The Da Vinci Code

Rating: 6/10 (6 June 2006)

At the time of the film's release I had about all the hype of the Dan Brown book of the same title it was based, so I was keen, but it was only watching it for the third time I could appreciate it properly, and I'm glad I do, from director Ron Howard (Splash, The Paper, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind). Basically in Paris, France, American symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is called to the Musée du Louvre to the Grand Gallery to the view the scene of a crime, curator Jacques Saunière (Jean-Pierre Marielle) has been murdered, by albino monk Silas (Paul Bettany), but before dying he left strange messages in black light ink and his blood. French police cryptologist and Saunière's granddaughter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) shows up at the Louvre, and taking him aside he is told he is being tracked by GPS that investigating French police Captain Bezu Fache (Jean Reno) slipped into his jacket, he is also told he is the key suspect of the crime, and Sophie believes the hidden messages are for her, asking to get Langdon and crack the code. With the police distracted to chase the discarded GPS device, Langdon sees the messages are anagrams, and following the clues many relate to the artworks of artist Leonardo Da Vinci, and find a hidden key behind his painting Madonna/Virgin of the Rocks, and he deduces Saunière was part of secret society the Priory of Sion, associated with the Knights Templar, who guarded the Holy Grail. Inspecting the key they are led to a bank safety deposit box, and opening with a ten digit number code memorised, and inside a rosewood container is a cryptex, a cylindrical container with five alphabetical dials to be arranged in a correct sequence to spell a five letter code word, if it is forced open a vial of vinegar inside will destroy the message hidden inside. After escaping the bank manager Andre Vernet (Jürgen Prochnow) and the police they travel to visit Langdon's friend Sir Leigh Teabing (Sir Ian McKellen) for assistance in opening the cryptex, he is a keen seeker of the Holy Grail, and using projected imagery of the famous Da Vinci painting of the Last Summer he proves his belief that the Grail is not a cup like everyone thinks, he believes it is a person, Mary Magdalene who was apparently pregnant with the child of Jesus Christ during the time of his crucifixion, this secret was hidden by the Priory. Silas breaks into Teabing's and tries to steal the cryptex, but the three of them knock him out and tied up take him with them travelling to London, following the next clue to the Temple Church in London, but this is a red herring, and in a frantic situation followers of someone known as The Teacher are revealed, and Silas escaping accidentally shoots his facilitator Bishop Manuel Aringarosa (Alfred Molina), before allowing himself to get shot by the police. Langdon was deceived by Teabing however, he is The Teacher, they follow him and the next clue at Isaac Newton's tomb in Westminster Abbey, Newton was part of the Priory, Teabing says he wants to find the remains of Mary Magdalene to prove his research was right and bring it into the public eye, he assumes Sophie, who was being trained to be part of the Priory, must know the cryptex code word, but Langdon threatened takes it thinking he may be able to solve, but after moments he throws it up and destroys the message inside. Teabing is distraught at not getting the message of the cryptex, but being arrested he realises Langdon did solve it before throwing, the codeword was "Apple" (relating to the famous Newton scientific discovery of gravity), and following the message clue they reach Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, the last place to hold the remains of Mary Magdalene, they have been moves, but they meet more members of the secret organisation that protected her, and documentation chronicling the blood line of Christ. Sophie is revealed to be the descendant of Mary Magdelene, therefore surviving the Christ, hence her past experience with the Priory, she is to go with them to keep her secret and safe, she and Langdon debate her significant heritage for a moment, but he tells her it is up to her what she does with the knowledge she has been given. The last sequence sees Langdon remembering the Rose Line in Paris, the line of brass plates placed on the ground through the city leading to something significant, and he finds it is the location the Holy Grail, the remains of Mary Magdalene are buried beneath the pyramid in the Louvre, and like the Knights Templar before him he simply kneels. Also starring Etienne Chicot as Lt. Collet, Jean-Yves Berteloot as Remy Jean, Marie-Françoise Audollent as Sister Sandrine and Clive Carter as Biggin Hill Police Captain. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Hans Zimmer. Hanks does well as the knowledgeable Harvard professor, Tautou is alright as the female investigator caught in the middle, Bettany is disturbing as the creepy and disturbed monk who self harms and kills for his god, and McKellen is likable and joyous as the double-crossing expert. The film is filled with powerful and thought-provoking ideas of the concepts religion, the meanings behind artworks, and the very foundations of scientific knowledge, theory and discovery, it works fantastically as a puzzle to piece together, as long as you can keep up, as well as watching fun chases with great locations (including Winchester Cathedral posing as Westminster Abbey), a most watchable and faithfully adapted mystery thriller. Good!