semi-summary of Golden Compass

The cornerstone of the forthcoming fantasy film The Golden Compass, based on the first novel in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, is the mysterious device from which the tale borrows its title. The golden compass, more formally referred to as the alethiometer, is an extraordinarily intricate device able to answer any question formed in the mind of the user. Created centuries ago by a metaphysical scientist, the truth-telling, future-seeing machine points not to true North like an ordinary compass, but to Truth itself. The alethiometer's face is ornamented with 36 arcane symbols, each of which may convey different meanings in combination with any of the others and according to the subtleties of the machine's motions. As you can imagine, this makes it incredibly difficult to read. In fact, there's no-one left in the world that possesses the ability, except for the story's young heroine, Lyra.
"The alethiometer's 36 symbols have more than 10 or 20 meanings themselves," explains director Weitz "According to the way the needle moves across these symbols, you can interpret it as an answer to your questions. There's some kind of absolute truth out there that guides the needle of the alethiometer. So, it's an immensely powerful object. It allows you to know anything and everything, but it's incredibly difficult to use. Everyone who has used the alethiometer has had to reference these huge tomes of symbols and their meanings and interpretations in order to get anything about of these devices. But Lyra, for reasons we will discover in part in this movie and in full in later movies in the series, has the ability to read it without these books. She's able to do this through long practice, through her inner nature, and through training by people who have folk wisdom of various kinds like the Gyptians in the story."
Lyra, played by actress Dakota Blue Richards, is given the device by the Master of Jordan College before being sent away to London. She soon finds herself on the run carrying the sought-after artifact, up against the sinister forces of the Magisterium -- an oppressive organization that seeks to destroy free will.