da vinci code review

May 29th, 2006

Da Vinci Code Review - Murdered by SONY / COLUMBIA PICTURES .
Sad to say but that’s the gist of my review for those who do not want to read further. The film might break a few Box Office records in certain places , but I personally feel that the people who have read the book previously will not enjoy the movie.

I have read the book almost a year back , 6 months after the book had been released. I had enjoyed the book so much , that on hearing about the MOVIE - “Da Vinci Code” coming in theatres , I had decided to re-read the book again , and I DID.
Many people will first ask , whether I am a believer or a non believer of the TRUTH about the SACRED FEMININE, whether I revere Jesus ,  whether I feel Christianity is a mockery or a scandal, and so many things. Without taking any sides ,I would like to state that my love or adoration for the book was primarily because of the extensive research and the exquisite and enthralling way the story was built up unfolding the various mysteries and facts of our day to day life. For example - the Phi - the golden number, Monalisa’s smile , Walt Disney cartoons etc. Whether “Da Vinci Code” is a work of fiction , whether it is blasphemous , should Dan Brown be considered a heretic should never be the question . If it is just a work of fiction, it has been such a wonderful work of fiction and you cannot deny that . If he is wrong in defacing Christianity , why is it not considered the same for Western novels and movies which mock Hindu and Muslim Gods.
Dan Brown , by his book’s character Teabing, made a quote : ” History books has always been created by the victorious ” . I will just replay the word , in the context …. in the year 302 AD, Constantine demolished the Pagans and established Christianity and in the same way , in the year 2004 , Dan Brown’s book dealt a shocking blow and made another mark in history of years to come . His book raised several questions , and also gave some of the answers slowly, and in a masterly way .

That was the Book…. the Movie - “Da Vinci Code” , failed miserably . Forget raising questions - the movie unfolded the answers in the same breath it raised them!  All the Codes of Da Vinci and Jaques Sauniere were solved as if they were a child’s play and utterly unconvincingly . In Brown’s book , Teabing was the Villain no doubt , but till the climax Robert Langdon and Teabing were almost of similar belief , they were both on the Grail Quest. In the movie , from the very beginning, they have shown Teabing and Langdon fighting over beliefs .
Tom Hanks , a superior actor has hardly been used anywhere near his capability and disappoints thoroughly . Since I have read the book twice, for the various mysterious codes , riddles , puzzles , stories , conspiracy … imagine my disapointment when throughout the movie , I never felt intrigued as to what they are going to show next . It’s true that many films which are based on books, often gets changed for dramatic effects , but here in this movie , there’s hardly any dramatic effect . Jaques Sauneire’s puzzles and dual and triple code over codes was the keypoint of the book , which has hardly been touched in the movie… The movie is however full of car chases - high speed car chases through the roads of Paris , men jumping over cafes on the side walk and pictures of gruesome self flagelation .

Apart from this , much of the book’s main theme has been changed for political righteousness , instead of showing the Vatican beingn fooled by a cunning Royal British Historian , they have created a “shadow council ” who even knows of the existence of Silas’s murdering . All through the book , so much had been narrated about the existence of the Sacred Feminime all around us in the things we know , has been randomly ripped out of the scenario and random lines have been put in from the book quite abruptly . When I grieved about this to a few friends of mine , they mused that “truly a 10,000 lines book can not be justifiably condensed in a 3 hour english movie” which has some merit in saying so …..but still , a movie this big could have been better addresed and narrated or directed , considering it is one of the top-most bestsellers of all time …. thousands of movies gets churned out of Hollywood , which have weak storylines ….which surely is not the case here . Nor was there any lack of advertisement or financial support .

All in all - a total let down in my opinion .

Entry Filed under: movie reviews