The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion

Some 'Making Of' books about movie production are rather shallow and don't tell you anything you couldn't find out by watching the movie. Brian Sibley's books are NOT like that. They DO tell you all kinds of things that are fun to find out and which you almost certainly didn't know from watching the movie. The books he wrote about the making of The Lord of the Rings were all wonderfully informative and full of luscious detail, for example. So is this one. Interviews with the stars, the director, the costume and set design people, even the cinematographer-- within the short compass [to coin a phrase] of this book, much of what you didn't know about the making of The Golden Compass is revealed. For example, there's a bit about some of the symbolism: About how the circle represents Lyra and her childhood innocence; and how the Magisterium is represented by the oval--" . . . a circle that is trying to stretch itself and make itself bigger," thereby distorting the truth of innocence. As avid a movie-watcher as I am, and as big a fan of this particular movie as I am [I've seen it three times so far and will buy it on DVD the split second it becomes available], I would never have picked up on that in a billion years. It's the sort of subliminal message-creation that makes visual art so exciting, but it doesn't hurt to know about it consciously either. There's a lot about the movie that ISN'T revealed, too, though. For example, Tom Stoppard's participation in early versions of the screenplay is glossed over by omitting his identity. Another major omission is the declawing, defusing, and deliberate obfuscation of the core theme of the book the movie is based on--the 'Holy Church' in the book is called merely 'The Magisterium' in the movie, and all references to Biblical and alternate theologies have been carefully excised, as though the Intercision Machine had been turned loose on the book's pages. Nevertheless, for the type of book it is, Sibley's behind-the-scenes feast provides everything you really need to know about the motion picture, including fantastic evidence that it's well worth seeing. (Which it is, to put it mildly.)

I didn't read the books, but I really enjoyed the film "The Golden Compass", and this particular book simply adds to the pleasure. Its a relatively short book, but it is crammed with the kind of "making of" information and pictures that fill out the movie experience. I feel much more thought and effort went into the creation of the world of "The Golden Compass" than one found in "Narnia"...the film to which it is most often compared. Great photos of the props and costumes; good pre-production art. I just wish there had been more of it. I'm afraid, due to its weak box office performance in the U.S., this may be the one and only film from the trilogy. Why the accountants didn't realize that "Narnia" and "LOTR" had a 50 year built-in fan base, and plan accordingly escapes me. So, enjoy this special glimpse into a very well realized alternate world, and hope we may get another one.