document_title: Book of Esther

question_text: when does the book of esther take place

question_tokens: when does the book of esther take place

text: Book of Esther

text: Setting and structure[edit]

text: Setting[edit]

text: The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian capital of Susa (Shushan) in the third year of the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. The name Ahasuerus is equivalent to Xerxes[3] (both deriving from the Persian Khshayārsha),[4] and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as Xerxes I,[5] who ruled between 486 and 465 BC,[3] as it is to this monarch that the events described in Esther are thought to fit the most closely.[4][6]

text: However, classical sources such as Josephus, the Jewish commentary Esther Rabbah and the Christian theologian Bar-Hebraeus,[7] as well as the Greek Septuagint translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either Artaxerxes I (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (reigned 404 to 358 BCE).[7]

text: Assuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483–482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE.

text: Structure[edit]

text: The Book of Esther consists of an introduction (or exposition) in chapters 1 and 2; the main action (complication and resolution) in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion in 9:20–10:3.[8]

text: The plot is structured around banquets (mishteh), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. This is appropriate given that Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of Purim, but Purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is commemorated by Purim. The book's theme, rather, is the reversal of destiny through a sudden and unexpected turn of events: the Jews seem destined to be destroyed, but instead are saved. In literary criticism such a reversal is termed "peripety", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author's theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.[9]

text: Summary[edit]

text: The story begins with Ahasuerus, ruler of the Persian Empire, holding a lavish banquet, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of the capital city, Shushan. On the seventh day, Ahasuerus orders the queen, Vashti, to come and display her beauty before the guests by wearing only her crown. She refuses. Furious, Ahasuerus has her removed from her position and makes arrangements to choose a new queen from a selection of beautiful young women from throughout the empire.

text: Among these women is the Jewish orphan, Esther. After the death of her parents, she was fostered by her cousin, Mordecai. She finds favour in the King's eyes, and is crowned his new queen. Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two courtiers, Bigthan and Teresh, to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai's service to the King is duly recorded.

text: Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his viceroy. Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman's disfavour, as he refuses to bow down to him. Having discovered that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordecai, but all the Jews in the empire. He duly obtains Ahasuerus' permission to execute this plan, against payment of ten thousand talents of silver, and casts lots to choose the date on which to do this—the thirteenth of the month of Adar.

text: When Mordecai finds out about the plan, he implores Esther to try and intercede with the King; but she is afraid to break the law and present herself to the King unsummoned, as this was punishable by death. She orders Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days together with her, and on the third day she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his sceptre to her to indicate that she is not to be punished. She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and, at his wife's suggestion, has a gallows built to hang him.

text: That night, King Ahasuerus suffers insomnia, and when he orders the court records be read to him in order to help him sleep, he is reminded of the services rendered by Mordecai in the previous plot against his life. Ahasuerus is informed that Mordecai never received any recognition for this.

text: Just then, Haman appears, to request the King's permission to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, King Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honor. Assuming that the man that the King is referring to is himself, Haman suggests that the man be dressed in the King's royal robes and led around on the King's royal horse, while a herald calls: "See how the King honours a man he wishes to reward!" To his surprise and horror, the King instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai.

text: Immediately after, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther's second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including her. Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation. The King returns in at this very moment and thinks Haman is assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier than before and he orders Haman hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai.

text: Unable to annul a formal royal decree, the King instead adds to it, permitting the Jews to arm and defend themselves on that day. On 13 Adar, Haman's ten sons and 500 other men are killed in Shushan. Upon hearing of this Esther requests it be repeated the next day, whereupon 300 more men are killed. Over 75,000 Persian people are slaughtered by the Jews, who are careful to take no plunder. Esther sends a letter instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people's redemption, in a holiday called Purim (lots). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues his reign, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court.[10]

text: Authorship and date[edit]

text: The Megillat Esther (Book of Esther) became the last of the 24 books of the Tanakh to be canonized by the Sages of the Great Assembly. According to the Talmud, it was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai.[11] It is usually dated to the 4th century BCE.[12][13] Shemaryahu Talmon, however, suggests that "the traditional setting of the book in the days of Xerxes I cannot be wide off the mark."[14]

text: The Greek book of Esther, included in the Septuagint, is a retelling of the events of the Hebrew Book of Esther rather than a translation and records additional traditions which do not appear in original Hebrew version, in particular the identification of Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes and details of various letters. It is dated around the late 2nd to early 1st century BCE.[15][16] The Coptic and Ethiopic versions of Esther are translations of the Greek rather than the Hebrew Esther.

text: A Latin version of Esther was produced by Jerome for the Vulgate. It translates the Hebrew Esther but interpolates translations of the Greek Esther where the latter provides additional material.

text: Several Aramaic targums of Esther were produced in the Middle Ages of which two survive – the Targum Rishon ("First Targum") and Targum Sheni ("Second Targum")[17][18] dated c. 500–1000 CE.[19] These were not targums ("translations") in the true sense but like the Greek Esther are retellings of events and include additional legends relating to Purim.[17] There is also a 16th-century recension of the Targum Rishon, sometimes counted as Targum Shelishi ("Third Targum").[18]

text: Historicity[edit]

text: The book of Esther falls under the category of Ketuvim, one of three parts of the Jewish canon.[20] According to some sources, it is a historical novella, written to explain the origin of the Jewish holiday of Purim.[20][21]

text: As noted by biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan, the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. For example, Coogan discusses an apparent inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther's cousin (or, according to others, uncle) Mordecai.[20][21] In Esther 2:5–6, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar II in 597 BCE: "Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah". If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther.[20] However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai's exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish's exile.[22][23][24]

text: In her article "The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling", biblical scholar Adele Berlin discusses the reasoning behind scholarly concern about the historicity of Esther. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as Berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the history of the Israelite people.[25] Berlin quotes a series of scholars who suggest that the author of Esther did not mean for the book to be considered as a historical writing, but intentionally wrote it to be a historical novella.[26] The genre of novellas under which Esther falls was common during both the Persian and Hellenistic periods to which scholars have dated the book of Esther.[20][25]

text: There are certain elements of the book of Esther that are historically accurate. The story told in the book of Esther takes place during the rule of Ahasuerus, who has been identified as the 5th-century Persian king Xerxes I (reigned 486–465 BCE). The author also displays an accurate knowledge of Persian customs and palaces.[23] However, according to Coogan, considerable historical inaccuracies remain throughout the text, supporting the view that the book of Esther is to be read as a historical novella which tells a story describing historical events but is not necessarily historical fact.[20] Edwin M. Yamauchi has questioned the reliability of other historical sources, such as Herodotus, to which Esther has been compared. Yamauchi wrote, "[Herodotus] was, however, the victim of unreliable informants and was not infallible."[27] The reason for questioning the historical accuracy of such ancient writers as Herodotus is that he is one of the primary sources of knowledge for this time period, and it has been frequently assumed that his account may be more accurate than Esther's account.

