The first official picture of the actress playing Lyra in the film version of Northern Lights has been released by the film makers.
Alongside 12-year-old Dakota Blue Richards, from Sussex, is the evil Mrs Coulter played by Nicole Kidman.
Dakota won the part of Lyra after going to an open casting held in Cambridge earlier this year.
"His Dark Materials" Movie News
"His Dark Materials" Movie News
The first image from "The Golden Compass" is now online.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Just heard Sam Elliot has been cast as Lee Scoresby. Excellent choice!
Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels, said on his official Web site that Sam Elliott has been cast in The Golden Compass, the upcoming film version of the first book. "The film of The Golden Compass is progressing very well," Pullman wrote. "I spent yesterday at the studios in Shepperton [near London], meeting some of the cast, including Sam Elliott, who's playing Lee Scoresby."
Pullman added: "Sam's resemblance to the Lee in my mind is just astonishing. His Lee has all the presence, the experience, the battered integrity, the humor and the courage of the aeronaut who first walked into my story 13 years ago. I can't imagine a better cast, and the sets and costumes are just astounding."
Pullman went on to describe in detail the scene the filmmakers shot, as well as sets and soundstages. "In short, I think it's going to be—at the very least—spectacular," he said. "But there's a long way to go yet. I'll visit the set again and report on what I see."
Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars in The Golden Compass in the lead role of Lyra Belacqua. The New Line production is being shot in the United Kingdom, with Oscar-nominated writer/director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) at the helm.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Here's the full post by Phillip Pullman on his visit to the set:
The film of The Golden Compass is progressing very well. I spent yesterday at the studios in Shepperton, meeting some of the cast, including Sam Elliott, who's playing Lee Scoresby. Sam's resemblance to the Lee in my mind is just astonishing. His Lee has all the presence, the experience, the battered integrity, the humour, and the courage of the aeronaut who first walked into my story thirteen years ago. I can`t imagine a better cast, and the sets and costumes are just astounding. They were filming the scene where Lyra approaches Iorek Byrnison at the gyptian camp and asks him to take her to the village near the lake, because the alethiometer has told her that there`s something she needs to see there. Dakota had to speak to the empty air, because Iorek, of course, is being constructed pixel by pixel in a computer somewhere; but his voice is provided by Nonso Anozie, and a better bear you`d have to go a long way to find.
The set was constructed inside a vast sound stage, a building bigger than many aircraft hangars, and going all the way around the inside walls, from floor to distant ceiling, there was a truly enormous canvas painted with an Arctic panorama of icy mountains under a dark sky. The gyptian encampment was set up among great blocks of ice and snowdrifts - very convincing snow it was too - the tents and the firelight looking wonderfully real.
I saw the scene that had been filmed the previous day: Iorek at Trollesund charging out of the house having regained his armour, and Lyra ordering him not to kill anyone, and Lee stepping in to prevent mayhem. When you see all the several takes of the same scene, and then see many more from different angles, you really get the sense of how films are made in tiny pieces, like making each stone in a mosaic separately.
And you see how much of the work is going to be done later at the editing stage, just as it is with a novel.
Later I visited the Trollesund set. It`s unbelievably real. You`d swear these grimy battered houses had stood there for a hundred years or more; and then you walk round the back and see the raw new unpainted wood behind, the props holding it up, the weights holding it down.
And I haven't even mentioned the costumes. I can`t go on speaking in superlatives, but it all looks better than I would have thought possible.
In short, I think it`s going to be - at the very least - spectacular.
But there`s a long way to go yet. I'll visit the set again, and report on what I see.
I know that people are curious to see the stars, and especially to see Dakota. You will, but not yet. It will all be worth the wait.
And now, back to ''The Book of Dust''.
Philip Pullman
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
I really don't care much for the books - I gave up after the second, as Pullman's basic premise that the Church is Teh Axis of Ev0l without ever really telling us WHY was starting to get on my nerves considerably , and don't get me started on his sanctimonious sniping at Tolkien and Lewis - but that's not to say I won't go to see this.
Pullman does have a terrific imagination, I'll give him that.
I love that still with Dakota Blue (what a wonderful name) and Kidman.
To me Kidman is all technique and no soul. Mainly. She was impressive in that spooky film in which she and the kids turn out to be ghosts, can't remember what it was called now. I couldn't stand her as Ada in Cold Mountain. I do think she is very, very well cast as Mrs Coulter.
Does anyone think that Pullman had Ann Coulter in mind? (Probably not, but the thought amuses me.)
Pullman does have a terrific imagination, I'll give him that.
