THE DA VINCI CODE
I haven’t read Dan Brown’s
literary blockbuster The Da Vinci
Code but it’s hard to imagine that no one was tempted as I was to look
at all the network and cable TV pseudo documentaries about the historical
elements that inspired him to write it. They sprouted up like weeds with
their tales of the Templar Knights, the Crusades, secret societies and
Brown’s re-imagining of the symbolism in Leonardo Da Vinci’s art. Bible
history and the Catholic Church also got a drubbing all in the name of
dramatic license. There hasn’t been such a brouhaha over a book that poked
holes in the teaching of the
According to all the publicity and the few people I know who read the book, director Ron Howard’s and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman’s film version stays pretty close to the book’s dramatic narrative. However, I can’t help but feel that no matter how clever Brown’s cryptographic suspense novel is, he or the filmmakers owe a debt of gratitude to the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, for the story’s framing device. In his movies like “The 39 Steps” (1935) and “North by Northwest” (1959), an innocent man is blamed for a crime he didn’t commit. In each case the lead rushes cross country - England in the former, the U.S in the latter - with a lady at his side to help him prove his innocence. In “The Da Vinci Code” Tom Hanks’ Robert Langdon flees the scene of a murder and Audrey Tautou’s Sophie Neveu comes to his aid. He’s a Professor who studies symbols in history and art and she’s a cryptographer who happens to be related to the dead curator of The Louvre who summoned Langdon in the first place. A cryptic note puts them on the centuries old quest for the Holy Grail whose existence is hinted at in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. Together Langdon and Neveu scrutinize The Last Supper, the Mona Lisa and two versions of Virgin on the Rocks (sounds like a drink!). They are chased through the streets of Paris and finally across Europe with the cops on their tail. They’re led by Captain Bezu Fache (Jean Reno) who turns out to be a member of Agnus Dei, a contemporary fringe group that wants to adhere to an older more monastic version of the Church’s teachings. Then there’s Silas (Paul Bettany) the murderous monk who’s out to kill anyone who might reveal secrets that date back to the origins of the New Testament (anyone who has read the book or seen the TV specials will know that it is…..). Silas is controlled by a Bishop (Alfred Molina) who gets his orders from a higher authority. Langdon’r mentor, Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellan), who knows all their is to know about the legendary Holy Grail, is not all he’s cracked up to be.
My favorite scene: Ms Neveu recalling the loss of her father and mother and the guardian who groomed her through childhood games for the future role she would inherit in adulthood. It had the movie’s most touching moments.
Here’s some info cribbed from the distributor’s production notes. This stuff is in keeping with the spirit of the book’s cryptographic puzzle games. The names of some of the characters have meanings that reflect their part in the story.
Sophie Neveu’s name: Sophia is Greek for Wisdom - Neveu means descendent
Capt. Bezu Fache - Bezu is name of a location of a Templar Fortress - Fache means cross in French
Bishop Manuel Aringrosa - Surname means red herring
The bottom line: “The Da Vinci Code” is not a bad film but it never measures up to all the hype that preceded its release. Many of the articles I read referred to movies with religious themes that raised the ire of the Catholic Church. This movie has little in common with such high minded fare as Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” It is much closer to the fun loving spirit of the best of the treasure hunting movies.
Copyright 2006
The one treasure hunting film that most parallels “The Da Vinci Code” in structure if not in content.
“National Treasure” (2004) - If this isn’t a rip-off of the fundamental narrative framework without the strained seriousness of “The Da Vinci Code”’s plot, I don’t know what is. Nicholas Cage is a treasure hunter whose ancestors have something to do with a long lost treasure of The Founding Fathers. The biggest clue to its whereabouts is on the back of The Declaration of Independence and Cage has to steal it to find out what it is. And that’s just in the first half. True to form there’s a lady at his side played by Diane Kruger who played Helen in “Troy” and Lisa in “Wicker Park.” Sean Bean is the bad guy trying to out maneuver Cage.
A bona fide classic
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) - Steven Spielberg’s salute to the high adventure films and the serials of his youth never loses its ability to fascinate. Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones is on the trail of the lost Ark of the Covenant from the Old Testament. He has to deal with Nazis, snakes and the supernatural. A very young Alfred Molina who plays the Bishop in “The Da Vinci Code” leads Jones through a gauntlet of a cave at the very beginning of the movie.
A Granddaddy of treasure hunting movies
“Treasure Island” (1934) - MGM gloss brings this classic Robert Louis Stevenson story about cutthroat pirates and treasure maps to life with Jackie Cooper as Jim Hawkins and Wallace Beery as the rascally Long John Silver. Shot in atmospheric black and white. The Disney version from 1950 with Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton is equally as good and in color.