Da Vinci Code Explained

[Johanne]

TheDa Vinci Code is a 2006 mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard, written by Akiva Goldsman, and based on Dan Brown's 2003 novel of the same name. The first in the Robert Langdon film series, the film stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jrgen Prochnow, Jean Reno and Paul Bettany. In the film, Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology from Harvard University, is the prime suspect in the grisly and unusual murder of Louvre curator Jacques Saunire. On the body, the police find a disconcerting cipher and start an investigation.[3] Langdon escapes with the assistance of police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, and they begin a quest for the legendary Holy Grail. A noted British Grail historian, Sir Leigh Teabing, tells them that the actual Holy Grail is explicitly encoded in Leonardo da Vinci's wall painting, The Last Supper. Also searching for the Grail is a secret cabal within Opus Dei, an actual prelature of the Holy See, who wish to keep the true Grail a secret to prevent the destruction of Christianity.

The film, like the book, was considered controversial. It was met with especially harsh criticism by the Catholic Church for the accusation that it is behind a two-thousand-year-old cover-up concerning what the Holy Grail really is and the concept that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married, producing a daughter, as well as its treatment of the organizations Priory of Sion and Opus Dei. Many members urged the laity to boycott the film. In the book, Dan Brown states that the Priory of Sion and "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

Jacques Saunire, a Louvre curator, is pursued by an albino Catholic monk named Silas, who demands the location of the "keystone" to find and destroy the Holy Grail. Saunire gives him a false lead and is murdered. The police find his body posed like Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. Police captain Bezu Fache summons American symbologist Robert Langdon, who is in Paris for a lecture on the interpretation of symbols, to examine Saunire's body.

Langdon is shown the body and a secret message, readable only by UV light. It contains an out-of-order Fibonacci sequence. Sophie Neveu, a police cryptographer and Saunire's granddaughter, tells Langdon that Fache planted a tracker on him after finding the words, "P.S. Find Robert Langdon" at the end of Saunire's secret message. Fache believes that Langdon murdered Saunire. Sophie throws away the tracker, distracting the police while they sneak around the Louvre, finding more clues in Leonardo da Vinci's works. Langdon deduces that Saunire was the grand master of the Priory of Sion.

Silas works for an anonymous person referred to as "The Teacher", along with members of Opus Dei, led by Bishop Aringarosa. He travels to the church as directed by Saunire and finds a marker with "Job 38:10" inscribed in it, a bible verse that begins, "Here you shall come, and no farther..." Enraged, he kills the nun in residence.

Langdon and Sophie travel to a French bank and access Saunire's safe deposit box by using the Fibonacci sequence. Inside is a cryptex, a cylindrical container that contains a message on papyrus. It can only be opened without destroying the contents by turning dials to spell a code word. As the police arrive, bank manager Andre Vernet helps Langdon and Sophie escape, then attempts to steal the cryptex and murder them. Langdon and Sophie escape with the cryptex.

They visit Langdon's friend, Sir Leigh Teabing, a Holy Grail expert. Teabing claims the Grail is not a cup but instead is Mary Magdalene. He says she was not a prostitute but the wife of Jesus Christ. Teabing argues that Mary was pregnant during Jesus' crucifixion, and the Priory was formed to protect their descendants. The Opus Dei have been trying to destroy the Grail to preserve the credibility of the Vatican. Later, Silas breaks into Teabing's house, but Teabing, who uses crutches, uses one to disable him by striking the leg bound by a cilice, a metal device used to appropriate the lashing of a whip, in deference to Christ's torture. The group escapes to London using Teabing's private plane, along with his butler, Remy Jean. Their interpretation of a clue hidden in the cryptex box leads them to the Temple Church, where they find nothing. Remy, who claims to be the Teacher, frees Silas. Remy takes Teabing hostage, dumping him in the car trunk, and taking Silas to hide out in an Opus Dei safe house. Teabing, who is revealed as the Teacher, later poisons Remy and sends the police after Silas. Police shoot Silas after accidentally wounding Aringarosa, who is promptly arrested by Fache, who resents being used to hunt Langdon.

