Table of contents:

 

 

Introduction

The film adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code” shares the same title and was released in 2006. Produced by Brian Grazer and John Calley, the movie is an American mystery-thriller directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. It serves as the inaugural installment in the Robert Langdon film series.

The film adaptation of “The Da Vinci Code” generated controversy, much like the book. It faced strong criticism from the Catholic Church, primarily due to its portrayal of a two-thousand-year-old cover-up involving the Holy Grail and the suggestion that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married with a daughter. The film also drew scrutiny for its depiction of the organizations Priory of Sion and Opus Dei. Several members of the Catholic Church called for a boycott of the film. In the book, Dan Brown asserts that the descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals are accurate.

Despite the controversy, the film achieved significant commercial success. It earned $224 million during its worldwide opening weekend and amassed a total of $760 million globally. This made it the second highest-grossing film of 2006 and remains Ron Howard’s highest-grossing film to date. However, critical reception was generally negative. The film was followed by two sequels, “Angels & Demons” in 2009 and “Inferno” in 2016.

 

Important characters

• Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon
• Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu
• Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing
• Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa
• Paul Bettany as Silas
• Jean Reno as Police Captain Bezu Fache
• Étienne Chicot as Lieutenant Jérôme Collet
• Jean-Yves Berteloot as Remy Jean
• Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière

 

Differences between book and the movie

The Da Vinci Code film maintains a generally faithful adaptation of the original material, preserving the overall plot while making some adjustments to reduce the overall runtime. Certain scenes that were not included in the film were either briefly depicted or simplified to convey the essential information.

1. In the novel, Robert stays at the Hotel Ritz in Paris after giving a class at the American University of Paris. However, in the movie, he is taken by Inspector Collet when he is signing books after his class on symbology.
2. The book provides more detail about Opus Dei, an ultra-conservative Catholic organization headed by Bishop Manuel Aringarosa. It explains that Opus Dei is sanctioned by the Vatican but has faced controversy over its recruiting techniques and practices of self-punishment. Aringarosa’s meeting with the Vatican and a special deal he made with the Teacher are mentioned in the book.
3. Silas’ backstory includes him becoming a drifter who murders a sailor in the novel, leading to his imprisonment.
4. In the book, Sophie attempts to help Robert escape the Louvre through a side entry, but they ultimately team up again after realizing the connection to the Priory of Sion based on a riddle left by Sauniére.
5. The book introduces a ritual that Sophie witnessed in her youth earlier on but provides further details and its meaning during the flight to England. In the movie, the ritual is introduced towards the end.
6. After escaping, Sophie uses Robert’s credit card to buy train tickets to Lille in the hopes of misleading the police. Robert explains the significance of the Priory of Sion and the Grail in Bois de Boulogne. The encounter with prostitutes, including Sophie buying off a drug user, is only depicted in the movie.
7. In the book, Andre Vernet is an old friend of Jacques Sauniére, offering to transport Sophie and Robert. In the movie, the bank escape is a service Vernet extends to Sophie as part of their agreement. Their motivations differ in the book and the movie.
8. Teabing’s explanation about the Grail and the Last Supper is more extensive in the book, but there is no argument between Teabing and Robert as depicted in the movie.
9. The book features a black cryptex inside Sauniére’s wooden box with a different poem in mirror-writing referring to “a word of wisdom.” The movie excludes the black cryptex and only shows the white one.
10. Remy, Teabing’s manservant, is portrayed as an older man in the book but appears slightly younger in the movie. Their roles and affiliations differ as well.
11. The book does not include a scene where Inspector Fache suspects Robert based on Aringarosa allegedly overhearing a confession. This scene only occurs in the movie.
12. In the book, Robert and Sophie visit King’s College Library, where they discover references to Isaac Newton and Westminster Abbey in the poem. In the movie, Robert uses a bus passenger’s cell phone to find this information.
13. Aringarosa’s subplot involves receiving Vatican bonds as repayment for the money Opus Dei provided during a past financial crisis. Aringarosa hopes that finding the Grail will restore the Vatican’s favor. This subplot is absent from the movie, where Aringarosa receives money from the Vatican but with awareness of his intention to destroy the Grail.
14. In the book, Robert and Sophie find a message on Newton’s tomb leading them to Teabing in College Hall. In the movie, Teabing forces them to the Hall at gunpoint.
15. Silas kills several policemen during his escape in the book but accidentally shoots Aringarosa, leading to his survival. Silas dies outside in Kensington Gardens. The book includes a final conversation between Aringarosa and Fache, who retrieves the Vatican bonds. Their dynamic differs in the movie. Aringarosa asks Fache to donate the money to the families of the killed senechaux.
16. Sophie has a flashback in the book, recalling her visit to Rosslin Chapel with her grandfather and meeting the curator, who turns out to be her grandmother. The movie includes a larger group of Priory members approaching Robert and Sophie and only features Sophie’s grandmother. The book concludes with Sophie and Robert planning a future date in Florence, while the movie adds Robert’s thoughts on Jesus. The curator assures Robert that he will eventually find what he seeks, which occurs when he returns to Paris in both the book and the movie.

