Summary:
The Da Vinci Code has been one of the most highly anticipated and controversial films of the decade thus far. Unfortunately, the filmmakers seem to have caved into the pressure and watered down the original version. Is it still palatable? Yes, but barely. Read on for a review and commentary of this film.

Details or Sample:
I read Dan Brown´s book over two years ago and had read Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln´s Holy Blood, Holy Grail several years prior to the Da Vinci Code. Although many people would say that The Da Vinci Code is ground-breaking fiction; the theories and ideas presented in the film aren´t entirely new. Some factions within the Catholic Church such as the Peruvian Episcopal Council (ECP) see the film as a "systemic attack´ on the Church, one that could potentially destroy it. The Faroe Islands, an independent entity in the North Atlantic Ocean between Norway, Scotland and Iceland, banned the film from its biggest theater. NOAH, the National Organization for Albinism and Hyperpigmentation, is concerned that the portrayal of Silas, the albino monk who serves Opus Dei´s Bishop Aringarosa, gives those with albinism a bad name. Opus Dei has asked the filmmakers to edit the movie to avoid any references which may "be hurtful to Catholics´.

So much controversy for a summer blockbuster, right? These aren´t the only complaints against The Da Vinci Code movie. It´s difficult to find a positive review of the film. Most critics say that at almost 2 ½ hours the film is achingly long. Others say it´s outright boring. Most agree that it waters down the original book. In fact there are quite a few elements left out of the film that made the book so very interesting. It´s not certain why the filmmakers decided to make Jacques Sauniere, whose murder in the opening sequence ushers in the action, just a grand master of the Priory of Sion and not Sophie´s true, biological grandfather.

Langdon returns Sophie to her grandmother and the Priory of Sion at the end just as in the book, but where´s her brother? Is he the attractive, brown-haired groundskeeper of the chapel that we see, but who never utters a word? In the book, her brother did not die. In this version, he is presumed dead. He´s an afterthought of sorts. And why is Langdon only a big brother/father type of figure in Sophie´s life? In the book, there was definite sexual tension between the characters, and a kiss (not on the cheek), I believe.

Why is Bezu Fache a member of Opus Dei in the film? He wasn´t in the book. Does this make his actions more palatable, or reasonable? And why does the movie gloss over the Hieros Gamos sex ritual between the male and female that Sophie witnessed her grandparents partaking of as a child? It was a major part of the book, but perhaps the pagan elements were too much for an American audience. Perhaps the filmmakers caved under the pressure from so many different splinter groups.

The movie, overall, was an intelligent and intellectual thrill ride. One would need to have read The Da Vinci Code and probably Holy Blood, Holy Grail to fully understand the movie, or have a degree in medieval history which I do. The symbology is fascinating but has been done to death, especially in the last few years in large part due to the book´s immense success. The geeky banter between Teabing and Langdon is sure fun for those of us history buffs, but … might be a bit high-brow for a regular movie-going audience.

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Written by: Deanna Couras Goodson
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