Teabing, who wants to bring down the Church for centuries of persecution and deceit, confronts Langdon and Sophie. Now understanding the true meaning behind the clue to unlocking the cryptex, the trio goes to Westminster Abbey to the tomb of Isaac Newton, a former grand master of the Priory. Teabing demands that the pair open the cryptex. Langdon tries and seemingly fails before suddenly tossing the cryptex into the air. Teabing dives for and catches it, but the vial breaks and the papyrus is thought destroyed. The police arrive to arrest Teabing, who realizes Langdon must have solved the cryptex's code and removed the papyrus before throwing it. The code is revealed to be "APPLE", after the apocryphal story of the apple which led Newton to discover his law of universal gravitation. The clue inside the cryptex, which tells of the Grail hiding "'neath the rose," leads Langdon and Sophie to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland.

Inside the chapel, they discover a secret room where Magdalene's tomb has been removed. Langdon, after searching through documents, realizes that Sophie's family died in a car crash, that Saunire was not her grandfather but her protector, and that she is the last descendant of Jesus Christ. The two are greeted by several members of the Priory, including Sophie's grandmother, who promises to protect her. Langdon and Sophie part ways, the former returning to Paris. While shaving, he cuts himself and has an epiphany when his blood curves down the sink, reminding him of the Rose Line. Realizing the true meaning of the cryptex clue, he follows the line to the Louvre, concluding the Holy Grail is hidden below the Pyramide Inverse. Langdon kneels atop it and the sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene is seen in a secret underground chamber.

The film rights were purchased from Dan Brown for $6 million.[4] Bill Paxton was the director Ron Howard's first choice for the role of Robert Langdon, but had to decline as he was beginning filming for the television series Big Love.[5] Howard approached Ricky Gervais for the role of Remy Jean, but he turned it down due to the fear of him ruining the film. Akiva Goldsman wrote the screenplay for the film, Goldsman previously worked with Howard on A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Cinderella Man (2005).[6]

The filmmakers shot many of the inside scenes at Pinewood Studios;[7] the opening sequence in the cavernous 007 Stage at Pinewood Shepperton, where the interior of the Louvre was re-created.[8] In this sequence, Hanks' character is taken by French police to the Louvre, where a dead body has been discovered. David White of Altered States FX, a prosthetics and special make-up effects company, was tasked with creating a naked photorealistic silicone body for the scene. Lighting effects were utilized to obscure the body's genitalia; a technique also used on television programs such as NCIS.[9]

Pinewood's state-of-the-art Underwater Stage was used to film underwater sequences.[7] The stage opened in 2005 after four years of planning and development. The water in the tank is filtered using an ultraviolet system, which creates crystal clear water, and the water is maintained at 30 C (86 F) to create a comfortable environment to work in for both cast and crew.[10]

Alternative versions of Bettany's nude flagellation scenes were shot, in which he wears a black loincloth. Clips of these versions appear in the History Channel's Opus Dei Unveiled documentary, broadcast in summer 2006.

The Louvre gave permission to film relevant scenes on its premises. A replica of the Mona Lisa was used during filming as the crew was not allowed to illuminate the original work with its lighting. During the on-site filming at the Louvre, the Mona Lisa's chamber was used as a storage room. Westminster Abbey denied the use of its premises, as did the church of Saint-Sulpice. The Westminster Abbey scenes were instead filmed at Lincoln and Winchester cathedrals,[11] which both belong to the Church of England. (Westminster Abbey is a Royal Peculiar, a church or chapel under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, while Saint-Sulpice is a Roman Catholic institution.)

Due to the denial of a location permit for Saint-Sulpice,[12] the entire scene had to be re-created virtually by post-production company Rainmaker U.K. and though the set had been partially built, the coordinates were centimeters out from what the compositors had expected and so the entire process was extremely difficult to complete.[13]

Lincoln Cathedral reportedly received 100,000 in exchange for the right to film there; filming took place August 15-19, 2005, mainly within the cloisters of the cathedral. The cathedral's bell, which strikes the hour, was silent for the first time since World War II during that time. Although it remained a closed set, protesters led by a 61-year-old woman named Sister Mary Michael demonstrated against the filming. Sister Mary Michael spent 12 hours praying on her knees outside the cathedral in protest against what she saw as the blasphemous use of a holy place to film a book containing heresy.[14]

Winchester Cathedral answered criticism by using its location fee to fund an exhibition, lecture series, and campaign to debunk the book.[15] The scenes for the Pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, were filmed on location at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, England.

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