Philip Pullman is against any kind of organised dogma whether it is church hierarchy or, say, a Soviet hierarchy.' If that's what you want in the film, you'll be disappointed,' he admitted, but added: 'We have expanded the range of meanings of what the Magisterium represents. 'In the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic church gone wildly astray from its roots. She has to fight the forces of the dominant religious authority, the Magisterium, which condones the abduction of children for experimentation.Īt a preview of footage staged at the Cannes Film Festival in the spring, director Chris Weitz, best known for directing About A Boy, said the film would be a fair retelling of Pullman's tale. The book tells of Lyra's quest to rescue a kidnapped friend and then charts her efforts to save the fantastical world she inhabits. 'I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic.' I was raised Catholic, the Catholic Church is part of my essence,' she told film journalists in Australia in the summer. Kidman has said the critical stance of the film 'has been watered down a little. What a shame that we have to endure such censorship here too.' It seems that religion has now completely conquered America's cultural life and it is much the poorer for it. 'In doing that they are taking the heart out of it, losing the point of it, castrating it. 'It was clear right from the start that the makers of this film intended to take out the anti-religious elements of Pullman's book,' said Terry Sanderson, president of the society. While Pullman himself has said he believes 'the outline of the story is faithful to what I wrote, given my knowledge of what they have done', the National Secular Society - of which the author is an honorary associate - has now spoken out against the changes. Northern Lights, the book which first introduced readers to Pullman's 12-year-old heroine, Lyra, is as dear to its many fans as JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and JK Rowling's Harry Potter saga, so tampering with the philosophical content is not likely to be welcomed when the film is released before Christmas.

Philip pullman northern lights trilogy