universe, where a person's soul resides outside the body in an animal-like form called a "dæmon". Europe is controlled by a suspicious authoritarian organization called the Magisterium. In Oxford, the orphan Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards); a ward of Jordan College, tells tales of the "Gobblers", whom she and her friends believe are responsible for several local children's disappearance. After Lyra saves her Uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) from an assassination attempt by a Magisterium representative, the college funds his expedition to the far north to investigate the mysterious ‘Dust’ substance he has been researching. Before leaving, Lyra is entrusted with an alethiometer (Golden Compass). This device is able to reveal the answer to any question asked by a trained user. It is the last one in existence since the Magisterium banned them.

Lyra soon discovers that the evil Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) is head of the General Oblation Board; the "Gobblers" who have been kidnapping local children. Lyra also discovers that her best friend Billy Costa has been taken by the Gobblers to the north. The Gyptians (a Nomadic boat people) rescue Lyra from an encounter with Mrs. Coulter, who has learned of Lyra’s possession of the Golden Compass. Lyra and the Gyptians travel north together to rescue the kidnapped children. Lyra soon begins to understand how to use the alethiometer. At a Norwegian port, Lyra befriends Lee Scoresby, who advises her to hire Iorek Byrnison, an exiled prince of armoured polar bears who was tricked out of his armour by the local townspeople. Lyra uses the alethiometer to discover the armour's location, which turns out to be not far away. Iorek puts on the armour and pledges his service to Lyra's cause. Together with the Gyptians and Scoresby they head north. The alethiometer guides Lyra to Billy, who has escaped from a Magisterium research station. The action moves on with violent clashes and hostile encounters as Lyra takes the lead in the quest to rescue the other kidnapped children. 

Artistic and Technical Merit

Technically, most notably with reference to the special effects, The Golden Compass is up to Hollywood standard - as should be expected from a film with a budget upwards of $180 millions. Artistically, the film is a bad mixture of elements already seen elsewhere before, but to better effect. The acting of all major cast members is hollow, and Dakota Blue Richards does not come across as amiable enough to carry the whole film or exert any strong degree of empathy for her character.  The hotchpotch mix of characters and locations is unsettling - shifting from historic Oxford University, to quasi-futuristic flying machines, to North European sea ports, to snow-capped rugged mountains. These locations are inhabited by traditionally dressed academic professors, the members of the Magesterium who look like a mix between court jesters and the Gestapo, street children that look like they have just stepped off the stage of ‘Oliver!’, the evil Mrs Coulter whose character closely resembles that of Narnia’s ‘White Witch’, the misplaced Lee Scoresby who would be more at home in an American Western epic, a random sample of witches thrown in for good measure, and the unremarkable polar bear Iorek Byrnison, whose character is a poor-man’s Aslan (also from the Narnia series). With respect to the screenplay, regardless of the content to be discussed below, the story is confused and lacking in any real degree of suspense: the question as to what exactly ‘dust’ constitutes, is no more settled by the end of the film than it was at the beginning; yet neither does the script create any great desire in the viewer to have this question answered.

Moral and Ethical Merit

Morally, The Golden Compass does a good job in reminding children of the immorality and dangers of kidnapping, of the immorality of a group of people that would try to impose an ideology on others, and even of the immorality of trying to control people through beauty, charm and at least one-form of deceit (as in the case of Mrs Coulter’s character). However - though I suspect due to the incoherent nature of the film it will be lost on most children - there are significant underlying ethical concerns that The Golden Compass generates.

Utmost of these concerns is the communication of a message that whilst a truth does exist (Pullman appears at least to have done a good job in discrediting pluralism), that truth is only accessible to a limited few individuals with access to special apparatus in the form of a Golden Compass, as well as the unique gift to read that compass. Indeed the film finishes on a very melancholic note with the song ‘Lyra’, which features the mawkish lyrics “Lyra… Lyra.. The truth lies deep inside her… Lyra… Lyra.. Who’s to know what’s in the future, But we hope we will be with her, We have all our love to give her, Oh Lyra… Lyra…”. This encapsulates the overall theme of the film, and implies that truth is an elusive thing, yet to be discovered in the present day, and only accessible through this one special girl with her special apparatus. What’s more though, the film doesn’t suggest why we should be any more trusting of Lyra and her interpretation of the truth as she sees it through the Golden Compass, than we should be in trusting the truth as already given to us by Jesus Christ as interpreted through the Catholic Church. Is this not somewhat inconsistent thinking?

Another concern is the representation of dæmons (those creatures responsible for negative traits of the soul), as being things that are outside of the body and things that are friendly. The first of these traits could surely encourage children not to take due responsibility for their negative acts, and the latter trait could surely encourage children to seek out their own make-believe ‘dæmons’ to make them complete - such a thing is not unrealistic in a world where children often acquire imaginary friends and are universally prone to imitating what they see and hear.

And a final significant moral concern is Lyra’s vague reprimand of Iorek as he is about to enter into a fight with his polar bear enemies. Lyra says “Don’t! If you fight you’ll kill them, and then there’ll be more fighting, and then we’ll never get away to rescue the children”. So Lyra doesn’t reproach Iorek for fighting or killing others because to fight and kill is wrong, but simply because fighting and killing will ultimately delay them on their quest to rescue the children. The implication is that were they not on this mission, to slaughter the lot of them would be okay.

Redemptive and Spiritual Merit

Not only is God left out of the picture in a direct manner, but, with the exception of the fact that the film does acknowledge the existence of “the” truth, and also that there is a need to “set things right” in the world (implicitly acknowledging that all is not right), God’s presence is also absent in an indirect manner.

This indirect presence of God can usually be recognised through the significant representation of one of the Seven Virtues (prudence, justice, restraint/temperance, courage/fortitude, faith, hope, love/charity). Yet none of these come through in any resounding way in The Golden Compass. In fact, Iorek Byrnison (the armoured polar bear) only helps Lyra in a “you’ve scratched my back, I’ll scratch yours” capacity. That is to say he only helps Lyra once she has imparted some knowledge to him and told him where his armour is. In fact Iorek explicitly says “well then I owe you a debt”. It’s not quite equivalent to the loving grace that God bestows upon us, and is in fact more likely to generate “an eye for an eye” attitude towards other people.

Later on, whilst en-route to rescue the children, Lyra asks Iorek “Are you afraid?”, to which Iorek replies “no, when I am, I will master my fear”. This clearly places the emphasis on the ‘self’ for overcoming ones fears and spiritual weaknesses, and is more a statement that would be found in one of the many Eastern-origin religions than in Christianity, which asserts that “perfect love casts out fear”.

Content and Age Appropriateness

The biggest concern SFC has with respect to The Golden Compass’s content is its overall melancholic tone and its message that the truth is an elusive thing available only to a gifted and chosen few. The USCCB’s rating is not available for this film. The review by the Catholic Church in Australia states “Given the sudden shocks, thundering soundtrack and convoluted storyline, this film is certainly not for children under the age of 15”. The SIGNIS statement states “The Golden Compass has some frightening scenes and battles for the younger audience”. The MPAA have awarded it a PG-13 certificate, the BBFC have awarded it a PG certificate. SFC does not recommend this film to anyone beyond those with an academic or critical interest.