 July
2006
This month's reviews/features:
Note: see also The Da Vinci Code -- Unbelievable!
(a message from Pastor Paul Smith)
The Da Vinci Code --
the book
It’s hard not to have noticed all the hoopla surrounding
The Da Vinci Code; the novel has been prominent for the last
three years or so, and the movie was recently released. I thought it
would be interesting to review both the book and the movie in order
to understand the movie’s impact. Here are some comments about the
two. I’ve attempted to focus on points other than those from
Christianity Today printed in the West Side Bulletin and on the
website.
First, the book:
The Da Vinci Code has earned Dan Brown millions of
dollars, a fact which underscores the truth in the old adage that
truly worthwhile things tend not to be valued, while popular things
are often mediocre. Despite its popularity, the book does have a few
strengths:
On the Positive Side:
1. Ease of reading: Dan Brown is in tune with our frenetic
lifestyle and understands what has happened to the American
attention span. After decades of conditioning by television programs
divided into six-minute segments punctuated by commercial breaks,
most of us don’t want to read anything that goes on for too many
pages. Brown obligingly provides us with short, easy-to-process
mini-chapters that allow us to read for a few minutes and then get
up and do something else.
2. Style: Brown is an accomplished stylist with a good
command of English sentence structure and vocabulary.
3. Pace and interest: Brown is a master at thriller
writing and keeping the reader’s attention. The Da Vinci Code
is a page-turner that’s hard to put down once you’ve gotten into it.
On the Negative Side:
The negatives far outweigh the positives. It’s too bad that a
book whose plot is so compelling isn’t really a worthwhile read.
1. Lack of character development: One of the reasons to
read is to learn about others and, in so doing, about ourselves.
Unfortunately, there’s really no character development here. No one
really changes, not even Sophie Neveu, the French cryptologist who
is supposedly a descendant of Jesus.
2. Lack of intellectual challenge: There’s virtually none
here. I don’t mean this to sound snobbish, but The Da Vinci
Code reminds me more than anything of an adult version of a
Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys novel combined with a lot of James Bondish
improbabilities. The two principal characters, Robert Langdon and
Sophie Neveu, uncover a series of clues to the “real” meaning of the
Holy Grail, each leading more improbably to the next.
3. Heretical content: Make no mistake about it: The
Da Vinci Code is heresy. How can a believer in Jesus Christ,
who is fully human and fully divine, accept the contention that
Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that the church has tried mightily
to suppress this terrible secret?
4. Mistakes: Dan Brown has the audacity to say at the
beginning of his novel that it is “factual.” There are several books
out on the market that debunk Brown’s “facts,” among which is Josh
McDowell’s The Da Vinci Code, a Quest for Answers. Here are
just four of the errors McDowell points out:
a. Anagrams. One key plot element involves Professor of
Symbology Robert Langdon’s statement that “Amon L’ Isa, a clue he
and Sophie discover, is really an anagram for “Mona Lisa,” the
modern title of Leonardo’s most famous painting. The words “amon”
and “lisa” supposedly refer to the Egyptian gods Amon and Isis.
However, “Mona Lisa” was not used until the nineteenth century. Most
scholars have traditionally referred to the painting as “La Gioconda.”
Leonardo, who painted the work from 1503 to 1506, didn’t use the
term “Mona Lisa” at all.
b. The Council of Nicea vote: Brown has Leigh Teabing, his
humanist scholar, say that the vote in which the Council of Nicea
voted on the divinity of Jesus was “relatively close,” with all the
drama of a U.S. presidential election and its network-projected
winner. The actual vote was 300 to 2 and was simply an affirmation
of what had come to be accepted throughout Europe.
c. The number of glass panes in the Louvre pyramid:
According to the novel, French President Mitterand directed that the
modern glass pyramid being constructed in the Louvre courtyard have
666 glass panes. This is a convenient number because it links with
the supposed “number of the beast, Satan.” The number of glass panes
is actually 673.
d. No monks in Opus Dei: One of the chief characters is an
albino monk named Silas. According to McDowell, however, Opus Dei
has no monks.
The Da Vinci Code --
the movie
Second, the movie:
The movie is at best a pale imitation of the book. It has a few
strengths and plenty of weaknesses:
Strengths:
Unity: The film has a beginning, a middle, and an
end.
Appearance: Director Ron Howard’s effort looks pretty and
feels stylish.
Two good acting performances: Ian McKellen, who plays
humanist Leigh Teabing, is a standout. Paul Bettany does a good job
in the role of Silas, the villainous albino monk in the employ of
Opus Dei.
Weaknesses:
Plot: At 149 minutes, the film is so telescoped that
anyone who hasn’t read the novel will probably have a difficult time
figuring out what’s going on.
Mostly mediocre acting: Ton Hanks gives an absolutely flat
performance as Robert Langdon. Audrey Tautou, in the role of Sophie,
has little to do except look pretty. There’s no chemistry between
Hanks and Tautou, and the other actors didn’t impress me either.
Heretical content: This is as in the novel. There’s one
absurd scene in which Sophie Neveu, who has been “revealed” as a
descendant of Jesus, jokingly pretends to walk on water.
Third, the bottom line:
Humanism is the belief in human-based morality and holds that the
achievements of humanity are the highest possible. It stands in
strict opposition to theism. The Da Vinci Code, book
and movie, is slick humanism at its worst. On a television interview
a Filipino Christian was asked whether he thought the film would or
could have a harmful effect on people’s faith. He replied that he
thought it might if one’s faith was weak. Those with weak faith or
no faith at all are the ones we need to worry about. Intentionally
or not, The Da Vinci Code sows the seeds of doubt, and
it behooves us to be able to counter those seeds.
Rating: 2 ¼
stars
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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