In the past couple of months I have seen at least 20 different movies. I've seen
movies such as "Heaven's Fall" and "Flyboys". I watched "The Ron Clark Story"
and even children's movies such as "Zoom". Of all those movies, one of the very
few that I liked was, surprisingly, "The Golden Compass" which was released this
Boxing Day.
Based on the first story of a trilogy by Philip Pullman, "The Golden Compass" is
about a young girl by the name of Lyra Belaqua (Dakota Blue Richards), who is
the subject of a prophecy concerning the fate of the world. The movie is set in
a parallel universe in which humans are accompanied by Daemons, an animal
representation of their souls. Mrs. Marisa Coulter (played by Nicole Kidman)
explains to Lyra that long ago when the people first disobeyed the 'Authority',
a particle called 'dust' was created. As children become adults, 'dust'
contaminates them through their Daemon. A sinister religious body called the
Magisterium (of which Mrs. Coulter is a strong part) tries to create a
population that will never question their authority by a process called
intercision. Intercision separates children from their Daemon before they can be
contaminated by 'dust', leaving them confused and easily controlled. Meanwhile,
children are being snatched up off the street by kidnappers called 'Gobblers',
to a facility in a vast ice-land so that they can be separated from their Daemon
and a new, compliant generation can be created.
The movie showed some witty examples of human characteristics. One fantastic
depiction of childhood and growing up was the Daemons. Young children's Daemons
can change shape into any animal they choose. As each child settles, chooses a
path and makes their life choices, so will their Daemon. Adult's Daemons settle
into one animal shape and do not change. This explains children's indecision and
how they are easily impressed.
A scene, in which one of the children escapes from the intercision facility,
sheds some light on the whole 'soul' business. The child has been separated from
his Daemon (soul) and is confused, weak and deathly pale. This perfectly depicts
the phrase 'to lose your spirit'. When someone is so lost and confused, they
have no faith in anything, they may still be alive but they seem to walk around
in a stupor, with no direction and no hope, they 'lose their spirit'.
Many recent movies have been dramas, and even romantic ones, that have tried to
portray a more realistic scenario by ending on a sad note. They show stories
about how bad things happen, not necessarily at the fault of the hero or
heroine, and unlike it is often portrayed in fairy tales, it cannot always be
fixed. While this is very true in real life, I personally don't find it
particularly appealing in a movie. I think we go to the movies for a bit of a
break from our lives, for some hope, and even to see someone else's life take a
turn for the better, so that we may have faith in the world.
"The Golden Compass" showed all of the things I love in a movie: great actors,
fantastic visual effects, amazing scenery, a great story and a good ending.
As one of seven different movies released on Boxing Day, "The Golden Compass"
was given the Boxing Day Crown. Other movies released on the 26th include "Alien
vs Predator: Requiem", "Enchanted", "Atonement", "PS I Love You", "No Country
for Old Men" and "Served the King of England", but it was "The Golden Compass"
that came in at the top of them all with over $1,613,225. Rightly so!

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