The Golden Compass (2007)

November 27, 2007 (London) December 5, 2007 (United Kingdom) December 7, 2007 (United States) — November 27, 2007 (London)
December 5, 2007 (United Kingdom)
December 7, 2007 (United States)

The Golden Compass is a 2007 fantasy adventure film based on the 1995 book Northern Lights, the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. Written and directed by Chris Weitz, it stars Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, and Ian McKellen. The project was announced in February 2002, but difficulties over the script and the selection of a director caused significant delays. At US$180 million, it was one of New Line Cinema's most expensive projects ever, and its disappointing results in the US contributed to New Line's February 2008 restructuring.

The film depicts the adventures of Lyra Belacqua, an orphan living in a parallel universe where a dogmatic ruling power called the Magisterium opposes free inquiry. Children in that universe are being kidnapped by an unknown group called the Gobblers who are supported by the Magisterium. Lyra joins a tribe of seafarers on a trip to the far North, the land of the armoured polar bears, in search of the missing children.

Before its release, the film received criticism from secularist organisations and fans of the His Dark Materials trilogy for the dilution of elements of the story which were critical of religion, as well as from some religious organisations for the source material's anti-religious themes. The studio ordered significant changes late in post-production, which Weitz later called a "terrible" experience. Although the film's visual effects (which Weitz has called the film's "most successful element") won both a BAFTA and an Academy Award, critical reception of the film was mixed and its revenue was lower than the studio had anticipated.

Storyline

On an alternative retro-futuristic Earth, a powerful church called the Magisterium strictly controls the people's beliefs and teachings, under the auspices of the Authority. Here, every person's soul or guiding spirit exists outside the body as their own animal companion, a dæmon, and they must remain in close physical proximity. When young, people’s dæmons change form reflecting their moods, but on puberty the dæmons settle into one form thereafter.

Lyra Belacqua is an orphan raised at Jordan College in Oxford with her dæmon Pantalaimon or "Pan". Her uncle is Lord Asriel, a noted explorer and scholar of the college, but often long absent on expeditions. When he returns from seeking the elusive Dust — cosmic particles that the Magisterium forbids being mentioned — Lyra saves him from drinking wine spiked with poison by a visiting Magisterium agent, Fra Pavel. Afterwards, Asriel presents his discovery that Dust at the North Pole links to infinite worlds. He is granted funding for another expedition though, if proven, his theory would undermine the Magisterium's control. Kidnappers called "the Gobblers" have been abducting poor and wandering children, including Lyra's best friends, a college kitchen boy, Roger Parslow and Billy Costa, a young Gyptian.

Marisa Coulter, a wealthy "friend" of the college, invites Lyra to stay with her in London. Just before she leaves, the Master of the college entrusts Lyra with her uncle's alethiometer — the titular golden compass — an artefact that reveals the truth, warning her to keep it secret.

Lyra's enchantment with the sophisticated life in London soon evaporates when Mrs Coulter's congenial manner changes to become domineering after Lyra boasts of knowing about Dust. Lyra secretly searches her study and discovers she is the head of the General Oblation Board, realising they are the Gobblers, who have abducted Roger and Billy. After Mrs Coulter's golden monkey dæmon attempts to steal the alethiometer, she and Pan escape into London’s backstreets. Lyra is soon spotted by the Gobblers and is captured.

A band of Gyptians led by Ma Costa, Billy's mother, save Lyra from the Gobblers and she is taken to the Gyptian king John Faa. Lord Faa is leading an army of Gyptians in sailing north to Trollesund in Norwegian Lapland in search of their abducted children. Gyptian elder Farder Coram recognizes the alethiometer that, with his guidance, Lyra discovers she can decipher. Serafina Pekkala, queen of one of the witch clans, flies to the Gyptian ship and tells Lyra the children are a week’s travel from Trollesund in a Magisterial experimental station at Bolvangar in Lapland. In league with the Magisterium, Mrs Coulter sends two venomous mechanical spy-flies after Lyra; one is caught by Farder Coram and sealed in a tin, but the other escapes, damaged, to relay Lyra’s position to Mrs Coulter.

Asriel reaches Svalbard, the Kingdom of the Ice Bears, but is captured by Samoyed tribesmen hired by Mrs Coulter, and imprisoned by the Ice Bears’ king, Ragnar Sturlusson, who had usurped the throne by poisoning the old king.

At Trollesund, Lyra befriends Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby, who suggests she hire him and his friend Iorek Byrnison, an armoured bear that he has come to rescue. Once a prince of the ice bears, Iorek was defeated in a fight and exiled in shame, and then the townspeople got him drunk to trick him out of his armour. Farder and Lyra find him in a sorry state behind a bar, then Lyra uses the alethiometer to help Iorek recover his armour from the Magisterium and so, in her debt, he with Scoresby join the Gyptian trek to Bolvangar.

Following directions from the alethiometer, Lyra side-tracks from the trek, with Iorek’s help, to an abandoned lakeside fishing hut and finds Billy Costa in a stupor clutching a dried fish in place of his dæmon. The Gobblers have experimented on him using "intercision", a procedure that surgically separates him from his dæmon. They all return to the Gyptian camp who express relief for the rescue mixed with condemnation for the hurt done.

Soon afterwards the camp is attacked by Samoyeds who capture Lyra. She is taken to the Ice Bear king, Ragnar, with Iorek and Lee in pursuit in Lee's hot air balloon. By claiming to be a dæmon, Lyra tricks Ragnar into single combat with Iorek, knowing otherwise he would not stand a chance of rescuing her. Ragnar has the upper hand until Iorek feigns weakness and kills him, reclaiming the throne. The bear renames Lyra as Silvertongue, forever in her debt.

Iorek carries Lyra to Bolvangar but she is forced to cross a chasm over a narrow ice bridge alone before it collapses. Reaching the experimental station, Lyra reunites with Roger. Lyra secretly overhears scientists are experimenting to sever children from their dæmons and Mrs Coulter says that Asriel will soon be taken by the Magisterium to be executed for heresy. Caught by the scientists, Lyra and Pan are thrown into the intercision chamber, but are rescued by Mrs Coulter before the intercision is completed. She explains to Lyra that the Magisterium believe intercision protects children from Dust's corrupting influence, when their dæmon’s form settles, but it is still experimental. Mrs Coulter admits she could not let Lyra be intercised as she is her mother, who had been forced to give her up, and then Lyra realises Asriel is her father. Mrs Coulter asks for the alethiometer, but Lyra gives her the sealed tin containing the spy-fly, which when released stings her mother into unconsciousness.

Lyra flees her mother and destroys the intercision machine, then leads all the children, primed ready by Roger, outside where they are confronted by Tatar mercenary guards and their wolf dæmons. In a big battle, the guards are defeated by Iorek, Scoresby, and the Gyptians, with the witches led by Serafina flying in to turn the tide in their favour.

With the freed children safe, Scoresby flies in his hot air balloon Lyra, Roger, Iorek, and Serafina north in search of Asriel. Serafina relates a prophecy of Lyra at its crux in an up-coming war with Magisterium, plotting to inflict their controlling Authority over all other worlds in the multiverse. Lyra commits to fight against the Magisterium.

The Golden Compass (2007)

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Storyline

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