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'The Da Vinci Code', based on the hugely popular novel by Dan Brown, is a thrilling, exciting, relentlessly entertaining story of an egregiously preposterous conspiracy theory that implicates the Catholic Church in a centuries old scheme to cover up one of the most sordid secrets of all time; that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child, and that his living descendants have been hunted throughout history, to hide Jesus' mortality, and that said descendants are protected by a mysterious order known as the Priory of Scion. Oh, and the whole film is about the search for clues, originating from the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Louvre, especially The Last Supper, which has Mary sitting next to Jesus, and a V shape between them, an ancient symbol for female, representing a womb. All of this is unraveled by Robert Langdon (Hanks), a professor of religious symbology at Harvard. He is invited to a crime scene at the Louvre, where the curator has been murdered. There, he meets Sophie (Tautou), the curator's granddaughter, who works with Langdon to find out what is going on. Langdon in the prime suspect, and is pursued by Bezu Fache (Reno), a determined French detective. Sophie tells Langdon he is danger, and the elude Fache's clutches, and eventually end up at the estate of Sir Leigh Teabing (McKellen), an old friend of Langdon's, an expert on secret societies and the mythology surrounding Jesus' love affair. His long-winded explanation of this tale is partially convincing, as it is based on real Christian history (which includes a seemingly uninterrupted series of bloody atrocities), and the "gospels" excluded from the New Testament, presumably because they did not conform to the established dogma. These facts are mixed with a lot of nonsense, wild conjecture, that is indeed intriguing, but also fanciful to the point of distraction. But McKellen, in a wonderful performance, can make you believe it, and make it all sound plausible. In addition to being chased by both the French and British police, Langdon and Sophie are running from Silas (Bettany), an albino monk/assassin, whose body is scarred from self-flagellation, the act of whipping oneself. Silas is working for Bishop Aringarosa (Molina), who is one the conspiracy, and meets with a cabal of cardinals within the Vatican, to discuss how to cover their tracks and keep the secret from being exposed. The Holy Grail, as we learn, is not the chalice from which Jesus drank wine at the Last Supper, but rather his actual bloodline, which can be proven by examining the remains of Mary Magdalene, the whereabouts of which are carefully guarded. Or something like that. The plot is absurd, as it should be, makes for great adventure, and is actually quite thought-provoking, though it goes on and on, with one revelation being followed by another, until you have seen what could be half a dozen false endings, to get to the real one, which is less satisfactory. The movie is 2 ½ hours long, and it sometimes feels like it, especially once everything has been revealed, and the characters just keep talking about it, but surprises do keep coming, I must say, and Ron Howard directs with style and flair, creating an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, perfectly accentuated by the music of veteran Hans Zimmer. There are some stunning sights to see, in France and England, old cathedrals and the beautiful art of the Louvre, and a variety of other impressive pieces of architecture. Hanks is terrific, and works well with Tautou, and they both tackle this with complete seriousness, and pull it off, never overplaying their roles. Bettany is just creepy, and completely bonkers. I never read the book, nor do I have any desire to. The movie outraged Christians, but not me, as I think Christians tend to overreact to things like this, and the many internal contradictions of the Bible, and the puzzling nature of Jesus, whether fully human or divine, are all addressed here quite thoroughly, and if one's faith is strong enough, this "blasphemous" movie is not likely to offend or shake your convictions. email this review to a friend
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