My Take - the Da Vinci Code - Review

Amidst a flurry of news articles, protests, and international litigation, The Da Vinci Code (2006) opened in theaters this past weekend, earning more than $200 million worldwide over the course of the three days. Undoubtedly, the controversy helped to increase the film's opening revenues, which were the largest so far this year.

The film is director Ron Howard's interpretation of Dan Brown's 2003 book, which itself evoked the ire of the Catholic Church. Claims made concerning Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ; Opus Dei (literally the work of God), a conservative Catholic group; and the Priory of Sion (depicted as the protectors of the Holy Grail) have apparently offended The Vatican. The litigation filed by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982), upon which Brown purportedly based his novel, con-cerns an alleged copyright infringement.

The Code opens with the murder of Jacques Saunière (French actor Jean-Pierre Marielle), curator of the internationally famous Louvre museum in Paris. In the moments before he finally succumbs to the gunshot wound inflicted by Opus Dei member Silas, Saunière leaves clues which lead police to Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a published symbologist, and indirectly to Saunière's granddaughter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), a police cryptographer. Thus begins a treasure hunt which leads the seekers to renowned landmarks and through several European countries, in search of the Holy Grail. Clues are found in the various works of Leonardo Da Vinci, including the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Vitruvian Man.

The movie follows Brown's novel, to a large degree. Much of the repetition of the novel is excised in favor of time, as is a good deal of the annoying inner dialogue of several of the characters. The sequence of some events is altered in relation to other events, and some of the language is changed. Sadly, none of this alteration seems to have clarified the many confusing aspects of the novel.