Golden Compass

The Golden Compass is worth seeing for many reasons but Sam Elliott’s performance is one of the best ones. I don’t know if he ever really plays anyone but himself, and the dialect is also some sort of Western variant, but he dominates every scene he appears in in this film. In the book, I did not really like his character, rough tootin’ Lee Scoresby, but in the film he was one of those who as soon as you see them once, all you do is wait for their next scene. The picture above does not do justice to his sideways glances of wry amusement at his own laconic phrases. He is bemused. He is a cowboy stranded in a fantasy and somehow, against all odds, it works.

I’ve always liked Sam, but he is an actor with a lot of baggage. You know exactly what you are getting when he comes through the door; he’s a welcome guest even if you’ve heard every one of his jokes already.

The video below, from the official site, goes into an extremely clever and complex idea in that world of people possessing daemons, souls as visible totems, and it also has a bit of Sam at about 2:40.

The daemons are shape shifting animal creatures, one to a person, inextricably bound with the person’s nature and reflective of them, and at puberty settle into one constant shape. Sam’s for instance is a big ol’ jackrabbit. A person cannot be imagined not to have one, and it makes for some very furry and feathery scenes. A world where each person is accompanied by an animal spirit.

I’ll leave the rest for you to discover but the film has a host of fine actors not often seen including Derek Jacobi (still remember his Claudius), Tom Courtenay, Christopher Lee, the two leads from Casino Royale, Eva Green and Daniel Craig, not to mention the voiceovers, Kathy Bates and Ian McShane (Deadwood). The visuals are stunning, but aren’t they always these days?, good set pieces, the pace nice, and the animation first rate.

This young adult film is another one of those that has me crying “why didn’t they make them like this when I was a kid”. For one thing, the Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, did not exist. A remarkable book which has attained some notoriety for its god killing plot (and they were worried about Harry Potter). Pullman himself is a highly entertaining man, well spoken, intelligent and thoughtful. The trilogy, and this film, even if it cuts a few things short, are deep with possibilities.

Sure, its a kids film but its a keeper.