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[CCBC-Net] The Golden Compass Movie
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From: Caroline Parr <CParr>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:14:33 -0500
Thanks for those great links, Monica! I agree, the previews I have seen are a wonderful match for the characters as they appear in my own imagination. Nicole Kidman, especially, seems perfect for Mrs. Coulter.
There's also a very interesting article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the process of turning the book into the film, including a discussion of whether or how much Pullman's anti-religious themes are reflected in the finished movie. See a snippet of the article here http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200712/religious-movies or get the whole article through your local library. Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Coordinator of Youth Services Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 540-372-1160 www.LibraryPoint.org
-----Original Message----- From: Monica Edinger [mailto:monicaedinger at gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 8:32 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [CCBC-Net] The Golden Compass Movie
I too am very much looking forward to The Golden Compass movie. I wrote on child_lit, "What encourages me so far is that the actors look sublime. I'm a character-driven reader and adore those in The Golden Compass. So if they come across on the screen as wonderfully as they do in the book I think the movie will work in telling that great story. (Of course, it looks gorgeous too, but I'll need more than that to fall in love with the movie.) "
The book certainly is a challenging one to turn into a movie. Not only because (as has been noted here already) the themes of His Dark Materials are complex and involve religion in ways that are discomforting to some, but also because it is so huge and so epic that just telling the story well on the screen is a huge task. Even as some worry about the implications the movie may have in terms of viewers' religious belief others worry about faithfulness to the book --- something next to impossible to do, in my opinion, while also making a good movie. The first Harry Potter movie, in my opinion, was a so-so movie because they stuck so close to the story
(something, mind you, I think they were right to do at that point in time). The best of that series to date, in my opinion, is the third one (the book too) because the director followed his creative ideas without feeling such a need to stick so closely to the book.
Regarding The Golden Compass movie, for those who want to know more about it there have been some very intelligent statements recently from Philip Pullman, Chris Weitz (the director), and others about the movie. In particular I recommend the following:
Religion scholar Donna Freitas recently interviewed Pullman. There are five clips of the interview at http://blog.beliefnet.com/idolchatter/2007/11/exclusive-video-philip-pulman. html
.
Director Chris Weitz is answering questions about the movie here: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/11/14/golden-compass-director-chris-weitz-ans wers-your-questions-part-i/
And if you REALLY want a lot more, I've got quite a bit on my blog,
"educating alice" (medinger.wordpress.com) including some posts about Philip Pullman's visit to NYC (and how he spent Halloween) and a charming promotional video about the girl who plays Lyra. Just look under the tags,
"Philip Pullman" and/or "The Golden Compass," or "Waiting for Lyra."
Monica
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:14:33 -0500
Thanks for those great links, Monica! I agree, the previews I have seen are a wonderful match for the characters as they appear in my own imagination. Nicole Kidman, especially, seems perfect for Mrs. Coulter.
There's also a very interesting article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the process of turning the book into the film, including a discussion of whether or how much Pullman's anti-religious themes are reflected in the finished movie. See a snippet of the article here http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200712/religious-movies or get the whole article through your local library. Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Coordinator of Youth Services Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 540-372-1160 www.LibraryPoint.org
-----Original Message----- From: Monica Edinger [mailto:monicaedinger at gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 8:32 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [CCBC-Net] The Golden Compass Movie
I too am very much looking forward to The Golden Compass movie. I wrote on child_lit, "What encourages me so far is that the actors look sublime. I'm a character-driven reader and adore those in The Golden Compass. So if they come across on the screen as wonderfully as they do in the book I think the movie will work in telling that great story. (Of course, it looks gorgeous too, but I'll need more than that to fall in love with the movie.) "
The book certainly is a challenging one to turn into a movie. Not only because (as has been noted here already) the themes of His Dark Materials are complex and involve religion in ways that are discomforting to some, but also because it is so huge and so epic that just telling the story well on the screen is a huge task. Even as some worry about the implications the movie may have in terms of viewers' religious belief others worry about faithfulness to the book --- something next to impossible to do, in my opinion, while also making a good movie. The first Harry Potter movie, in my opinion, was a so-so movie because they stuck so close to the story
(something, mind you, I think they were right to do at that point in time). The best of that series to date, in my opinion, is the third one (the book too) because the director followed his creative ideas without feeling such a need to stick so closely to the book.
Regarding The Golden Compass movie, for those who want to know more about it there have been some very intelligent statements recently from Philip Pullman, Chris Weitz (the director), and others about the movie. In particular I recommend the following:
Religion scholar Donna Freitas recently interviewed Pullman. There are five clips of the interview at http://blog.beliefnet.com/idolchatter/2007/11/exclusive-video-philip-pulman. html
.
Director Chris Weitz is answering questions about the movie here: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/11/14/golden-compass-director-chris-weitz-ans wers-your-questions-part-i/
And if you REALLY want a lot more, I've got quite a bit on my blog,
"educating alice" (medinger.wordpress.com) including some posts about Philip Pullman's visit to NYC (and how he spent Halloween) and a charming promotional video about the girl who plays Lyra. Just look under the tags,
"Philip Pullman" and/or "The Golden Compass," or "Waiting for Lyra."
Monica
-- Monica Edinger Newbery 2008 Chair Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts 2007 The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at gmail.com my blog educating alice is at http://medinger.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-netReceived on Thu 15 Nov 2007 08:14:33 AM CST