text: Historical reading[edit]

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Those arguing in favour of a historical reading of Esther most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II (ruled 405–359 BCE), although in the past it was often assumed that he was Xerxes I (ruled 486–465 BCE). The Hebrew Ahasuerus (ʔaḥašwērōš) is most likely derived from Persian Xšayārša, the origin of the Greek Xerxes. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Xerxes sought his harem after being defeated in the Greco-Persian Wars. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem except for a domineering Queen consort named Amestris, whose father, Otanes, was one of Xerxes's generals. (In contrast, the Greek historian Ctesias refers to a similar father-in-law/general figure named Onaphas.) Amestris has often been identified with Vashti, but this identification is problematic, as Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, whereas Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes's reign. Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with Esther, although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail.

text: As for the identity of Mordecai, the similar names Marduka and Marduku have been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in over thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius I, and may refer to up to four individuals, one of which might after all be Mordecai.

text: The "Old Greek" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes,[28] a Greek name derived from the Persian Artaxšaϑra. Josephus too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the Midrashic text, Esther Rabba also makes the identification. Bar-Hebraeus identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name Artaxerxes distinct from Ahasuerus, and a direct Greek rendering of Ahasuerus is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also Aršu, understood as a shortening of Aḫšiyaršu the Babylonian rendering of the Persian Xšayārša (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew ʔaḥašwērōš (Ahasuerus) is derived.[29] Ctesias related that Artaxerxes II was also called Arsicas which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix -ke that is applied to shortened names. Deinon related that Artaxerxes II was also called Oarses which is also understood to be derived from Xšayārša.[29]

text: Another view attempts to identify him instead with Artaxerxes I (ruled 465–424 BCE), whose Babylonian concubine, Kosmartydene, was the mother of his son Darius II (ruled 424–405 BCE). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.

text: Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit is identical with that of the Book of Esther, some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar's ally Cyaxares (ruled 625–585 BCE). In certain manuscripts of Tobit, the former is called Achiachar, which, like the Greek Cyaxares, is thought to be derived from Persian Huwaxšaϑra. Depending on the interpretation of Esther 2:5–6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah by Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 BCE. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested.

text: Jacob Hoschander has argued that evidence of the historicity of Haman and his father Hamedatha is seen in Omanus and Anadatus mentioned by Strabo as being honoured with Anahita in the city of Zela. Hoschander argues that these were not deities as Strabo supposed but garbled forms of "Haman" and "Hamedatha" who were being worshipped as martyrs. The names are indeed unattested in Persian texts as gods, however the Talmud (Sanhedrin 61b) and Rashi both record a practice of deifying Haman and Josephus speaks of him being worshipped.[29] Attempts have been made to connect both "Omanus" and "Haman" with the Zoroastrian term Vohu Mana; however this denotes the principle of "Good Thoughts" and is not the name of a deity.)

text: Interpretation[edit]

text: Christine Hayes contrasts the Book of Esther with apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel in particular: both Esther and Daniel depict an existential threat to the Jewish people, but while Daniel commends the Jews to wait faithfully for God to resolve the crisis, in Esther the crisis is resolved entirely through human action and national solidarity. God, in fact, is not mentioned, Esther is portrayed as assimilated to Persian culture, and Jewish identity in the book is an ethnic category rather than a religious one.[30]

text: This contrasts with traditional Jewish commentaries, such as the commentary of the Vilna Gaon, which states "But in every verse it discusses the great miracle. However, this miracle was in a hidden form, occurring through apparently natural processes, not like the Exodus from Egypt, which openly revealed the might of God."[31] This follows the approach of the Talmud,[32] which states that "(The Book of) Esther is referenced in the Torah in the verse 'And I shall surely hide (in Hebrew, 'haster astir,' related to 'Esther') My Face from them on that day.[33]

text: Additions to Esther[edit]

text: An additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible. This was noted by Jerome in compiling the Latin Vulgate. Additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized the former as additions not present in the Hebrew Text and placed them at the end of his Latin translation as chapters 10:4–16:24. This placement and numbering system is used in Catholic Bible translations based primarily on the Vulgate, such as the Douay–Rheims Bible and the Knox Bible. In contrast, the 1979 revision of the Vulgate, the Nova Vulgata, incorporates the additions to Esther directly into the narrative itself, as do most modern Catholic English translations based on the original Hebrew and Greek (e.g., Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition). The numbering system for the additions differs with each translation. The Nova Vulgata accounts for the additional verses by numbering them as extensions of the verses immediately following or preceding them (e.g., Esther 11:2–12 in the old Vulgate becomes Esther 1:1a–1k in the Nova Vulgata), while the NAB and its successor, the NABRE, assign letters of the alphabet as chapter headings for the additions (e.g., Esther 11:2–12:6 in the Vulgate becomes Esther A:1–17). The RSVCE and the NRSVCE place the additional material into the narrative, but retain the chapter and verse numbering of the old Vulgate.

text: These additions include:[34]

text:
an opening prologue that describes a dream had by Mordecai
the contents of the decree against the Jews
prayers for God's intervention offered by Mordecai and by Esther
an expansion of the scene in which Esther appears before the king, with a mention of God's intervention
a copy of the decree in favor of the Jews
a passage in which Mordecai interprets his dream (from the prologue) in terms of the events that followed
a colophon appended to the end, which reads: In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and Levite, and his son Ptolemy brought the present letter of Purim, saying that it was genuine and that Lysimachus, son of Ptolemy, of the community of Jerusalem, had translated it.

text: By the time Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the Macedonians of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a "Bougaion" (βουγαῖον) where the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite.

