See also a review of Killing the Imposter God, a book about Philip Pullman’s novels. For study in adult Sunday school, read Finding a path through The Golden Compass— guidance for thoughtful Christian moviegoers from the office of Theology and Worship.

Too much violence, too little theology

The Golden Compass

Directed and written by Chris Weitz. New Line Cinema. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1 hour, 54 min.

Image courtesy of New Line Cinema

My own concern centers around the effect that the violent fight scenes, especially the one at the climax of the film, might have on children, especially those prone to nightmares. No parent should send an elementary-age child to the film alone. Before taking a child to see the movie, I suggest parents screen it themselves.

Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards is excellent as Lyra Belacqua, a seemingly orphaned girl growing up under the tutelage of scholars at the Oxford University, set in a parallel universe. The setting is a combination of 1930s sartorial style and late Victorian or Jules Verne technology, with air travel by blimps and propeller-driven balloons. What is most striking about this parallel world is that every person has an outside soul, embodied in an animal called a daemon. Although adult daemons are fixed, those of children constantly shift their shapes according to their moods and emotions. Lyra's daemon is named Pantalaimon, and the two can talk together. (Freddie Highmore provides Pan's voice.) Although a daemon can run about and help its human see what is around corners or over walls, he (or she — girls have male, boys have female daemons) cannot venture far without undergoing extreme pain.

Presiding over this world is the Magisterium, a religious organization — though no parishes, worship services or other activities normally associated with churches are shown. The Magisterium’s General Oblation Board operates much like the Inquisition, keeping a close watch on heretical ideas. Lyra is little interested in any of this, refusing to tend to her lessons or settle into genteel manners. We first see her running about with her friends, made up children of the servants and those of the roving seafarers known as the Gyptians. When she is accused of being "a lady," she takes great umbrage.

Lyra's great adventure begins when she is exploring a banquet hall and ventures into a conference room, which she had been forbidden to enter. Hearing someone approaching, she hides in a cabinet and watches as the Headmaster and a Magisterial Emissary enter. Left alone, the Emissary pours a powder into the decanter on the table. Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), Lyra's official guardian who barely keeps in touch with her, then enters. After the Emissary has left, he pours himself a drink. Lyra dashes out and knocks the glass to the floor, telling the startled Asriel what she has seen. He orders her back into the cabinet to spy on the other scholars.

When the scholars gather, Lord Asriel presents his findings concerning Dust, the dark matter that gathers around adult humans but not children. He asks for funds so that he can mount an expedition to the far north to investigate the findings of a disappeared explorer, Stanislaus Grumman, who discovered that there might be a window to a parallel universe that involves Dust. The scholars agree to his request, despite the disapproval of the Emissary, and Asriel promptly leaves Oxford and heads north.

Events follow quickly for Lyra, far more swiftly than in the book. Her best friend Roger, as well as the Gyptian playmate Billy, disappear. They join a number of children, always those of the working class or Gyptians, who have been disappearing, the rumor being that "Gobblers" have been seizing them. A beautiful woman visits Oxford. She is Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), who works for the Magisterium. Taking a liking to Lyra, she whisks her away as her assistant, but not before the Head Master can give the girl a device that will prove to be the key to all that happens hereafter: the Golden Compass, called an alethiometer, or truth finder. It is the last of six that were created, the Magisterium having located and destroyed the others. He instructs the girl to never show it to Mrs. Coulter.

Although Mrs. Coulter lavishes attention on Lyra and shows her off at numerous parties, the two strong-willed females soon clash. When Pan discovers that Mrs. Coulter is the head of the group kidnapping the children, and Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey daemon discovers the alethiometer, Lyra dashes off into the night. Captured by goons, she is rescued by Gyptians and taken aboard their ship that is setting off for the far north. Subsequent events include Lyra's learning how to use the alethiometer (it is a means of communicating with the golden Dust), a visit with a queen of the witches, meeting up with cowboy/aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) and armored bear Iorek Byrnison (voice by Ian McKellen). The latter provides one of the set pieces for violence in a bloody battle with the evil Bear King. How all these team up to locate and rescue the stolen children makes for fast-paced excitement. The film ends before the novel does. Apparently the filmmakers intend to begin the sequel with the omitted sequence.

