The Vatican Condemns Pullman and The Golden Compass
The Vatican has blasted
author Philip Pullman and The Golden Compass, the new film based on his book The Northern Lights.
The Vatican on Wednesday condemned the film "The Golden Compass," which some have called anti-Christian, saying it promotes a cold and hopeless world without God.
In a long editorial, the Vatican newspaper l'Osservatore Romano, also slammed Philip Pullman, the bestselling author of the book on which the family fantasy movie is based.
It was the Vatican's most stinging broadside against an author and a film since it roundly condemned "The Da Vinci Code" in 2005 and 2006.
"In Pullman's world, hope simply does not exist, because there is no salvation but only personal, individualistic capacity to control the situation and dominate events," the editorial said.
The film, which premiered earlier this month in the United States and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, is an adaptation of Pullman's acclaimed novel "Northern Lights."
The Vatican newspaper said "honest" viewers would find it "devoid of any particular emotion apart from a great chill."
Unfortunately for New Line and Pullman, the stinging denouncement came too late to stir up more controversy and help with box office sales. The film made only $26 million in its first weekend and is widely considered a major box office flop.
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