The film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel Northern Lights has brought the Dark Materials trilogy to a wider audience and so has enlivened debate over its writer’s agenda.
Ever since Pullman declared his intention to do for atheism what Lewis did for Christianity, Christians have reacted strongly to the messages in his books and so are naturally wondering what the film will do to promote his materialist views among the young, views that have made some Christians so concerned that they are boycotting the film and refusing to let their children read the books.
If you have seen The Golden Compass then you will know that the film is beautifully made and captures the attractive features of the book wonderfully. The personal ‘daemons’ which are people’s souls in animal form flit and leap around with the winsome energy that the book suggests. The workings of the compass itself, the altheiometer, are far clearer in the film than the novel’s attempt at description and Lyra’s ride through the snows on Iorek Byrnison, the armoured bear is a magical and memorable sequence.
