CINEMA WORKSHOP

The Golden Compass

SUMMARY
The Golden Compass is set in another world. Lyra is the protagonist. She lives in Oxford, England, in Jordan College. She thinks she is an orphan.

Her world is ruled by the Magisterium, which both exercises temporal and spiritual
powers. In her world, people dont have their Souls inside their bodies. Their Souls are called dmons and they have the shape of animals. Lyras dmon is called Pantalaimon. It can change shape because Lyra is a child and her personality still can change. Her father, Lord Asriel, has a snow-leopard as dmon; her mother, Mrs Coulter, has a monkey. Lord Asriel is an explorer and he has discovered the existence of Dust in the North Pole. Mrs Coulter works for the Oblation Board, part of the Magisterium. The Board wants to carry out experiments on children in order to separate them from their

dmons and control them more easily.

Lyra sets off in search of her friends, who have been kidnapped by the Oblation Board (also known by the children as Gobblers). During her quest she encounters the Gyptians, witches, and the Armoured Polar Bears.

Philip Pullmans novel Northern Lights, part of Trilogy His Dark Material and also known as The Golden Compass, certainly is a controversial work. Pullmans portrayal of organised religion is no wonder, if we think that he has been described as one of the most outspoken atheists in England. However, as we are going to see together, his work is full of references to Christian culture: several quotations in the book are taken from Miltons Paradise Lost, Dantes Divine Comedy and the Bible in particular. Lyras surname, for instance, is Belacqua: Belacqua is the name of a soul Dante meets in the AntePurgatory and represents those who waited until the very last opportunity before turning to God. Lord Asriels name, on the contrary, has been interpreted in many different ways: one of the most fascinating theories, though, asserts that Asriel might be an anagram of Israel - Jacobs nickname in the Bible, meaning He who has struggles with God Also, Lyra has been described as the new Eve a woman destined to bring about the end of destiny, at the expense of a great betrayal.

The universe where Lyra and her companions live is a universe parallel to our own, which generated from the Protestant Reformation. While in our own universe the dispute was finally overcome by the Catholic Church thanks to the Counter-Reformation, in Lyras world this never happened and the organised Church moved its headquarter to Geneve and named John Calvin Pope. In Lyras universe the Church is now called Magisterium and exercises both temporal and spiritual powers. The only places which benefit from some sort of freedom and independence are universities. Pullmans novel, and the film you are going to watch, undermine conventional ideas about Sin. Characters that are usually described as outcasts (e.g. witches, Gyptians), here represent strong unselfish heroes. Moreover, legendary episodes from our culture, which are commonly considered negative results of our fallible human nature such as the fall of Adam and Eve, or Satan uprising against God are here portrayed as acts of free will and steps to knowledge, thus acquiring a thoroughly positive connotation.

DAEMONS
As already mentioned in the summary, dmons are the physical manifestation of a persons soul. While in our world, our souls are hidden in our bodies, in Lyras world they exist outside a persons body. Apparently, Pullmans idea of dmons generated from Leonardo Da Vincis Lady with an Ermine.

As said, a dmon represents a human beings personality. Lord Asriels dmon is a snow-leopard, Mrs
Coulters is a very nasty monkey, the Gyptians usually have hawks while servants normally have dogs. A childs dmon can shape-shift, i.e. change shape, because of the childs potential. Some human beings have undertaken spiritual journeys in order to learn how to stay far from their dmons for a while: among these, there are witches and shamans. On the contrary, armoured bears have no dmons: their soul is their armour and without it they are weak, dishonoured, useless.

INTERCISION
Clearly, then, separating a person from his or her dmon causes unimaginable physical and emotional pain for both entities and often brings to death; however, some cultures have mastered techniques that allow the dmon to gain wider mobility. The guillotine used by the Oblation Board a part of the Magisterium violently and permanently severs the bond between person and dmon, and drastically reduces the persons creativity, intelligence,

and will. The adults that have gone through the process
seem blank and lifeless, and their dmons seem subdued and incurious. The children most often die. Dmons that have been separated from their people are insubstantial and needy: they cluster desperately, ignoring the contact taboo.

DUST
Of course Intercision is strictly connected to Dust. In Lyras world Dust is a mysterious cosmic particle and, according to the Magisterium, the physical manifestation of Original Sin. Dust is even mentioned in an alternate version of the Bible in Lyras world: For Dust thou art, and unto Dust shalt thou return. In the film we later come to know that Dust actually confers consciousness, knowledge and wisdom: as asserted before, Pullmans idea of Original Sin is exactly

that.