Based on my experience, there are two most important things to learn and can be applied on our daily life. One is about children and adults; two is about the purpose of our life. The movie is actually brought from a novel written by Philip Pullman, entitled The Golden Compass. This is the first series from his great trilogy entitled “His Dark Materials”, which consists of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass.Despite of all the controversies about this movie, I don’t want to be trapped inside of endless debates, especially concerning religions and dogmas. I always maintain my open-minded character that absorbed all knowledge and take all the positive sides of all things. As long as something doesn’t cause damage or harm to others, we shall leave them be.
Directed by Chris Weitz, The Golden Compass tells a story about a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (played by Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who lived at
In her world, every person was accompanied by a daemon. Daemon is a physical representation of their soul in animal form. Each person had their own daemon and each of them is unique. Daemons could change its shape according to the characteristics of the human’s soul, whether he / she is brave, strong, intelligent, etc. One also had to be close to their own daemon because once they’re separated from their daemons, it could bring weakness or death.
Children’s daemons changed shape most often because their souls were still unstable and fragile. But children had their own advantages over the adults because of their souls’ pureness and freedom. Their daemons could change their form according to their emotions. On the other hand, adults’ daemons settled in to one shape and didn’t change. Lyra’s daemon, the Pantalaimon, could change his shape into any animals he chose.
Problems occurred when children had been disappearing from the streets. Rumors said that they were kidnapped by Gobblers. Lyra somehow got involved with the expedition when she was asked by Mrs. Coulter (played by Nicole Kidman) to be her assistant on the expedition. Mrs. Coulter seemed to have her own secrets and purposes that put Lyra at the disadvantages of not being able to say no. The night when they had dinner and got introduced to each other, Lyra’s friends, Roger and Billy Costa, mysteriously went missing.
Before their departure to the north, Lyra was given a magical golden device called the alethiometer, and gained possession of it. The device turned out to be the Golden Compass that was said capable of telling the truth. Unfortunately, the giver couldn’t tell her much about how it works, but told her that it’s very important that she keep it only for herself.
Things got complicated when after some time, Lyra learned that Mrs. Coulter was involved with the missing children. She tried her best to protect the Golden Compass from Mrs. Coulter’s eyes and her monkey daemon. When things got worse, the Gyptians and Billy Costa’s mother managed to save Lyra and her daemon. They’re sent by Lord Asriel himself to watch over her.
Through her travels and adventures, Lyra began to understand how to operate the magical Golden Compass and gained herself new friends… New powerful friends like Serafina Pekkala (played by Eva Green) – the queen of witches who revealed a secret about the missing children, Lee Scoresby (played by Sam Elliot) who offered to aid her, and Iorek Byrnison – a powerful armored ice bear (or should I say white polar bear) who became Lyra’s best friend because she helped him recover his armor.
Lyra and her powerful allies helped each other in a journey to uncover the secrets of the missing children and the great expedition to the north. It wouldn’t be easy as they had to face ferocious enemies and hostile environments. The war was inevitable, not just between individuals, but also between their armies. Why were the children abducted? Was there anything to do with the dust? What is the connection between Lyra and Mrs. Coulter? Did Lord Asriel manage to execute his expedition to the far north? The answers can be answered only by you.
As I said before at the earlier paragraph, there’re two important things you can learn from here. First is about children and adults. Children always have free souls and unaffected by the outside world’s influences, although their souls are also weak and unstable. It’s perfectly described by their daemons, which can turn into different shapes according to their characters or emotions. Children have more abilities to feel empathy, see things more clearly, adapt to their surroundings, and make judgments based on their pure hearts.
On the other hand, adults have lots of difficulties to adapt to their surroundings because their souls are not free anymore. Although their souls are stronger, more stable and mature, they often cannot see things clearly as their minds have already been poisoned by bad influences from their environments. It is described by their daemons, which cannot change as freely as children’s. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have souls like the children as you’ll need to maintain freedom and creativity throughout your life.
The next lesson is about the Golden Compass itself. Whether we realize it or not, we all have the Golden Compass inside of our head and heart. It points the directions and determines the purposes of our lives. All living beings have purposes. Whatever it is, we all have our own destinations and purposes in life. I cannot imagine living without destinations and purposes… it’s like being drifted or washed away on the open ocean. So, whenever we get confused or lost, all we have to do is open the Golden Compass inside our head and heart, and listen to what it says. Make sure you have a purpose in life, and all of your dreams are yours to take.
Ivan the Freelancer
1 comment:
Great review. Makes me wanna see it again.
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