The Golden Compass

 

The Golden Compass 2007

• Director: Chris Weitz
• Also seen by this director: About a Boy
• Based on a book by Philip Pullman
• Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Ben Walker, Eva Green, Jim Carter, Tom Courtney, Sam Elliot, Simon McBurney, Jack Shepherd, Derek Jacobi, Claire Higgins, Charlie Rowe, voices of Ian McKellen, Freddie Highmore, Ian McShane, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kathy Bates
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Nicole Kidman – Destroyer, Top of the Lake, Genius, Queen of the Desert, Strangerland, Before I Go to Sleep, The Railway Man, Rabbit Hole, Nine, Australia, Margot at the Wedding, Fur, The Interpreter, Cold Mountain, The Human Stain, Dogville, The Hours, Birthday Girl, The Others, Eyes Wide Shut, Practical Magic, Billy Bathgate
• Daniel Craig –Knives Out, Bond etc, Defiance, Infamous, Road to Perdition, Hotel Splendide, Elizabeth
• Eva Green – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Dark Shadows, Perfect Sense, Casino Royale, Kingdom of Heaven
• Jim Carter – Downton Abbey, My Week with Marilyn, Cranford, Creation, Out of Season, Modigliani, Ella Enchanted, Bright Young Things, Shakespeare in Love, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Brassed Off, Richard III, The Madness of King George
• Tom Courtney – Unforgotten, Flood, Last Orders, Quartet, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, The Dresser, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner  
• Sam Elliot – A Star Is Born, The Big Lebowski, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Simon McBurney – The Theory of Everything, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Jane Eyre, Robin Hood, Last King of Scotland, Bright Young Things, Kafka
• Jack Shepherd – The Politician’s Husband, Tristram Shandy, Wycliffe
• Derek Jacobi - Last Tango in Halifax, Vicious, Cinderella, My Week with Marilyn, The King’s Speech, Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Gladiator, Hamlet, Dead Again, Henry V, Hamlet, Richard II, I Claudius
• Claire Higgins – Ready Player One, Doctor Who, I Give It a Year, Downton Abbey, The Libertine
• Charlie Rowe – Never Let Me Go, The Boat that Rocked
• Why? I liked the book.
• Seen: 17 January 2021

             In an alternative universe, young, orphaned Lyra (Richards) is the only one who can read the Golden Compass, which reveals Truth. The oppressive Authorities will stop at nothing to stop Lyra from finding her uncle (Craig) who is in the far North seeking the Dust, which will enable him to enter and protect other universes from being conquered by the Authorities.

       It’s faithful to the book as far as I remember though much condensed and less intellectual. Half of Britain’s acting elite help to make it entertaining, and the special effects are very nice indeed. The fight between the armoured bears is most impressive.

       A likeable film.

 4* of 5