 

Critical response

• The Da Vinci Code holds a 26% approval rating on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on a sample of 233 reviews and an average rating of 4.80/10.
• The critics’ consensus states, “What makes Dan Brown’s novel a best seller is evidently not present in this dull and bloated film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.”
• Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 46 based on 40 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.
• Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale.[24] The film was poorly received at the Cannes Film Festival, where it debuted.
• Michael Medved gave the film a negative review, citing it as an attack on religion.
• Anthony Lane of The New Yorker addressed the concerns of Catholics in his film review, stating that the film “is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith”.
• In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin called the film “a letdown in every respect”.
• Director Howard noted that the overwhelmingly negative reviews were “frustrating” to him.
• Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (who had spoken very negatively of the novel) gave the film three out of four stars, writing, “The movie works; it’s involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations.” Of the storyline, he also commented, “Yes, the plot is absurd, but then most movie plots are absurd. That’s what we pay to see.”
• Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer, who also liked the film, gave it three and a half out of four stars and noted, “unlike most Hollywood blockbusters, this one assumes audience members will be smart”.
• Although many critics gave mixed to negative reviews of the film, critics praised the performances of McKellen as well as Bettany.
• On the “Worst Movies of 2006” episode of the television show Ebert & Roeper (January 13, 2007), guest critic Michael Phillips (sitting in for the recovering Roger Ebert) listed the film at No. 2.
• The film earned a Razzie Award nomination for Ron Howard as Worst Director but lost to M. Night Shyamalan for Lady in the Water.

[Source: wikipedia.org]

Censorship and bans

“The Da Vinci Code” film faced censorship and bans in several countries due to its controversial content. It was banned in countries such as Syria, Belarus, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iran, with authorities claiming that it tarnished the memory of Christian and Islamic figures and contradicted religious texts like the Bible and the Quran. In China, the film was abruptly removed from public view following protests by Chinese Catholic groups.

In Egypt, both the book and the film were banned under pressure from Coptic Christians, with some Muslims also protesting. In India, there was a significant outcry from Christian and Muslim minorities calling for a ban on the film due to its perceived anti-Christian message. While the film was allowed to be released in India with an “Adults Only” certification and a disclaimer stating it was a work of fiction, it faced bans in several states with sizable Christian and Muslim populations.

Pakistan banned the film for showing what officials deemed blasphemous material about Jesus, leading to protests by Christian groups and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. In the Philippines, the Philippine Alliance Against Pornography appealed to the government to stop the showing of the film, considering it pornographic and blasphemous. However, the Philippine government decided not to interfere and left the decision to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

The film was banned in the Independent State of Samoa after church leaders filed a complaint with film censors. The prime minister of the Solomon Islands also expressed the intention to ban the film in his country, citing potential threats to the predominantly Christian faith. Sri Lanka banned the film by presidential order following an appeal from the Catholic Bishops Conference. In Thailand, Christian groups protested against the film and called for its ban in the predominantly Buddhist country.

INTRODUCTION  THEMES AND MOTIFS  CURIOSITY & SUSPENSE  PLOT SUMMARY

CRITICAL REVIEW  IMPORTANT CHARACTERS  STRESSFUL MOMENTS & CLIFFHANGERS

DESCRIPTIONS OF OBJECTS, PLACES, ORGANIZATIONS & PROCESSES