I love that still with Dakota Blue (what a wonderful name) and Kidman.
To me Kidman is all technique and no soul. Mainly. She was impressive in that spooky film in which she and the kids turn out to be ghosts, can't remember what it was called now. I couldn't stand her as Ada in Cold Mountain. I do think she is very, very well cast as Mrs Coulter.
Does anyone think that Pullman had Ann Coulter in mind? (Probably not, but the thought amuses me.)
"Frodo undertook his quest out of love - to save the world he knew from disaster at his own expense, if he could ... "
Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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- Deluded Simpleton
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Tell me, Pearly, what more anyone needs to know to conclude that the established Church is/was Teh Axis of EvOL? It's far from a rash conclusion drawn from air.
Pullman rather completely references ecclesiastical misdeeds (allegorically) thoughout his trilogy, not that they need explication.
I personally was amused by the "sniping" at the Old Masters. One could also simply call them "allusions", and keeping well in the tradition.
Pullman rather completely references ecclesiastical misdeeds (allegorically) thoughout his trilogy, not that they need explication.
I personally was amused by the "sniping" at the Old Masters. One could also simply call them "allusions", and keeping well in the tradition.
Because I think it's a simplistic judgement, that's why. You could just as easily make the Church in Pullman's trilogy represent the worst excesses of atheistic communism, and why not? If Pullman is simply using the Church in his stories as shorthand for ANY brutal tyrannous system, then fine. I guess a lot of his readers take precisely that view ... you can interpret it how you like.baby tuckoo wrote:Tell me, Pearly, what more anyone needs to know to conclude that the established Church is/was Teh Axis of EvOL? It's far from a rash conclusion drawn from air.
He'd make a stronger case still if many of his characters were not as manipulative and cold-blooded as the villains within the Church.
But I confess that Pullman annoys me because he rails at Lewis for making his fantasy fiction, namely Narnia, too preachy, and then does exactly the same thing himself.
But, I can't deny the guy has one heck of an imagination. He paints terrific scenes, but I confess I was beginning to lose the plot by the end of the second book.
Perhaps the films will make things clearer.
I must say, I really like the look of Lyra and Kidman positively exudes icy menace. Perfect!
"Frodo undertook his quest out of love - to save the world he knew from disaster at his own expense, if he could ... "
Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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- JewelSong
- Just Keep Singin'
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I loved the first book..loved it. Couldn't wait to read the second...and was slightly bored by it, but still wanted to complete the trilogy.
By the time I got to the end of the third book, I was both bored and disgusted. Pullman had a great premise going and (IMHO) he ruined it with his own personal agendas. Not just his thing against the Church, but his idea that somehow sex would save the world. Not just sex, but supremely underage sex. He amazingly has Lyra age a few years in the thrid book, so it won't be too, too out there.
But I did love the first book. And so I will go see the movie.
By the time I got to the end of the third book, I was both bored and disgusted. Pullman had a great premise going and (IMHO) he ruined it with his own personal agendas. Not just his thing against the Church, but his idea that somehow sex would save the world. Not just sex, but supremely underage sex. He amazingly has Lyra age a few years in the thrid book, so it won't be too, too out there.
But I did love the first book. And so I will go see the movie.
"Live! Live! Live! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" - Auntie Mame
You mean that sex won't save the world?JewelSong wrote:By the time I got to the end of the third book, I was both bored and disgusted. Pullman had a great premise going and (IMHO) he ruined it with his own personal agendas. Not just his thing against the Church, but his idea that somehow sex would save the world. Not just sex, but supremely underage sex. He amazingly has Lyra age a few years in the third book, so it won't be too, too out there.
Well, dang.
This reminds me of Oselle's gorgeous rant against Pullman on Live Journal. Boy, did she skewer Pullman over the underage sex thing! Not having read the third book, I had no idea.
But, like you, I also liked the first book and have every intention of seeing the film.
