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19 April 2006 / Friday -- it all started with a best selling book, having A NOVEL right on the front cover -- Bernar told me a few minutes ago that he read it and it was a VERY well executed story / plot line and great reading -- I have the first edition of the special illustrated edition, shown below, but find little time to read due to my backlog of too many other things --
all the hype is probably due to the instantaneous media feeding frenzy of this medium I call the InterNUT, which caused a hormonal rush among conspiracy goonies. It provides fodder for art historians, the story of the Knights Templar, the Catholic Church and the history of a group of powerful ecclesiastical figures pertaining to Opus Dei [as happens in any major or minor so - called religion], cryptographers, and of course, those who call themselves Christian but have little real knowledge of theology and / or the deeper study of their religion and related matters.
I shall not spend the time discussing any of these subjects, each worthy of multiple voluminous treatises. I had been toying with the idea of attending the first showing of the film here in Trenton, New Jersey -- I read about its showing at the Cannes movie festival, I read tons of pros and cons by religious groups and others -- so today, when I awoke on a dreary rainy Friday morning, I decided to go to the theatre slightly south of here to see if I could find tickets and be one of the first to actually see the film and comment on it -- I was not being too overly optimistic because apparently there is soooo much built up hype, that the predictions are for a smash hit, with first weekend grosses to outdo any other in years.
Much to my amazement, there were only 6 other cars in the parking lot when I arrived at about 09:45h -- I got my ticket at a reduced senior discount, of course --
I grabbed a couple handout posters which were in short supply --
and some flick buttons -- I got three to the protests of the ticket seller -- they will not be getting more, he said --
When I went to screen #6, I found a total of six peeps sitting there, 4 males and 2 females -- none of which looked like retired senior citizens. Although the time was early-ish [10h] on a work / school day [Friday], I would have assumed that many more people would have rushed to get the first glimpse of one of the most talked about picture in memory. Maybe attendance will be greater over the weekend, perhaps.
Some comments -- nice views of chateaus, visits to the Louvre, quicky drives around Paris, London, visits to church tourist attractions, car chases, much intrigue, behind the scenes religious maneuvering, the obsessiveness of "cult groupies", blood and gore, flashbacks to childhood, authority figures using others for their own hidden agendas, nudity [if you like views of bare ass], much mystery, surprisingly NO love / sex scenes at all [well, maybe one, but it was in a brief flashback].
I thought it was superbly photographed, the acting was very good, there were many twists and turns, a couple of which I figured out apriori -- it used gimmicks of all kinds, which lent to the mystery involved. If you liked the PBS series based on Agatha Christy, Sherlock Holmes and other mystery TV series, with a dash of the X-Files, Constantine [a movie I commented on in my YES news pages], Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, et al., you would most likely thoroughly enjoy this one.
I DO think the film maker used way too much hype in everything having to do with this film, from the web domain on which the film information resides [SoDarkTheConOfMan.com], the late media preview showings, buzz words [O Draconian Devil !], to the various and sundry interviews about the flick, but that is how commercial enterprises function these days. Add to that, the negative spiels from all over the world, mostly from diverse religious groups including the moslems [they had to get on the publicity bandwagon somehow] -- it is all FREE publicity, further hyping the movie. It was all quite polarized, probably more against than in favor of. In todays world, people tend to read only bylines, buzzwords, sound bytes -- and, unfortunately, many believe everything they read / hear in the always slanted media, the InterNUT in particular since fewer tend to actually read newspapers today. Many have made visits to the Paris art museum and medieval churches searching for clues to the so - called enigma, there have been demonstrations, special interest groups wanting the film banned in their country, ad infinitum. It is a strange world, this.
A summing up -- I do not understand why this film was originally classed as Not Rated [as stated on the lower left of the poster, shown above] -- I do not know if a final rating was placed on it, but I strongly think it should be adults only, whatever that means in the country of showing -- and I mean educated adults, NOT the vast herds of mindless self - flaggelating sheep who do not know up from down, right from left, fiction from TRUTH. It is a great movie, by generic movie standards [I have seen worse, MUCH worse], well filmed and acted, with many specific details that constantly change throughout the flick, some of which may be anticipated, others not. Quasi science fiction, semi horror [as in The Key], quite the action adventure mystery. I found the ending somewhat weird, though, but perhaps no stranger than the rest of the movie -- maybe it is just a another plug for the Louve? It IS a longy, over 2 hours, but it does keep you on your toes most of the time, which is a plus. A novel it is, but not quite the same genre as a historical novel, some of which can be very worthwhile as such. I really did not learn anything new here other than that the Louvre has changed a lot since I visited it in the mid 1960s.
It showed the mounting influence which cell phones play in many facits of everyday life at all levels of society -- how they may be used as instruments of almost instantaneous evil, seen in recent illegal immigrant violence in France and Australia, the Madrid railway bombings, and in the terrorist organizations of the middle east. I do NOT have one, and think that the long range effects on the human nervous / immune system / cancer are real dangers that few users recognize.
Did it cause me to reevaluate the things I already know / believe about my faith? NO WAY! FAITH is exactly that, beliefs we are brought up in and perhaps studied on our own, nothing more, nothing less. This was NOT a graduate course in theology, rather, as the book and movie both state, a work of fiction. Even the esoteric symbols seen in the movie have changed over the ages, as noted in the scholarly lecture / student question - answer session by Tom Hanks at the very start of the film.
Would I recommend viewing The Da Vinci Code -- yes and no -- NO for those who fall into the sheep category -- a resounding YES for anyone who delights in a very good action packed movie that keeps your analyzing brain actively chugging throughout. I was thoroughly entertained, that is why I go to the movies -- I can see docu drama and / or reality shows anywhere I look right in my own neighborhood, without having to buy a ticket or driving to a movie theatre. I needed a much delayed break from the usual things I do, and this fit the bill to a proverbial T.
I always liked reading about symbolism, alchemy, ancient ideas and concepts, many of which have changed / evolved over the centuries, being adapted to different cultures / philosophies / religions. I think it allows us to become a lot less narrow minded and perhaps even open to a different interpretation of what each of us calls our personal reality -- is there a universal realness in anything in our experience? Can we ever be totally absolutely sure of any single thing?
Hey, it might even result in a ralaxing European vacation by some of its viewers to see some of the many wonderful things the Olde World has to offer, just do it on your own, NOT as a sheep being herded here and there by some organized tour operator, spending more time on a bus than actually seeing anything -- plan ahead, do your homework BEFORE hand -- that is what this fabulous InterNUT was created for. Stay at Youth Hostels and guest houses / small rooming houses you can easily find when you arrive at your destination, which are way cheaper than any hotel or tour suggestion.
An added thought as a closing.
God Bless !
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