The Da Vinci Code: An Affirmation of Faith

When Daniel Brown’s book hit the shelves a few years ago, you would have thought the devil wrote the book. The church weighed in to tell us how blasphemous this work of fiction was depicting historical figures inaccurately. A morning herald standing in the Village Square with a brass trumpet could not have peaked the curiosity of the public more. Soon, the book could be seen in the park at lunchtime, next to the pool, on the plane, on a long list at the library, everyone wanted to read about why the church would be so reactive. To tell the truth, they exaggerated their objections to the point of publicity for the novel. The book, like the film, is simply a murder story and an affirmation of faith attached. Why the church would condemn such a thing is beyond me. They did participate in the Inquisition. They perpetrated atrocities on mankind. And they did attempt to cover up many of their mistakes. The Bible was created at a series of councils and so on. Where the book goes off into theory is the part about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene. This is the so-called controversial part.

Enter Hollywood. The book is sold and a screenplay written. Ron Howard has crafted an excellent piece of filmmaking with all the right elements for success. The film has intrigue, murder, mystery, villainous characters you love to hate, heroes you love to cheer, changing exotic locations, sub-plots, fast and slow cutting, an excellent score, is photographed quite nice and the acting by Hanks and company is above board. There is even an ending (very similar to the novel) in which the protagonist expresses an affirmation of faith. Quite moving and worth the eight dollars or whatever you pay.

While this forum is one of film and not religion, I will not enter the debate surrounding the film regarding references to secret societies, either in or out of the church, whether they really exist or if Dan Brown simply pulled everyone’s leg all the way to the bank. I do know that it makes one pause and raises a few eyebrows when these issues are raised. However, this is a work of fiction, no matter how close to the truth it comes. So while the church is out beating its conservative drum and bad mouthing something they know little about; I say go and enjoy an excellently crafted piece of cinema and forget all the dogma. This is a film for the public, not for scholars who wish to endlessly debate the merits of this point or that. I highly recommend, “The Da Vinci Code.”