Given the controversy over whether Philip Pullman’s novels — and this film — promote atheism, how should Christian viewers approach The Golden Compass? First, read the original novels, especially if you enjoy fantasy literature. You will discover that Pullman opposes what any thoughtful Christians would also oppose: abuse of power by the church, and a view of God as a tyrannical ruler. Pullman is very much like what theologian Robert McAfee Brown called "Assyrians in Disguise." Brown contended that authors such as J.D. Salinger and John Updike (and now Pullman) are like the ancient nation that Isaiah claimed was used by God to uproot or punish the corruption of ancient Israel so that the true faith could thrive unhampered. These authors may not have the truth (or gospel) themselves, but they do know what is false or life-killing in society.

The filmmakers, as noted before, go very easy on Pullman’s “theology,” which in a way is too bad. His novels offer wonderful opportunities for young people and adults to explore theological themes, such as good and evil. When Mrs. Coulter explains to Lyra what Christians call the Fall of Humanity, she does not mention Adam or Eve or Original Sin. She says only that long ago a wrong decision was made that resulted in people now doing bad things. Later we learn that the Magisterium believes that Dust settling on a maturing child makes him or her into a sinful adult. The Magisterium is experimenting on the kidnapped children in a laboratory in the far north, separating them electronically from their daemons and then trying to keep them alive. This part of the film will remind adults of the Nazi’s gruesome experiments on human beings, and of the lobotomies and mishandled electric shock treatments doctors inflicted upon mentally incompetent patients in America in the early 20th century.

To prepare for discussing the film, secure a copy of Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials. [Read review]. Claiming that Pullman is a theologian in spite of himself, the book’s authors provide plenty of food for thought. Then simply enjoy a good fantasy tale well told, with almost every scene, especially those set in Oxford and London, a visual treat.

Rendition

Rated R.

Ecclesiastes 4:1; Isaiah 5:20 (RSV); Matthew 5:7

This disturbing film puts a human face on our CIA’s practice of "extreme rendition" in regard to treatment of suspected terrorists. An Egyptian-born U.S. businessman is returning home from South Africa when the CIA picks him up as he disembarks at a Washington, D.C., airport, places a hood over his head and ships him off to a North African nation for "interrogation."

No charges are made against him; no explanations provided; no word given out to his anxious wife — indeed, the CIA erases his name from the passenger manifest so that there is no record of his ever boarding the plane. As the wife pursues the case, the State Department continues to deny any knowledge of his fate.

All this happens because of a bombing in the North African nation. Phone records show that terrorists made several phone calls to the businessman’s cell phone — or to someone with his not-uncommon name, Anwar El-Ibrahimi. Scenes of water boarding, electro-shock and beatings — with the CIA agent looking on while the foreign agent does the actual dirty work — fill in the meaning of the euphemism "interrogation."

In the Valley of Elah

Rated R.

Habakkuk 1:2–3

Like a lamentation by the ancient prophets Jeremiah or Habakkuk, this moving film is not meant to send us out of the theater feeling good. Tommy Lee Jones’ performance as retired military policeman Hank Deerfield is Oscar-caliber. He is searching for his just-back-from Iraq son who has gone absent without leave. Was he murdered, and if so, is the Army covering it up?

During Deerfield’s search, aided by a small-town police officer, he finds more than he bargained for. The symbolic ending strongly declares that as a people we are in deep trouble because of what our “War on Terror” is doing to the psyches of our soldiers. A crude video made in the soldier’s vehicle in Iraq during an attack by insurgents reveals to the father some of the horror his son and his comrades found difficult to live with.