Da Vinci Code Review
My favorite movie reviewer is Roger Ebert. He's intelligent, has a sense of humor, has won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, and it doesn't hurt that he was raised Catholic. His review of the Da Vinci Code is now posted at his site. Read the whole review, it's worth it, but for now, let's take aquick look :-)
Ebert begins with a comment on the absurditiy of the premises of Brown's book ...
Dan Brown's novel is utterly preposterous; Ron Howard's movie is preposterously entertaining. Both contain accusations against the Catholic Church and its order of Opus Dei that would be scandalous if anyone of sound mind could possibly entertain them. I know there are people who believe Brown's fantasies about the Holy Grail, the descendants of Jesus, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei and the true story of Mary Magdalene. This has the advantage of distracting them from the theory that the Pentagon was not hit by an airplane .... (snip) ...
He has this to say about some of the religious bits of the movie ...
Opus Dei works within but not with the church, which also harbors a secret cell of cardinals who are in on the conspiracy (the pope and most other Catholics apparently don't have backstage passes) .... one of the fascinations of the Catholic Church is that it is the oldest continuously surviving organization in the world, and that's why movies like "The Da Vinci Code" are more fascinating than thrillers about religions founded, for example, by a science-fiction author in the 1950s .... (snip) ....
And he ends the review, in part, like this ...
The movie works; it's involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations. After it's over and we're back on the street, we wonder why this crucial secret needed to be protected by the equivalent of a brain-twister puzzle crossed with a scavenger hunt .... Still, as T.S. Eliot wrote, "In my beginning is my end." Maybe he was on to something.
I love movies, especially ones that combine adventure with religious themes, so I'll rent this one. I know that many Catholics will not go to see it, feeling Catholicism and maybe even Jesus/God insulted by it, but perhaps if we treat the movie as the light entertainment it was created to be, both Catholics and non-Catholics will win back some perspective.
posted by crystal | 10:54 AM
11 Comments:
Thanks for the post, Crystal.
Finally I will go for sure, after I changed my mind several times.
I will go with my best friend. We plan to eat popcorn and have fun. Beside we can go in a day with half-price tickets specially for women (Frauen-Tag).:-).
I want to see spcially that scene in which the albino monk places the cilice on his leg then goes out to chase and people.With the the cilice on and blod running on his leg.:-)).
Eek ... mortifications! What are those Opus Dei guys thinking? :-)
I don't think we have women's day discounts at the movies here, but the afternoon showings are cheaper. My first job was working in a movie theater ... free popcorn and free viewings :-)
Paula and Crystal,
Enjoy the movie! I can't wait to read your respective reviews. Apparently, they thought it was pretty funny at Cannes. Unintentionally so.
We have some cousins on my wife's side of the family all loaded up with Opus Dei and anti-Opus Dei factions. I'm looking forward to hearing their views too. The Opus guys joke to me that mortifications seem to interest people more than canonizations (a reference to Escriva, I guess...), and that interest In OD has never been higher.
Enjoy!
Hi Jeff,
speaking of the caononization of Escriva, did you see that article I mentioned in another post, in America magazine, about Opus Dei? link
Hi Crystal,
Yes, I had seen that article by Fr. Martin before. Very good article. Here is some more recent stuff. Here, John Allen discusses his recent book about Opus Dei, and here is an NPR audio piece on Opus Dei and Allen’s book.
Thanks, Jeff. I'll check them out.
Jeff, i will go see the movie next week. I mentioned the scene with albino monk cause looks like a Scary movie scene, or like parody of Scream.:-).
I pity the Opus Dei organization.:-)
I read a bit about them: a conservative group, with some questionable points in their not very long history but they do not appear evil at all.
Hi Sherri :-). Yes, Dan Brown seems to have his finger on the pulse of popular America. I have one of his books, the one before the Da Vinci Code, Angles and Demons, but I haven't gotten around to reading it.
From the point of view of an aspiring writer of fiction, I envy him. He has a good formula for sellability in a thriller - good locations, interesting characters, convoluted plotline full of intrigue and dangers, and issues that touch everyone deeply, like religion. I'd try to stick with the truth more than he has, though :-)
Interesting. I've been waiting for the reviews to appear. Honestly, I don't remember any movie being hyped quite as much as this one. Tom Hanks is everywhere! Fortunately, he's wonderfully funny and entertaining. The Today Show is over in Europe doing a Da Vinci tour, for heaven's sake. I didn't want to read the book (my reasons weren't religious), but I'll probably see the movie.
BTW, if you don't already know about it the Movie Review Query Engine is quite useful.
Hi Susan. Thanks - I hadn't heard of the movie review query engine :-). I like Tom Hanks and I think Ron Howard is a good director, plus Ian McKellen and Jean Reno are in the movie, and it takes place in interesting places in Europe ... how can I not see it? Sadly, I'll have to wait until it's rentable because I can't see movies very well in the theater. Plus the scar ... I may never leave home again.
The New York Times review is pretty good: http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/movies/18code.html
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