text: The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the Septuagint— Martin Luther, being perhaps the most vocal Reformation-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value.[35] Luther's complaints against the book carried past the point of scholarly critique and may reflect Luther's antisemitism, which is disputed, such as in the biography of Luther by Derek Wilson, which points out that Luther's anger at the Jews was not at their race but at their theology.

text: The Council of Trent, the summation of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation, reconfirmed the entire book, both Hebrew text and Greek additions, as canonical. The Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition, the readings also are the prayer of Mordecai, and nothing of Esther's own words is ever used. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of Esther, as it does for all of the Old Testament. The additions are specifically listed in the Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI, of the Church of England:[36] "The rest of the Book of Esther".

text: Modern retelling[edit]

text:
There are several paintings depicting Esther, including one by Millais.
The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose Esther as one of biblical figures on which she wrote poetry.[37]
In 1689, Jean Baptiste Racine wrote Esther, a tragedy, at the request of Louis XIV's wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon.
In 1718, Handel wrote the oratorio Esther based on Racine's play.
In 1958, a book entitled Behold Your Queen! was written by Gladys Malvern and illustrated by her sister, Corinne Malvern. It was chosen as a selection of the Junior Literary Guild.
The play entitled Esther (1960), written by Welsh dramatist Saunders Lewis, is a retelling of the story in Welsh.
A 1960 movie about the story, Esther and the King, starring Joan Collins.
A 1978 miniseries entitled The Greatest Heroes of the Bible starred Victoria Principal as Esther, Robert Mandan as Xerxes, and Michael Ansara as Haman.
Episode 25 of the 1981 anime series Superbook involves this story.
The 1983 musical entitled Swan Esther was written by J. Edward Oliver and Nick Munns and released as a concept album with Stephanie Lawrence and Denis Quilley. Swan Esther has been performed by the Young Vic, a national tour produced by Bill Kenwright and some amateur groups.
A 1986 Israeli film directed by Amos Gitai entitled Esther.
In 1992, a 30-minute, fully animated video, twelfth in Hanna-Barbera's The Greatest Adventure series, titled Queen Esther features the voices of Helen Slater as Queen Esther, Dean Jones as King Ahasuerus, Werner Klemperer as Haman, and Ron Rifkin as Mordecai.[38][39]
A 1999 TV movie from the Bible Collection that follows the biblical account very closely, Esther, starred Louise Lombard in the title role and F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai.[40]
In 2000, VeggieTales released "Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen".
Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Ginger Garrett. 2005, NavPress.[importance?]
A 2006 movie about Esther and Ahasuerus, entitled One Night with the King, stars Tiffany Dupont and Luke Goss. It was based on the novel Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen.
Esther is one of the five heroines of the Order of the Eastern Star.
On March 8, 2011, the Maccabeats released a music video called "Purim Song".[41]
The Book of Esther is a 2013 movie starring Jen Lilley as Queen Esther and Joel Smallbone as King Xerxes.[42]
In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the Book of Esther was illustrated by J. T. Waldman and appeared in volume one of The Graphic Canon, edited by Russ Kick and published by Seven Stories Press.


document_title: The Golden Compass (film)

question_text: name of the armoured bear in the golden compass

root

text: The Golden Compass (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The story takes place in an alternate world dominated by a powerful church called the Magisterium, and where part of the spirit resides outside a person as an animal companion called a dæmon. Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is an orphan raised at Jordan College in Oxford, while her uncle, esteemed explorer and scholar Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is busy seeking the elusive Dust, a cosmic particle of which the Magisterium has forbidden even the mention. When Asriel returns from his latest expedition, Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon (Freddie Highmore) witness a Magisterium agent poison his wine. Lyra warns her uncle, saving his life; then she watches Asriel give a presentation regarding his findings on the North Pole, where he was able to prove the Dust's existence. The college gives Asriel a grant to fund another expedition that could lead to the discovery of the infinite worlds linked by Dust, which would severely undermine the Magisterium's hold on the world.

tag: p

text: At dinner, Lyra meets Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), a wealthy, powerful woman who is presented as "a friend of the college". Mrs. Coulter insists on taking Lyra on a trip north as her assistant. Before Lyra leaves, the Master of the college entrusts her with the only remaining alethiometer, a compass-like artifact that reveals the truth. The Magisterium has seized or destroyed all the others. He instructs her to keep it secret, especially from Mrs. Coulter.

text: Mrs. Coulter takes Lyra into her home, in a big city that resembles a retrofuturistic London, and starts taking her to socialite dinners and parties. In her bedroom, Lyra gazes upon the alethiometer and notices that it continuously points to a lady, a lightning bolt and a baby. She does not know what to make of her observation, however, and says nothing of it to Mrs. Coulter. Despite initially projecting the image of a free-spirited woman, she reveals herself to be extremely respectful of the Magisterium and its function. One night, Lyra casually mentions Dust; this puts Mrs. Coulter on edge as she warns Lyra never to mention it again, and also insists that she stop carrying around the bag secretly containing the aleithiometer. Mrs. Coulter's dæmon (a golden monkey) attacks Pantalaimon, causing Lyra to give in. Lyra and Pantalaimon discover that Mrs. Coulter is head of the General Oblation Board, also known as the "Gobblers", who have been kidnapping local children. Lyra also learns that her best friend Roger and her Gyptian friend Billy have been both taken by the Gobblers.

text: Lyra and Pantalaimon walk in on Mrs. Coulter's dæmon attempting to steal the alethiometer and they escape into the streets. The Gobblers pursue her, but she is saved by Billy's mother, who takes her to the ship of the King of the Gyptians, heading north to rescue all the captured children. Lyra shows the alethiometer to a wise Gyptian elder, Farder Coram, and it is revealed that she is able to decipher the device's answers.

text: After consulting with the Magisterium agent, Mrs. Coulter sends two mechanical spy-flies after Lyra. One is batted away but the other is caught and sealed in a can by Farder Coram, who explains that the spy-fly has a sting with a sleeping poison. Meanwhile, Lord Asriel has reached Svalbard, the kingdom of the Ice Bears, but he is captured by Samoyed tribesmen hired by Mrs. Coulter.

text: One night, Lyra is visited on the ship by a witch queen, Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green). She tells Lyra that the missing children are in an experimental station called Bolvangar. At a northern port, Lyra is befriended by a Texan aeronaut named Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), who advises her to hire himself and his friend Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen), an armoured bear Lee has come to rescue. Once a prince of his people, but now exiled in shame, the giant polar bear has been tricked out of his armour by the local townspeople. Using the alethiometer, Lyra tells Iorek where to find his armour. After recovering his armour, Iorek joins the Gyptian trek northward, along with Lee.

