Thursday, 1 October 2015

Movie Review: Da Vinci Code

Movie Review:

The Da Vinci Code


Directed by Ron Howard
Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, John Calley
Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman
Based on The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Paul Bettany
Jean Reno, Jean-Pierre Marielle
Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography  Salvatore Totino
Edited by Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Production company: Imagine Entertainment Rainmaker Digital Effects Skylark Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates May 19, 2006
Running time 146 minutes (theatrical version), 174 minutes (extended version)
Country United States
Language English and French
Budget $125 million
Box office $758.2 million
Plot analysis:

     The movie began with the murder of the Jacques Saunière, who seemed to know the secret of the Holy Grail. The whole movie lies in the search for the Holy Grail, buried under the pyramid in the Louvre (Museum). In this movie, the Opus Dei group try their best to find the hidden Holy Grail and destroy it, because they believe that the Holy Grail could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Silas, an Opus Dei, for every murder that he commits, flagellates himself for the forgiveness of his sin. In the mean time, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu too are determined to find the Holy Grail. However, a police captain suspected Robert Landon to be the murderer of Jacques Saunière and pursued him till the end.

     The core group of Opus Dei in this movie consists of a professor called Sir Leigh Teabing and his assistant Remy Jean, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa and Silas, and a police captain Bezu Fache. The whole group was secretly directed and deceived by a teacher called Sir Leigh Teabing. He betrayed the whole group and was arrested at the end.

     Towards the end of the movie, Tom Hanks confirms that Audrey Tautou is the last descendent of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, whom the Priory of the Sion are supposed to protect. He placed Audrey Tautou in the care of the Priory of the Sion.


Catholic and other reactions:

Censorship of the Movie:

China, Egypt, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and some other countries.


Critical evaluation: Davin Ci Code

1.      What is the purpose of this film?
     The primary purpose is to earn profit. Secondly, in the name of fictional movie it attacks on the Church’s belief on Jesus Christ.

2.      What does the film communicate to the audience about God?
     The film presents that the Catholic Church is a lie and that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and had their descendents.

3.      Do you agree with the concept of Jesus and Catholic Church presented in the film?
     Absolutely not, it is a fictional movie.

4.      Why do you think the protagonists have an atheistic view of reality?
     In this movie the protagonists: Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu were not believers of God. Robert Langdon was raised a Catholic but not a practising Catholic, while Sophie Neveu who was supposed to be the descendent of Jesus too did not believe in God.

5.      What implications do media and religion have for each other in this film?
     In the name of fiction, media is used here to instil in the minds of some people doubts and heresy.


 Further analysis of the movie: 

     Dan Brown's best-selling 2003 conspiracy fiction novel The Da Vinci Code and the subsequent 2006 film,[1]  is all about finding the Holy Grail. This refers to the womb of saint Mary Magdalene and the sacred royal bloodline she gave birth to and the Church tried to kill off all remnants of this bloodline and their supposed guardians, the Cathars and the Templars, so popes could hold the Episcopal throne through the apostolic succession of Peter without fear of it ever being usurped by an anti-pope for the hereditary succession of Mary Magdalene.

     Many things are said about the Priory of Sion, what is the truth? In The Da Vinci Code, the Priory of Sion is a secret society, founded A.D. 1099, claiming such members as Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo Da Vinci. According to The Da Vinci Code, the primary purpose of the Priory of Sion is to maintain the truth that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children with her. These children then intermarried with the Merovingian line of Frankish kings, with the sacred bloodline surviving into modern times.

     As with most of what is contained in The Da Vinci Code, there is very little, if any, evidence that would support these conclusions about the Priory of Sion. The Priory of Sion was founded in 1956, not 1099. The supposed ledgers of members of the Priory of Sion are considered to be fraudulent by most respected historians and scholars. The Da Vinci Code takes the Priory of Sion, attaches unfounded conspiracy theories about its origins and purposes, and uses it as evidence of a vast cover-up of Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene.


     Jesus was not married to Mary Magdalene or to anyone else. Jesus did not have children with Mary Magdalene or with anyone else. The early church did not seek to cover this up because there was nothing to cover up. The only conspiracy theory that involves the Priory of Sion is the one invented by author Dan Brown and others, who are using wild imaginations and unfounded theories to attack what the Bible says about who Jesus Christ truly was and what He came to earth to do.[2]



Some glaring misrepresentations of the truth: 

     The movie shows Opus Dei as a secret society of the Church, whose work is to destroy anything that will hinder the stability of the Church. In reality, Opus Dei means ‘Work of God.'

     The purpose of the association is to call all the people to holiness. It was founded by St. Josemaria Excriva de Balaguer in Spain. Besides it also shows that self flagellation can obtain forgiveness from God for the sins of murder, which is absolutely false. There is a particular scene where the captain says that the Bishop reveals confessional secret to him and that the bishop tells him to kill Robert Langdon, a murder. This is an absolute lie, because the confessional secret can never be revealed.  It was also said that the Divinity and Immortality of Jesus was confirmed by men in the Council of Nicene. However, in truth Jesus was the Son of God. It is also shown that Mary Magdalene carried the child of Jesus and gave birth to a child in France. This is nothing else but a wild fiction. At the end, Robert Langdon tells Sophie that she was the descendent of Jesus and says that Jesus was just the creation of man and was not extraordinary. This again is a total lie and it is just a fiction. The movie is but a wild imagination and nothing to do with the truth of the Church.

     Any Christian and even people of the other faith should try to find the truth from reliable sources and persons. To believe in this movie is to believe in the imagination of some people whose prime motive is to gain profit. This movie has taken a great liberty in distorting the truth of Christianity. Therefore, it met with opposition world wide. However, for a believer the truth will not be shaken by this movie. This movie also gives an insight that one should not merely believe in whatever is presented in the movie, especially with regard to the faith and religion.



Bro. Sebastian                                                                                                       Guide: Fr. Robert Pen 


[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_of_Sion, accessed September 29, 2015.
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