His Dark Materials author on where The Golden Compass movie went wrong
By Dan Selcke
HBO and the BBC have teamed up to adapt Philip Pullman’s beloved fantasy series His Dark Materials for TV. A children’s series with an anti-establishment bent, His Dark Materials follows Lyra Belacqua, a precocious young girl who lives in a world very much like our own, only there are a lot more steampunk influences, everyone has an animal familiar called a dæmon, and there’s a tribe of talking fighting bears.
Without getting too lost in the weeds, we can just say that His Dark Materials is a meaty, interesting read, and that so far HBO and the BBC are committing to adapting it faithfully. But the new show is happening in an era when Game of Thrones has proved that there’s a market for longform fantasy stories on TV. The first book in Pullman’s series, The Northern Lights, was adapted as a movie in 2007, back when studios were trying to chase the success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy. That movie, The Golden Compass, featured heavy hitters like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, but it tanked critically and was a solid “meh” at the box office. If sequels were planned, they weren’t made.
So in hindsight, how does Pullman feel about The Golden Compass? The English author shared his thoughts on Twitter, the best worst discussion forum the 21st century has to offer:
Delighted as I am with the TV adaptation of HDM, I don't want to be too critical of The GC movie. A magnificent cast, among whom Dakota Blue Richards shone like the polar star, did the best that could be done with the time they had, which simply wasn't enough.
— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) November 10, 2019
The cast did “the best that could be done with the time they had.” That sounds like damning with faint praise to me.
Indeed, the original movie was criticized for being undercooked and for cutting out a lot of the anti-authority sentiment that made Pullman’s novels stand out among other, tamer young adult novels of the time. Still, the movie has its fans, although even they’re not deaf to its flaws:
I'm one of the (seemingly) few people who actually actively LOVED the movie. Yes, it was flawed. Yes, it was overstuffed. Yes, it lacked some grit.
— Chintan Nanavati (@LightHealing) November 10, 2019
But it was also sumptuous, transporting and full of some great performances..!
Plenty to love about the movie - Beautiful daemons, inspired casting and design of the Gyptians, Elliot’s Scoresby. Felt magical if not wholly faithful
— such ryot and welfare and ydlenesse 🍄 (@socialimmedia) November 10, 2019
I completely agree, the cast was magnificent, the special effects were out of this world, the atmosphere was just like the one from the book, I loved it so much and it will always have a special place in my heart! We know what @chrisweitz wanted to make and his vision was perfect
— Gaetano 🧭🗡️🔭 (@SetticasGaetano) November 10, 2019
We’re still early in the running for HBO’s His Dark Materials, but I think it has a much better chance of getting at the heart of Pullman’s work than The Golden Compass did. For one thing, HBO is already shooting the second season, which will adapt The Subtle Knife, the second book in the trilogy. At the least, we should get the full version of the story onscreen this time.
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Or if you don’t like either adaptation, there’s always the audiobook. Pullman’s definitely in favor of that one:
Well, if you put it like that ...
— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) November 10, 2019
There’s a new episode of His Dark Materials airing on HBO tonight!
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