text: While the group is camped for the night, Lyra rides on Iorek's back to an abandoned building the alethiometer pointed her toward. There, Lyra finds an escaped, cowering Billy separated from his dæmon named Ratter, and realises that is what the Gobblers are doing to the kidnapped children, something they call "intercision". Lyra reunites Billy with his mother just as the group is attacked by Samoyeds, who capture Lyra. Iorek and Lee follow her in Lee's airship. Taken to the bear king Ragnar Sturlusson (Ian McShane), Lyra tricks him into fighting Iorek one on one. At first, Ragnar, who had already beaten Iorek while usurping his throne, seems to have the upper hand in the fight, but Iorek eventually manages to kill his rival, becoming the new and rightful king.

text: Iorek carries Lyra to a thin ice bridge near Bolvangar, but only Lyra is able to cross over before the bridge breaks. Upon reaching the station, Lyra is welcomed in and taken to eat dinner with the children, where she is reunited with Roger. While sneaking around, Lyra hears Mrs. Coulter tell the station scientists that Asriel has escaped capture and set up a laboratory, but Magisterium soldiers are on their way to arrest and execute him for heresy. She also hears the scientists talk about their experiments to sever the bond between a child and his or her dæmon. Caught spying, Lyra and Pantalaimon are thrown in the intercision chamber, and end up unconscious. On seeing Lyra in the chamber, Mrs. Coulter rescues her and takes her to her quarters.

text: When Lyra wakes up, Mrs. Coulter explains to Lyra how, in her and the Magisterium's view, the intercision is needed to save the children from the corrupting influence of the Dust. She also reveals she is Lyra's mother, but was forced to give her away because at the time of her birth she was not married. Lyra correctly guesses that Asriel is her father. When Mrs. Coulter asks for the alethiometer, Lyra gives her the can containing the spy-fly instead. The fly stings Mrs. Coulter, knocking her and her dæmon out. Lyra runs to the room with the intercision machine and manages to destroy it, setting off a series of explosions that tear the facility apart.

text: Outside, the fleeing children are attacked by Tartar mercenaries and their wolf dæmons. The battle is joined by Iorek, Lee Scoresby, the Gyptians, and a band of flying witches led by Serafina Pekkala. The Tartars are defeated and the children are rescued. Rather than returning south, Lyra, Roger, Iorek, Lee and Serafina fly further north in search of Asriel. Confirming Serafina's prophecy of an upcoming war with Lyra at the centre, Lyra is determined to fight the Magisterium and stop their plans, which include taking over all the other worlds in the universe.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, who embarks on a voyage to battle the forces of evil and rescue her best friend. New Line Cinema announced 12-year-old Richards' casting in June 2006.[5] It was her first acting role.[6]
Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, an influential woman who takes an interest in Lyra (and later admits that she is Lyra's mother). Kidman was author Philip Pullman's preferred choice for the role ten years before production of the film,[7] and despite initially rejecting the offer to star as she did not want to play a villain, she signed on after receiving a personal letter from Pullman.[8]
Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Lyra's strict and mysterious adventurer uncle (later revealed to be her father). In July 2006, it was reported that Paul Bettany was in talks to play the role.[9]
Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut who comes to Lyra's aid. Pullman has singled out Elliott's performance as one the film got "just right".[10]
Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala, a witch queen.
Jim Carter as John Faa, the king of the Gyptians.
Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, member of a Gyptian family that aids Lyra.
Ben Walker as Roger Parslow, Lyra's best friend, who is kidnapped and taken north.
Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa, son of Ma Costa, and Lyra's friend.
Christopher Lee as the Magisterium's first high councilor. Lee's casting was also at New Line's behest, rather than that of Chris Weitz.[5]
Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Gyptian second-in-command and advisor to John Faa.
Derek Jacobi as the Magisterial emissary.
Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel, a Magisterial agent.
Jack Shepherd as master of Jordan College.
Magda Szubanski as Mrs. Lonsdale
Edward de Souza as the Magisterium's second high councilor.

tag: ul

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
Ian McKellen as Iorek Byrnison, a panserbjørn (armored bear) who becomes Lyra's friend and comrade. Nonso Anozie had recorded lines for the part of Iorek Byrnison, but was replaced by McKellen at a late stage as New Line wanted a bigger name in the role.[11] New Line president of production Toby Emmerich claimed that he "never thought Anozie sounded like Iorek" and while he initially trusted director Weitz's casting decision, he "never stopped thinking that this guy didn't sound right." The recasting was against Weitz's wishes, though he later said "if you're going to have anyone recast in your movie, you're happy it's Ian McKellen."[5]
Freddie Highmore as Pantalaimon, Lyra's dæmon. Pan was originally to be voiced by an older actor, but they called in Highmore instead, as it would be more of an intimate relationship if Pan and Lyra were the same age, and also would underscore the contrast between Lyra's relationship with him versus her relationships with older male characters such as Lord Asriel, Lee Scoresby and Iorek.[citation needed]
Ian McShane as Ragnar Sturlusson, king of the panserbjørner. Ragnar's name in the book was Iofur Raknison, but the name was changed to prevent confusion between him and Iorek.[12] However, in the German-language version of the film, the dialogue retains the name "Iofur Raknison", whilst the subtitles reflect the change.
Kathy Bates as Hester, Lee Scoresby's jackrabbit dæmon.
Kristin Scott Thomas as Stelmaria, Lord Asriel's dæmon.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"Peter's operation was so impressive that, well, I realised the distance between me and Peter Jackson… At that moment, I realised the sheer scope of the endeavor. And I thought, 'You know what? I can't do this'."