"Frodo undertook his quest out of love - to save the world he knew from disaster at his own expense, if he could ... "
Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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Letter no. 246, The Collected Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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- Túrin Turambar
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I've never understood that. Wagner might have been a white supremacist, but his music stands the test of time. Tom Cruise is a plonker, but I enjoyed some of his movies. Why should authors be any different. I agree that Pullman seems to be a jerk, but his books were entertaining and thought provoking.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Wagner was probably a white supramacist, but so were 90% of his contempories in Western Europe in the 19th century,
Tom Cruise is a plonker and a small one
To return to your question, I would say that there is a closer relationship between what one says and what one writes, than any other form of art, so I feel it's unlikely anyone who sol denounces Tolkien and Lewis, who takes a so profoundly limited and prejudicial view of Christianity, will write a book which is sympathetic to my interests and beliefs
Tom Cruise is still a plonker
Tom Cruise is a plonker and a small one
To return to your question, I would say that there is a closer relationship between what one says and what one writes, than any other form of art, so I feel it's unlikely anyone who sol denounces Tolkien and Lewis, who takes a so profoundly limited and prejudicial view of Christianity, will write a book which is sympathetic to my interests and beliefs
Tom Cruise is still a plonker
- Primula Baggins
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I dislike ax-grinding in fiction, whether I agree or disagree with the writer's position. It destroys the illusion the writer should be trying to create, that these are real events. I start to look for the puppet-strings attached to the characters; I can hear the author moving around backstage.
Philip Pullman has a delightful imagination and writes well. But that wasn't enough, for me.
Ursula Le Guin has the same effect on me in some of her books, by the way, where the ax she's grinding is one I carry around, too. It's not disagreement with the author that is the problem.
Philip Pullman has a delightful imagination and writes well. But that wasn't enough, for me.
Ursula Le Guin has the same effect on me in some of her books, by the way, where the ax she's grinding is one I carry around, too. It's not disagreement with the author that is the problem.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I wouldn't reject his work just because he isn't a nice man. Lots of great artists, writers and musicians were unpleasant people.
But I feel no need to illustrate my open-mindedness by embracing a work by such a person, especially since I'll never read a fraction of the books written by countless people whom I admire and respect. I haven't even made it though all of Tolkien or Lewis yet.
Anyway, it's not a matter of personality, but of ideology. I will read works by people who disagree with my beliefs, or who wish to respectfully challenge them. I do so all the time. But it seems, by all accounts, that this fellow simply wishes to express contempt, and that's not my idea of a good time.
But I feel no need to illustrate my open-mindedness by embracing a work by such a person, especially since I'll never read a fraction of the books written by countless people whom I admire and respect. I haven't even made it though all of Tolkien or Lewis yet.
Anyway, it's not a matter of personality, but of ideology. I will read works by people who disagree with my beliefs, or who wish to respectfully challenge them. I do so all the time. But it seems, by all accounts, that this fellow simply wishes to express contempt, and that's not my idea of a good time.
yesAlatar wrote:But how will you ever know without reading it? Strikes me as far worse than Pullmans posturing. He at least has read Tolkien and is making an informed opinion. You are dismissing his work based on his personality.
there are so many books in the world to read and so little time.
I think unless you are very lucky you have to make some kind of judgements about what you read, initially I didn't read the Harry Potter books becuase they were so popular, I genrally regard the level of popularity of contempory works as being a pretty relaible barometer. The kids badgered me to buy the DVD, I saw the first film and thought it was ok, then over a quiet weekend read the first three books and without saying that anyone of them would be a desert island choice, would have to say I was drawn into J R's world.
Which all goes to show my judgement in these matters can be extremely suspect.
In the same way as I am not drawn to the writings of Jeffery Archer or the Rev. Ian Paisley so I feel the same about Pullman.
Yes he writes about the kind of stuff which normally would interest me, but at the moment if I want to read fantasy I go for Neil Gaiman, as far as Juvinile fiction goes I will wait for Harry Potter and the Wheel of Justice.
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- Deluded Simpleton
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Alatar the Magnificent.
I wonder about an author who doesn't have an ax to grind. He/she will be judged in time for the skill of weaving this edge (sorry for the mixed metaphor) into a narrative, not for the edge itself.
In the end, each ax is just a point of view. It's worth discussing this view, but it's not the point of cleavage 'tween good and bad.
I wonder about an author who doesn't have an ax to grind. He/she will be judged in time for the skill of weaving this edge (sorry for the mixed metaphor) into a narrative, not for the edge itself.
In the end, each ax is just a point of view. It's worth discussing this view, but it's not the point of cleavage 'tween good and bad.
- Primula Baggins
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There are axes and axes (and Axes, but I digress). Of course a writer must have a point of view. He may even have a didactic or political purpose in writing his fiction. My point is, the machinery mustn't creak. The fiction should work as fiction, not just as polemic. If it does work as fiction, the writer's secondary purposes will only be better served.
For me, the creaking in HDM got too loud toward the end of book 2. I have the third book and intend to read it, but life is crammed full and I may not get to it for a while.
For me, the creaking in HDM got too loud toward the end of book 2. I have the third book and intend to read it, but life is crammed full and I may not get to it for a while.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King