films ...

pathways, DECEMBER 2007

 

 

 

 

starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Ian McKellen

written and directed by Chris Weitz

 

 

This is a comment on the film itself, not the novel Northern Lights on which the film is based, or other Pullman novels.  Some observations on Philip Pullman can be found in the accompanying article.

 

The Golden Compass is well-made, with a lot of intelligent dialogue.  Much of the film requires attention as well as some developed vocabulary.  It looks very good: sets and design, effects for fantasy, and Nicole Kidman wearing a large array of costumes and gowns.

 

The cast is strong with Dakota Blue Richards as the feisty heroine, Lyra, who along with her daemon, Pan, who is the external version, the physical manifestation of her 'soul' with whom she can speak and argue, is ready to take on all comers - and does.  The talented young actor, Freddie Highmore, is the voice of Pan.

 

The Golden Compass itself is a powerful mechanism that tells the truth and reveals what others wish to hide.

 

Apart from Nicole Kidman, who seems to be relishing the opportunity to be glamorous, charming and ruthlessly villainous, there is Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Sam Elliott exactly as he is in the many Westerns he has appeared in as Mr Scoresby and a long list of distinguished British stage and screen actors including Derek Jacobi, Christopher Lee, Claire Higgins, Tom Courteney, Jim Carter and the voices of Ian McKellen (particularly strong and heroic) and Ian McShane as the rival bear kings.

 

The film certainly has class.  Interestingly (and perhaps surprisingly), writer-adapter and director is an American, Chris Weitz.  After assisting his brother, Paul, with the directing of American Pie and the Chris Rock comedy, Down to Earth, they went to England to direct the film version of Nick Hornby's About a Boy.  Obviously, things English have appealed to him.
 
The plot is, one might say, some variations on most of the recent fantasy films.  Afficionados will enjoy pointing out the comparisons.  Yes, there is battle between good and evil - and in remote locations like the Rings Trilogy.  Yes, there is a young central character, this time a girl, a kind of working class Hermione who lives in a college and has to do Harry Potter-like actions.  The king bear, a literally towering figure, is reminiscent of Aslan in Narnia.  There is a happy continuity in the imagination of all these films.
 
With a girl as central and with a number of battle sequences, the film should appeal to its boys and girls target audience -  and the adults will probably enjoy it too (but may have to ask the children some clarifications of plot and characters).

 

There are some aspects of the film that may raise a religious eyebrow.

 

The opening of the film speaks of parallel worlds, a feature of all of the best film fantasies.  In our world, our souls are within us.  In the parallel world, the soul is outside us, in the form of a symbolic animal called a 'daemon' (not a devil but a 'spirit' according to the origins of the word).

 

The other word is the 'Magisterium', the name of the all-powerful ruling body which is authoritarian and intent on eradicating free will so that all people, especially the children they abduct and experiment on, will lose their daemon and be completely conformist and happy.  The Magisterium heads are embodied by Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee who spurn tolerance and freedom and speak of heresy. Magisterium is, in fact, the word used for the authoritative teaching of the Catholic church, so that is clearly a critical element - though, as will be quoted later, Pullman says he is not anti-Catholic but anti-rigid religion.

 

The Golden Compass has some frightening scenes and battles for the younger audience.

 

The film, The Golden Compass, will be released in Australia on Boxing Day, December 26, by Village Roadshow.  According to the Director of Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting, Fr Richard Leonard SJ, there have been no press screenings yet in Australia, so he has made available a statement from SIGNIS: The World Association for Catholic Communications (London) where Australia's Fr Peter Malone MSC, heads the film desk. Further comment surrounding the pre-release controversy surrounding the film can be found in the pathways article, The Golden Compass.

 

 

animation film voiced by Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Kathy Bates

directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner

rated G

90 minutes

 

 

It is such a pleasure to recommend this film to the whole family. There is something here for everyone. Created and co-written by Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie is a hive of interesting ideas and social commentary. 

 

Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld) is a recent college graduate, but wants more out of life than the inevitable career that awaits him and every other worker in New Hive City, a job at Honex producing honey. Barry ventures out of the hive, and encounters New York .  There, he discovers that anyone can buy honey off the supermarket shelf. Shocked,  he decides to sue the honey manufactures for breech of copyright, but his case has consequences that Barry cannot foresee.
 