 — Director Chris Weitz on his initial departure from the project[5]

tag: table

text: On February 11, 2002, following the success of New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the studio bought the rights to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. In July 2003 Tom Stoppard was commissioned to write the screenplay.[6] Directors Brett Ratner and Sam Mendes expressed interest in the film,[6] but a year later, Chris Weitz was hired to direct after approaching the studio with an unsolicited 40-page treatment.[13] The studio rejected the script, asking Weitz to start from scratch. Since Weitz was a fan of Stoppard, he decided not to read the adaptation in case he "subconsciously poached things from him."[14] After delivering his script, Weitz cited Barry Lyndon and Star Wars as stylistic influences on the film.[6] In 2004, Weitz was invited by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson onto the set of King Kong in order to gather information on directing a blockbuster film, and to receive advice on dealing with New Line Cinema, for whom Jackson had worked on Lord of the Rings. After a subsequent interview in which Weitz said the novel's attacks on organised religion would have to be softened, he was criticised by some fans,[5] and on December 15, 2004, Weitz announced his resignation as director of the trilogy, citing the enormous technical challenges of the epic.[6] He later indicated that he had envisioned the possibility of being denounced by both the book's fans and its detractors, as well as a studio hoping for another Lord of the Rings.[5]

text: On August 9, 2005, it was announced that British director Anand Tucker would take over from Weitz. Tucker felt the film would thematically be about Lyra "looking for a family",[6] and Pullman agreed: "He has plenty of very good ideas, and he isn't daunted by the technical challenges. But the best thing from the point of view of all who care about the story is his awareness that it isn't about computer graphics; it isn't about fantastic adventures in amazing-looking worlds; it's about Lyra."[15] Tucker resigned on May 8, 2006, citing creative disagreements with New Line, and Weitz returned to direct.[6] Weitz said "I'm both the first and third director on the film … but I did a lot of growing in the interim."[16]

text: According to producer Deborah Forte, Tucker wanted to make a smaller, less exciting film than New Line wanted. New Line production president Toby Emmerich said of Weitz's return: "I think Chris realised that if he didn't come back in and step up, maybe the movie wasn't going to get made … We really didn't have a Plan B at that point."[13] Weitz was attracted back to the project after receiving a letter from Pullman asking him to reconsider. Since his departure, blueprints, production design and visual effects strategies had been put into position, and while Weitz admitted that his fears did not vanish, the project suddenly seemed feasible for the director.[5]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Filming began at Shepperton Studios on September 4, 2006,[6] with additional sequences shot in Switzerland and Norway.[13] Filming also took place at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich,[17] Chiswick House in London, and in Radcliffe Square, Christ Church, Oxford, Exeter College, Oxford, The Queen's College, Oxford, The Historic Dockyard Chatham[18] and Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire.

text: Design[edit]

text: Production Designer Dennis Gassner says of his work on the film: "The whole project is about translation—translation from something you would understand into something that is in a different vernacular. So, it's a new signature, looking into another world that seems familiar but is still unique. There's a term I use—called 'cludging'—it's taking one element and combining it with another element to make something new. It's a hybrid or amalgamation, and that's what this movie is about from a design perspective. It's about amalgamating ideas and concepts and theoretical and physical environments."[19][20]

text: Rhythm and Hues Studios created the main dæmons, and Framestore CFC created all the bears.[21] British company Cinesite created the secondary dæmons.[22]

text: Differences from the novel[edit]

text: Numerous scenes from the novel did not feature in the film or were markedly changed. On December 7, 2007, New York magazine reviewed draft scripts from both Stoppard and Weitz; both were significantly longer than the final version, and Weitz's draft (which, unlike Stoppard's, did not feature significant additions to the source material) was pronounced the best of the three. The magazine concluded that instead of a "likely three hours of running time" that included such scenes as Mrs. Coulter's London party and Lyra's meeting with a witch representative, the studio had opted for a "failed" length of under two hours in order to maximise revenue.[23]

text: On October 9, 2007, Weitz revealed that the final three chapters from Northern Lights had been moved to the film's potential sequel, The Subtle Knife, in order to provide "the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second,"[24] though he also said less than a month later that there had been "tremendous marketing pressure" to create "an upbeat ending."[25] (The San Francisco Chronicle found this "truncated" ending abrupt.[26]) Author Pullman publicly supported these changes, saying that "every film has to make changes to the story that the original book tells—not to change the outcome, but to make it fit the dimensions and the medium of film".[27] In addition to removing the novel's unsettling ending, the film reverses the order in which Lyra travels to Bolvangar, the Gobbler's outpost, and then Svalbard, the armoured bears' kingdom.[28] (Neither deviation from the book features in Scholastic Publishing's The Golden Compass: The Story of the Movie novelisation.) In July 2009, Weitz told a Comic Con audience that the film had been "recut by [New Line], and my experience with it ended being quite a terrible one";[4] he also told Time.com that he had felt that by "being faithful to the book I was working at odds with the studio".[29] In 2011, Pullman told an audience at the British Humanist Association annual conference that he was also disappointed by this decision, and hoped that a director's cut of the film would be released some day including the footage cut by New Line.

text: In the book the Jordan College Master reluctantly poisons Lord Asriel's wine; in the film a visiting Magisterium official undertakes (more willingly) this action. The alethiometer is mentioned multiple times throughout the film as a "golden compass".

text: In the film, Billy Costa replaces Tony Makarios as the victim of intercision, and Tony is left out. Billy has the daemon Ratter, which is Tony's in the book. Billy features in the first scene of the film, whereas, in the book, he is first seen at Bolvangar, and is saved before ever having to go through intercision.

text: Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club argued that through the use of a spoken introduction and other exposition-filled dialogue, the film fails by "baldly revealing up front everything that the novel is trying to get you to wonder about and to explore slowly".[28] Youyoung Lee wrote in a December 2007 Entertainment Weekly that the film "leaves out the gore", such as the book's ritualistic heart-eating that concludes the bear fight, "to create family-friendlier fare".[30] Lee also said that the film "downplays the Magisterium's religious nature", but Robinson argued that the depiction of the Church in the film is as "a hierarchical organisation of formally robed, iconography-heavy priests who dictate and define morality for their followers, are based out of cathedrals, and decry teachings counter to theirs as 'heresy.' … doing ugly things to children under cover of secrecy". Robinson then asks, "Who are most people going to think of besides the Catholic Church?"[28] The film gives more prominence to scenes showing the Magisterium officials' perspective than the novel. The novel rarely mentions explicitly the Magisterium's intentions, relying on the gossip of others, and the comments of Mrs. Coulter.

