Tuesday, December 11, 2007
As yer Pynchon manages to get over himself, he decides today to write about "The Golden Compass".
The fine writer Tom Stoppard apparently wrote an early screenplay adaptation of "Northern Lights" (the original title of the first novel in Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy). It was never used as it was rejected by the director Chris Weitz who wrote his own screenplay. One day I would very much like to read Tom Stoppard's screenplay, as I am sure that it must have been better than the near shambles of an adaptation that I witnessed last Sunday.
(Saying that, I have also read comments on the web from people who have compared Stoppard's version with Weitz's original, early draft of "The Golden Compass" and said that Weitz's version was better than Stoppard's and was also longer and more satisfying than the filmed version. If that is the case, why the hell wasn't Weitz's original screenplay used? Distrust that an audience could sit through a long fantasy film, maybe? Or was it just down to money? Anyway, onwards...)
The key to a good, literary cinematic adaptation is what to leave in, what to take out and what to amalgamate. On those terms Chris Weitz's "The Golden Compass" fails completely to get to grips with the literary source. (Check out "L. A. Confidential", if you want to see what I mean by a good cinematic adaptation. That film had 400 characters reduced to 40, and although the Ellroy's original ending was fudged, it was still a brilliant literary adaptation.)
"The Golden Compass" is way too cluttered, busy and disjointed and way, way too fast. It proceeds at a breakneck pace through nearly all of the plot of "Northern Lights" and is squeezed uncomfortably into a sub 2 hours running time. "The Golden Compass" should have been longer. I reckon another hour might have done it justice. (Put this note in your diary. This may be the first time yer Pynchon has ever suggested that a film is too short. Normally it is the opposite way around.)
... And the worst thing about "The Golden Compass"? The ending. Awful. Rubbish. Truncated. Hated it. It completely omitted the crucial, turnabout events of the last 3 chapters of "Northern Lights", and in the process, the true cliffhanger. I believe that the material was filmed. Some of the footage made it into at least one of the trailers I have seen.
"The Golden Compass" does look amazing. Good production design, mostly good special effects (some of the armoured bear CGI is ropey) and the realisation of the daemons is very well done. It also has a fair share of good performances, especially Dakota Blue Richards and Nicole Kidman. Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel is good, although he is not as good as Philip Pullman's choice of Jason Isaac might have been.
Disappointing then, but only for me. Lorraine said she liked it, but I think she said that just to piss me off.
********
In a recent survey 100 people were asked:
“Are there too many foreigners in Britain ?”
The results are as follows:
20%: Yes
10%: No
70%: معهد الأمن العالمي بواشنطن.
The fine writer Tom Stoppard apparently wrote an early screenplay adaptation of "Northern Lights" (the original title of the first novel in Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy). It was never used as it was rejected by the director Chris Weitz who wrote his own screenplay. One day I would very much like to read Tom Stoppard's screenplay, as I am sure that it must have been better than the near shambles of an adaptation that I witnessed last Sunday.
(Saying that, I have also read comments on the web from people who have compared Stoppard's version with Weitz's original, early draft of "The Golden Compass" and said that Weitz's version was better than Stoppard's and was also longer and more satisfying than the filmed version. If that is the case, why the hell wasn't Weitz's original screenplay used? Distrust that an audience could sit through a long fantasy film, maybe? Or was it just down to money? Anyway, onwards...)
The key to a good, literary cinematic adaptation is what to leave in, what to take out and what to amalgamate. On those terms Chris Weitz's "The Golden Compass" fails completely to get to grips with the literary source. (Check out "L. A. Confidential", if you want to see what I mean by a good cinematic adaptation. That film had 400 characters reduced to 40, and although the Ellroy's original ending was fudged, it was still a brilliant literary adaptation.)
"The Golden Compass" is way too cluttered, busy and disjointed and way, way too fast. It proceeds at a breakneck pace through nearly all of the plot of "Northern Lights" and is squeezed uncomfortably into a sub 2 hours running time. "The Golden Compass" should have been longer. I reckon another hour might have done it justice. (Put this note in your diary. This may be the first time yer Pynchon has ever suggested that a film is too short. Normally it is the opposite way around.)
... And the worst thing about "The Golden Compass"? The ending. Awful. Rubbish. Truncated. Hated it. It completely omitted the crucial, turnabout events of the last 3 chapters of "Northern Lights", and in the process, the true cliffhanger. I believe that the material was filmed. Some of the footage made it into at least one of the trailers I have seen.
"The Golden Compass" does look amazing. Good production design, mostly good special effects (some of the armoured bear CGI is ropey) and the realisation of the daemons is very well done. It also has a fair share of good performances, especially Dakota Blue Richards and Nicole Kidman. Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel is good, although he is not as good as Philip Pullman's choice of Jason Isaac might have been.
Disappointing then, but only for me. Lorraine said she liked it, but I think she said that just to piss me off.
********
In a recent survey 100 people were asked:
“Are there too many foreigners in Britain ?”
The results are as follows:
20%: Yes
10%: No
70%: معهد الأمن العالمي بواشنطن.
# posted by Pynchon @ 10:33 pm 
Comments:
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i loved His Dark Materials and was concerned that the films wouldn't do it justice and it appears I was right. I hear they've toned down the anti-religion/catholicism angle as well...
They might as well have made Lord of the Rings more pro-orc. *sigh*
They might as well have made Lord of the Rings more pro-orc. *sigh*
The next one might be better. That is assuming there will be a next one. It hasn't done the expected business in the States.
I agree with the "riding off into the sunset" ending of the first movie. Seemed wrong, somehow.
I found the rest of the movie to be a faithful adaption, including loads of "implied" religious references.
But for the best movie adaption, consider Sir Peter Jackson and his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy thingy. Now, that's a movie adamption.
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I found the rest of the movie to be a faithful adaption, including loads of "implied" religious references.
But for the best movie adaption, consider Sir Peter Jackson and his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy thingy. Now, that's a movie adamption.
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