At just 90 minutes, younger children will be captivated by the infinitely likeable Barry, his family and friends. Older children, teenagers and adults will, at varying levels, be more alert to the social commentary behind so much of the film's narrative -  on the dignity of work, enforced labour, nature of war and attack, natural versus modified food production, environmental concerns and the balance needed in creation. It's all there. And it is packaged in what is always an enjoyable vehicle, and which at times it is very funny indeed.
 
The moral of the film is strong too: we are all interconnected, and even the smallest task in the day-to-day world has significant ramifications for our quality of life.
 
My only criticism of the film is that is a tale out of Boy's Own Annual. The story and its setting lend itself toward a much greater role for women, but here they are only seen as a mother and the love interest.  But this reservation in no way takes away from the delight you and your family will derive from Bee Movie. It gets an A from me.

 

 

 

starring Tim Olyphant, Dougray Scott and Olga Kurylenko

directed by Xavier Gens

rated MA 15+ (very strong violence, coarse language, nudity)

93 minutes

 

 

Based on video games with variations of the same name, the title star is known only as Agent 47 (Tim Olyphant). He seems to have been genetically-modified while still a boy in a Catholic orphanage. He now works for a mysterious organization called The Agency.  Programmed to be a ruthless killing machine, he is considered the best of his class. Trailed for years by a relentless Interpol agent (Dougray Scott), Agent 47 has, up to now, evaded apprehension and even being photographed.
 
This film will have limited appeal to a wide audience. If the graphic and prolonged violence does not count you out, the poor acting should. The principal cast members are decent enough with the limited material with which they have to work, but the some of the supporting cast is lamentable. The story is derivative, predictable and absurd.
 
Most affronting to Catholic viewers, however, will be the opening title sequence. Agent 47's back story is outlined, as the sound track roars a funky version of Schubert's "Ave Maria". In this flashback sequence, Agent 47 seems to be an orphan child who is in some type of institution, be it a monastery or orphanage.  While the "Hail Mary" is sung, men dressed as monks abuse mini-47, shave his head, perform some sort of neurological operation on him, and leave him with a bar code tattooed on the back of his scalp.
 
As the film progresses we meet other agents with similar hairstyles and bar codes. I guess that writer Skip Woods and director Xavier Gens thought exploiting the real suffering of some children who were abused while in the church's care, was a legitimate hook for their violent fantasy.
 
But we should not expect too much from filmmakers that are so lazy that while the film is set today, they type up on the screen "Russian Border - Turkey", when Russia and Turkey do not share a border at all. The old USSR did, and Georgia does now. Furthermore, while a good deal of the film is set in Russia , much of it was filmed in Bulgaria . How do we know that? Many of the supposedly Russian road and other signs are in Bulgarian, not Russian.
 
Do yourself a favour and hit the Hitman for six.

 

 

starring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson

directed by Mikael Hafstrom

rated M (moderate supernatural themes and moderate violence, infrequent moderate coarse language)

104 minutes

 

reviewer: Peter Malone MSC

 

Stephen King seems to have a thing about the sinister potential of hotels.  This was true of The Shining.  It is very much true of 1408.  Based on one of his short stories, this is quite eerie and frequently frightening stuff.
 
John Cusack is a very sceptical writer who writes books about haunted locations, especially hotels which make claims for ghosts (and tourists).  His signature comment to fans is, 'Stay scared'.  He responds to a challenge to stay in the haunted room, 1408 - 56 deaths have taken place in it - at the Dolphin Hotel in New York.  The Manager, Samuel L. Jackson, does his best to persuade him against it.
 
The film builds up the tension gradually so that we experience menace, anticipation and, then, the real thing with terrifyingly effective special effects.  There is a moment when we reach a climax which momentarily seems like an anticlimax and we think, 'is that all there is…?'.  And, the answer is 'definitely not'.  Back to room 1408.
 
John Cusack is centre screen all the time, often by himself for a long time in room 1408.  He is very persuasive.  This film returns us to the heyday of Stephen King films of the 1980s like Christine, Dead Zone, Firestarter.