Review of the film "The Golden Compass": actors, production, plot

In 2007, the beginning Hollywood director Chris Weitz has presented to all fans of fantasy a real gift - a fantastic picture "The Golden Compass". Actors Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards performed the main roles. The film is a film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel "The Northern Lights", the first book of his popular trilogy "The Dark Beginnings."

Plot

The main character, 12-year-old Lira Belakva, lives in a world parallel to ours. There, science and magic coexist peacefully and complement each other. In this world, every person has a demon - a certain animal, the prototype of his soul. Damon children can change the appearance, depending on the feelings of their owners. If a person dies, his demon also perishes.

Lira lives in Oxford with her uncle Lord Azriel. Her real parents, she never saw, and thinks that they have long died.

Lira accidentally overhears a conversation about some mysterious "dust" that could destroy her world, but neither the uncle nor the mysterious Marisa Colter gives the girl any explanation.

In the world of Lear, all power is concentrated in the hands of the Magisterium - a powerful organization that does not stop at anything to achieve its goals and tries to control all spheres of society's life. They hide from the inhabitants of Oxford the truth about the "dust". So that no one will learn about the possible danger, the Magisterium orders to destroy all the altimeters - magical instruments, similar to gold compasses, which make it possible to learn the truth about any things. There was only one left - the one that Lira accidentally finds.

Lyra's life changes when young children in the city begin to disappear without a trace. And her best friend Roger also disappeared. The girl understands that Mrs. Colter and the Magisterium are involved in these disappearances. Lyra takes an alethiometer and goes in search of abducted children.

Production

Back in 2002, after the deafening box office success of the first part of "The Lord of the Rings", it was decided to acquire the rights to film the fantasy "Dark beginnings" of Philip Pullman, which was done already in February. The British playwright Tom Stoppard was hired to write the script. Directors Brett Retner and Sam Mendes showed interest in the production, but in the end, the director was appointed Chris Weitz. The famous composer of French origin Alexander Despal, winner of the Oscar and Golden Globe awards, agreed to write a soundtrack for the film.

After a long casting, which was constantly attended by Philip Pullman, in September 2006, began the filming process. Filming took place in Switzerland, Norway and the UK.

Cast

Actors of the film "The Golden Compass" received several awards for their game, especially appreciated the debutante Dakota Blue Richards. Direct participation in the selection of actors took Philip Pullman - the author of the literary source. It was he who insisted on the role of Marisa Koulter performed by Nicole Kidman. He also wanted the actors Jason Isaacs and Samuel L. Jackson to play roles in the Golden Compass, but they refused to take part in the shoot because of the busy schedule. The cast was completely approved in August 2006.

In the film "Golden Compass" actors and roles were selected by the creators in such a way that both the author of the novel, and critics, and the audience were satisfied. After the successful premiere of the picture, Dakota Blue Richards starred in the fantastic film "The Secret of Munakra", the series "Milk Picks", and also played a small role in the dramatic film "Bend".

Nicole Kidman agreed to the role in the film only after the long persuasion of Philip Pullman, who saw in the role of Mrs. Colter only this actress.

Reviews

The film received mixed reviews of critics. It was noted that in the film "The Golden Compass", actors and roles, atmosphere and visual effects are embodied very successfully, and Dakota Blue Richards was even nominated for the Saturn Award in the category of the best young actress. Magnificent visual effects were also called the undoubted advantage of the picture. The main disadvantage of the "Golden Compass", according to critics, was a simple storyline. With this remark it is difficult to disagree, so the ending makes the film logically incomplete. The presence of sequels could correct the situation, but for nine years they have not been lifted.

Fans of the book "Northern Lights" were dissatisfied with the fact that many episodes and fragments of the novel were removed in the film.

The fate of the sequels

The picture, with a fairly large budget (180 million dollars), raised more than 370 million at the box office. Shortly after the premiere, preparations began for the shooting of the continuation of the fantasy Golden Compass, actors Dakota Julia Richards, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, as planned, return to their previous characters. But due to several unsuccessful projects, the film company had great financial difficulties. As a result, the shooting was canceled, and at the moment it is not known whether the remaining two books of the "Dark beginnings" trilogy will be screened.