text: Although the character of Mrs. Coulter has black hair in the novel, Pullman responded to the blonde Kidman's portrayal by saying "I was clearly wrong. You sometimes are wrong about your characters. She's blonde. She has to be."[31]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Several key themes of the novels, such as the rejection of religion and the abuse of power in a fictionalised version of the Church, were diluted in the adaptation. Director Weitz said that "in the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots", but that the organization portrayed in his film would not directly match that of Pullman's books. Instead, the Magisterium represents all dogmatic organisations.[32] Weitz said New Line Cinema had feared the story's anti-religious themes would make the film financially unviable in the U.S., and so religion and God ("the Authority" in the books) would not be referenced directly.

text: Attempting to reassure fans of the novels, Weitz said that religion would instead appear in euphemistic terms, yet the decision was criticised by some fans,[33] anti-censorship groups, and the National Secular Society (of which Pullman is an honorary associate), which said "they are taking the heart out of it, losing the point of it, castrating it…"[34] and "this is part of a long-term problem over freedom of speech." The Atlantic Monthly said also "With $180 million at stake, the studio opted to kidnap the book's body and leave behind its soul."[35] The changes from the novel have been present since Tom Stoppard's rejected version of the script,[13] and Pullman expected the film to be "faithful,"[32] although he also said, "They do know where to put the theology and that's off the film."[35] A Christianity Today review of the film noted that "'Magisterium' does refer, in the real world, to the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and the film [is] peppered with religiously significant words like 'oblation' and 'heresy'", adding that when one character smashes through the wall of a Magisterium building, the damaged exterior is "decorated with [Christian] Byzantine icons."[36]

text: On October 7, 2007, the Catholic League called for a boycott of the film.[37] League president William A. Donohue said he would not ordinarily object to the film, but that while the religious elements are diluted from the source material, the film will encourage children to read the novels, which he says denigrate Christianity and promote atheism for children.[38] He cited Pullman telling The Washington Post in 2001 that he is trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.[39] The League hoped that "the film [would fail] to meet box office expectations and that [Pullman's] books attract few buyers",[40] declaring the boycott campaign a success after a North American opening weekend which was lower than anticipated.[41] One week after the film's release, Roger Ebert said of the campaign, "any bad buzz on a family film can be mortal, and that seems to have been the case this time."[42]

text: R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed that the broad appeal of the film was a dangerous lure to the novels, which he criticised for carrying a clear agenda to expose what [Pullman] believes is the "tyranny of the Christian faith" and for "[providing] a liberating mythology for a new secular age."[43] The Rev. Denny Wayman of the Free Methodist Church made the assertion that The Golden Compass is a "film trying to preach an atheistic message".[44] Other evangelical groups, such as The Christian Film and Television Commission, adopted a "wait-and-see" approach to the film before deciding upon any action,[45] as did the Roman Catholic Church in England & Wales.[46] Some religious scholars have challenged the view that the story carries atheistic themes,[47][48] while in November 2007, a review of the film by the director and staff reviewer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting appeared on the website of the Catholic News Service and in Catholic newspapers across the country. The review suggested that instead of a boycott, it may be appropriate for Catholic parents to "talk through any thorny philosophical issues" with their children.[49] However, on December 10, 2007 the review was removed from the website at the USCCB's request.[50] On December 19, 2007, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an editorial in which it denounced the film as godless.[51]

text: Pullman said of Donohue's call for a boycott, "Why don't we trust readers? Why don't we trust filmgoers? Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world."[46] In a discussion with Donohue on CBS's Early Show, Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, said that rather than promote atheism, the film would encourage children to question authority, saying that would not be a bad thing for children to learn.[52] Director Weitz says that he believes His Dark Materials is "not an atheistic work, but a highly spiritual and reverent piece of writing,"[33] and Nicole Kidman defended her decision to star in the film, saying that "I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic."[16] Some commentators indicated that they believed both sides' criticism would prove ultimately impotent and that the negative publicity would prove a boon for the film's box office.[46][53][54] Nonetheless, the film trilogy has not been continued, prompting actor Sam Elliott to blame censorship and the Catholic Church.[55]

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered in London on November 27, 2007 and was released on December 5, 2007 in British cinemas by Entertainment Film Distributors and released on December 7, 2007 in American cinemas by New Line Cinema.

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2008 and the United States on April 29, 2008. The movie is closed-captioned by the National Captioning Institute on its first Home Video release. The extra material on the single-disc DVD consists of previews of upcoming New Line Cinema films. The two-disc edition includes a commentary from writer/director Chris Weitz, eleven "making-of" featurettes, a photo gallery, and theatrical and teaser trailers. The Blu-ray Disc features the same extras from the two-disc DVD edition.[56] Exclusive to Blu-ray Disc is visual commentary picture-in-picture feature which enables viewers to access behind-the-scene features while watching the movie.

text: Shortly before the film's release, Weitz suggested that an extended cut of the film could be released on DVD, saying "I'd really love to do a fuller cut of the film"; he further speculated that such a version "could probably end up at two and a half hours."[57] This proposed cut would presumably not include the original ending: MTV reported in December 2007 that Weitz hoped to include that material at the beginning of a possible The Subtle Knife adaptation, and that a Compass Director's Cut might feature "a moment" of it as a "teaser".[58] Cast members Craig and Green have echoed this hope for such a DVD cut; so far, however, no official announcement has been made.[58]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The North American opening weekend return was "a little disappointing" for New Line Cinema,[59] earning US$25.8 million with total domestic box office of $70 million compared to an estimated $180 million production budget.[1] Despite this, the film's fortunes rebounded as its performance outside the United States was described as "stellar" by Variety,[60] and as "astonishing" by New Line.[61] In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $53,198,635 and became the second-highest-grossing non-sequel of 2007 there (behind The Simpsons Movie). In Japan, the film was officially released in March 2008 on 700 screens, ultimately grossing $33,501,399; but previews of the film between February 23–24, 2008, earned $2.5 million. By July 6, 2008, it had earned $302,127,136 internationally, totaling $372,234,864 worldwide.[1] Overseas rights to the film were sold to fund the $180 million production budget for the film, so most of these profits did not go to New Line.[62] This has been cited as a possible "last straw" in Time Warner's decision to merge New Line Cinema into Warner Bros. Pictures.[3]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Reviews of The Golden Compass were mixed.[63] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 43% rating, based on 192 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling."[64] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 51, based on 33 reviews.[65]

text: Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that the film "crams so many events, characters, […] twists and turns, sumptuously appointed rooms and ethereally strange vistas […] that [it] risks losing you in the whirl" and that while The Golden Compass is "an honorable work," it is "hampered by its fealty to the book and its madly rushed pace."[66] James Berardinelli of ReelReviews gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, calling it "adequate, but not inspired" and criticising the first hour for its rushed pace and sketchily-developed characters.[67] James Christopher of The Times was disappointed, praising the "marvellous" special effects and casting, but saying that the "books weave a magic the film simply cannot match" and citing a "lack of genuine drama."[68]

text: Time rated it a "B" and called it a "good, if familiar fantasy," saying "The find is Dakota Blue Richards […] who's both grounded and magical."[69] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated it four stars out of five, praising Nicole Kidman's casting and saying it had "no other challengers as [2007's] big Christmas movie."[70] Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of four stars, and said that "Richards is persuasive" and that it "does a good job of introducing us to an unfamiliar world." Critic Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars and called it "a darker, deeper fantasy epic than the "Rings" trilogy (The Lord of the Rings), The Chronicles of Narnia or the Potter films," saying that it "creates villains that are more complex and poses more intriguing questions. As a visual experience, it is superb. As an escapist fantasy, it is challenging […] I think [it] is a wonderfully good-looking movie, with exciting passages and a captivating heroine."[71]

text: Pullman himself was described by a Times interviewer as sounding "ambivalent" and "guarded" about the film, saying in March 2008: "A lot of things about it were good… Nothing's perfect. Nothing can bring out all that's in the book. There are always compromises". He hoped, however, that the rest of the trilogy would be adapted with the same cast and crew.[72] In July 2009, after this possibility had been exhausted, Weitz told Time.com that he thought the film's special effects ended up being its "most successful element."[29]

text: At the British Humanist Association conference in 2011, Pullman said that there were not, after all, going to be more films with the same cast and crew. While praising the portrayals of his characters by Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards, Pullman said that he was disappointed with the final film and New Line's re-editing of it.

text: In 2014 Pullman called the film "over-designed" and criticised the screenplay: "They needed an ending that would work for a single film, but one that would also work if it was the first of a trilogy. They wanted both a cliffhanger and a resolution. You just can't do that."[73]

text: Debbie Day of Premiere Magazine, said "The Golden Compass ultimately fails as a film in its broad strokes and inadequate scene development."[74]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The Golden Compass won the 2008 BAFTA Film Award for Special Visual Effects[75] and an Oscar for Best Visual Effects notably beating what many considered to be the front runner, Michael Bay's Transformers which had swept the VES awards prior.[76] It was also nominated for two Critics' Choice Awards in 2007 ("Best Family Film," and "Best Young Actress" for Dakota Blue Richards[77]), five Satellite Awards and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. The Golden Compass was nominated for the National Movie Award for Best Family movie but lost to Disney/Pixar's WALL-E.

text:
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

Oscar
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Won

Oscar
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Dennis Gassner (art director)
Anna Pinnock (set decorator)
Nominated

BAFTA Film Award
Best Special Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Won

Saturn Award
Best Fantasy Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Performance by a Younger Actor
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Costume
Ruth Myers
Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Special Effects
Michael L. Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Nominated

Excellence in Production Design Award
Fantasy Film
Dennis Gassner (production designer)
Richard L. Johnson (supervising art director)
Chris Lowe (art director)
Andy Nicholson (art director)
Tino Schaedler (art director - digital sets)
James Foster (standby art director)
Gavin Fitch (assistant art director)
Helen Xenopoulos (assistant art director)
Won

AFI International Award
Best Actress
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

Critics Choice Award
Best Young Actress
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Critics Choice Award
Best Family Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

CDG Award
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Ruth Myers
Won

Gold Derby Award
Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Ben Morris
Bill Westenhofer
Trevor Wood
Nominated

Golden Trailer
Best Animation/Family TV Spot
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Golden Trailer
Best Animation/Family Poster
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Hugo Award
Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
Chris Weitz (written by/director)
Philip Pullman (based on the novel by)
Nominated

IFMCA Award
Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction Film
Alexandre Desplat
Won

IFMCA Award
Film Score of the Year
Alexandre Desplat
Nominated

IOFCP Award
Best Visual Effects
Michael Fink
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Trevor Wood
Nominated

ALFS Award
British Breakthrough - Acting
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Golden Reel Award
Best Sound Editing - Music in a Feature Film
Gerard McCann (supervising music editor)
Peter Clarke (music editor)
Robert Houston (additional music editor)
Andrew Dudman (additional music editor)
Sam Okell (additional music editor)
Stuart Morton (additional music editor)
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Family Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Performance - Female
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

National Movie Award
Best Performance - Female
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Original Song
Kate Bush (for the song "Lyra")
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Cinematography
Henry Braham
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Visual Effects
Michael L. Fink
Nominated

Satellite Award
Best Sound (Mixing & Editing)
Mike Prestwood Smith
Mark Taylor
Glenn Freemantle
Nominated

SLFCA Award
Best Animated or Children's Film
The Golden Compass
Nominated

SLFCA Award
Best Visual/Special Effects
The Golden Compass
Nominated

Genre Award
Best Actress in a Movie
Nicole Kidman
Nominated

VES Award
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Motion Picture
Michael L. Fink
Susan MacLeod
Bill Westenhofer
Ben Morris
Nominated

World Soundtrack Award
Soundtrack Composer of the Year
Alexandre Desplat
Nominated

Taurus Award
Best High Work
Paul Herbert
Nicholas Daines
Nominated

Yoga Award
Worst Foreign Actress
Nicole Kidman
Won

Yoga Award
Worst Foreign Film
Chris Weitz
Won

Young Artist Award
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress
Dakota Blue Richards
Nominated

Young Artist Award
Best Family Feature Film (Fantasy or Musical)
The Golden Compass
Nominated

text: Cancelled sequels[edit]

text: At the time of The Golden Compass's theatrical release, Chris Weitz pledged to "protect [the] integrity" of the prospective sequels by being "much less compromising" in the book-to-film adaptation process.[25] New Line Cinema commissioned Hossein Amini to write a screenplay based on the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, potentially for release in 2010 or 2011, with the third book of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, to follow. However, New Line president Toby Emmerich stressed that production of the second and third films was dependent on the financial success of The Golden Compass.[78] When The Golden Compass did not meet expectations at the United States box office, the likelihood of a sequel was downplayed by New Line. According to studio co-head Michael Lynne, "The jury is still very much out on the movie, and while it's performed very strongly overseas we'll look at it early 2008 and see where we're going with a sequel."[79]

text: In February 2008, Weitz told The Daily Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, that he still hoped for the sequels' production: "at first it looked like we were down for the count because in the U.S. [the film] underperformed, but then internationally it performed [better] than expectations. So, a lot depends on Japan, frankly… I think if it does well enough here we'll be in good shape for that."[80] Although producer Deborah Forte had, in March 2008, expressed optimism that the sequels would be made,[81] by October 2008, the two planned sequels were officially placed on hold, according to New Line Cinema, because of financial concerns during the global recession.[82][83] Sam Elliott, however, stated, "The Catholic Church … lambasted them, and I think it scared New Line off."[84]

text: In 2011, Philip Pullman remarked at the British Humanist Association annual conference that due to the first film's disappointing sales in the United States, there would not be any sequels made.[citation needed]

text: Music[edit]

text:
The Golden Compass

Soundtrack album by Alexandre Desplat

Released
January 22, 2008

Recorded
2007

Genre
Soundtrack

Length
73:49

Label
WaterTower Music

Producer
Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat soundtracks chronology

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
(2007)Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium2007
The Golden Compass
(2007)
Afterwards
(2008)Afterwards2008

Singles from The Golden Compass

"Lyra"
Released: 2007

text: French composer Alexandre Desplat composed the film's music. British singer Kate Bush wrote and performed the song "Lyra" which is played over the end credits.[85] The film's soundtrack album was released on January 22, 2008 by WaterTower Music.

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"The Golden Compass"
2:20

2.
"Sky Ferry"
2:42

3.
"Letters from Bolvangar"
2:32

4.
"Lyra, Roger and Billy"
1:28

5.
"Mrs. Coulter"
5:19

6.
"Lyra Escapes"
3:43

7.
"The Magisterium"
1:58

8.
"Dust"
1:09

9.
"Serafina Pekkala"
1:49

10.
"Lee Scoresby's Airship Adventure"
1:18

11.
"Iorek Byrnison"
5:27

12.
"Lord Faa, King of the Gyptians"
2:18

13.
"The Golden Monkey"
2:03

14.
"Riding Iorek"
4:39

15.
"Samoyed Attack"
1:21

16.
"Lord Asriel"
2:08

17.
"Ragnar Sturlusson"
6:19

18.
"Ice Bear Combat"
2:16

19.
"Iorek's Victory"
1:27

20.
"The Ice Bridge"
1:32

21.
"Rescuing the Children"
2:19

22.
"Intercision"
2:48

23.
"Mother"
3:34

24.
"Battle with the Tartars"
4:29

25.
"Epilogue"
3:32

26.
"Lyra" (written and performed by Kate Bush)
3:19

Total length:
73:49

text: Video game[edit]

text: The video game for this film was released in November 2007 in Europe and December 2007 in North America and Australia for the PC, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and the Xbox 360. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Sega.[86]

text: Players take control of the characters Lyra Belacqua and Iorek Byrnison in Lyra's attempt to save her friend Roger from the General Oblation Board. As this game does not fully take into account the changes made by the final version of the film, a small amount of footage from the film's deleted ending can be viewed near the end of the game, and the order in which Lyra travels to Bolvangar and Svalbard follows the book and not the film.


document_title: Clay Matthews Jr.

question_text: where did clay matthews jr play college football

text: Clay Matthews Jr.

text: Professional career[edit]

text: Matthews was drafted by the Browns out of the University of Southern California with the 12th pick in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft. Clay was a four-time Pro Bowler for Cleveland and was a cornerstone of the defense for well over a decade. In 1984, Clay recorded 12.0 sacks. He was present at the infamous Browns playoff losses known as Red Right 88, The Drive, and The Fumble, that kept some very good teams from appearing in a Super Bowl. One of his most memorable moments as a Brown was in a playoff game against the Bills on January 6, 1990. Jim Kelly and the high flying Bills offense came to Cleveland for a memorable shootout. With only seconds left in the 4th quarter and clinging to a 34-30 lead, Matthews intercepted a Kelly pass on the Brown's two yard line to seal a Cleveland victory. After the 1993 season, Clay became an Atlanta Falcon. In 1995 at the age of 39, Matthews started all 16 games for the Falcons. He was also the oldest player to record a sack at 40 years, 282 days. Matthews was one of the first players to negotiate a large contract going into the NFL.[citation needed]

text: Matthews was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week twice in his career with the Cleveland Browns (Week 12, 1984 and Week 9, 1991). Clay and his son, Clay Matthews III, are the only father-son tandem to be named defensive player of the week in the NFL.[3]

text: Life after pro football[edit]

text: Matthews resides in Agoura Hills, California. He serves as defensive coordinator at Oaks Christian High School, a coed private school in Westlake Village, California that his son Casey attended. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, along with his brother Bruce. After his retirement, Clay Matthews opened a Pontiac Dealership in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid in 1992; Matthews's dealership has since closed.

text: Clay and his brother Bruce competed with members of their family on the popular TV game show Family Feud, with Richard Dawson. The Matthews Family won the game, and Clay was one of the two family members to play the final round. One of five questions he was asked in the final round was "What is the ideal age for a U.S. President?". He answered "32". The constitutional requisite age to become President is 35. Clay ended up scoring 41 points total, and the Matthews family did not win the $10,000 grand prize.

text: In 2014, he was named Director of Football Operations at Carter (Tenn.) HS, where he once served as an assistant coach.[4]

text: Personal life[edit]

text: Clay Matthews, Jr. is married to Leslie. They have five children: Jennifer, Kyle, Brian, Clay and Casey.[5] Clay Matthews' brother Bruce Matthews, who also played at USC, and father Clay Matthews Sr. were also NFL players. Clay Matthews Jr. graduated from New Trier East High School in Winnetka, IL in 1974. Two of his sons joined the football team at USC, while another joined the football team at the University of Oregon: Kyle Matthews was a safety at USC (2000–03) and Clay Matthews III played linebacker and defensive end at USC (2004–2008). After graduation, Clay Matthews III was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Casey Matthews played linebacker at the University of Oregon (2007–2011), and was selected in Round 4 of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.[6]