The Da Vinci Code
| State of Body | Congealed sangreal. |
|---|---|
| Detail of Inspection | Inspected once. |
| Forensic Investigator | winstoninabox |
| Comments | A bloated corpse. |
This dissection will have two parts. In part the first the subject will be examined and there will be some minor slicing for brevity. In part the second we’ll look at something a bit more FFish.
Let begin the examination.
There’s a lot to like in The Da Vinci Code. The leads are all super, especially Ian McKellen who plays each scene with relish. He’s so good he’d give a shopping list the depth of a Shakespearian monologue. The special effects are flawlessly done, especially the flashback scenes that explain the grail’s history. And the film’s script is both literate and witty.
But for all its good points the movie ultimately fails in its genre, that of thriller. Don’t believe the charges of blasphemy; its real sin is that as a thriller it’s not particularly thrilling. While the beginning has some momentum, the middle is a talkfest, and the end drags. The script does a fairly good job of eliminating some extraneous plot elements from the novel such as Teabing’s bugging or the subplot of the bank manager being Saunière’s friend. But in attempting to give the religious theories verisimilitude it indulges them with too much screen time.
And so the film doesn’t compact the book enough into cinema. Look at the lengthy explanation by Sir Leigh Teabing about Mary Magdalene being the grail. Any verisimilitude that is achieved by Teabing’s long explanation of grail history is at the expense of pace. It should be cut back to the minimum information required, and preferably anything not related to Da Vinci. Basically anything Teabing says after The Last Supper could be excised.
The pacing that should have been maintained is best shown in two scenes. Look at when the mobile phone was used to research into “A Pope”. Rather than the expected trip to King’s College from the novel that would have taken more screen time and would have introduced a new character- the reference librarian Pamela Gettum - it’s all done in a few moments on a bus. Likewise is the approach to Westminster Abbey. While Langdon and Sophie cross the road and make their way into Westminster the scene dissolves into Pope’s funeral procession with Langdon’s voice over. When it returns to present time they are at Newton’s tomb. These scenes kept up the pace, kept the focus on the main characters, and still provided the necessary info for the next step.
Let’s do some examples of the slicing that needs to occur. Gone is the meeting with the junkie in the park. In fact gone is the park scene altogether. When the movie should be ratcheting up the pace and tension, it instead puts the leads in the middle of a dark park so they can have time to think. Thrillers shouldn’t give the characters (nor the audience) time to think. To keep the pace moving Langdon reads aloud the address on the key as Sophie drives them away from their near-capture by the police in the reverse driving scene. Sophie, knowing the address, drives them straight to the bank. It is while waiting in the bank that Langdon gives a much-expurgated version of grail history. There’s no need for flashbacks unless they can be told while something else is happening at the same time.
Likewise Silas’ second self-flagellation scene also goes under the knife. We know what he’s up to with the whip, so let’s get at it. This process can continue throughout the movie at your own leisure. I’d rather turn my attention to the FF proper.
For the purposes of this FF I’m applying the scalpel to Bishop Aringarosa. Bishop’s Aringarosa’s story is pretty divorced from the main action. Sure, he’s the connection to the evil machinations of the secret cadre of anti-Mary Magdalene Catholics, but the main characters don’t interact with him in any way. For all the talk about how the church has tried to silence the truth, it’s not actually occurring in this film. We just see a couple of backroom scenes with Aringarosa and the church. The immediate threat is coming from Silas (via the Teacher) and Fache. It’s better to keep the focus on them.
If Aringarosa were to be amputated then so too are all his scenes with the Catholics. Now were getting somewhere with cutting out dead wood from its 2hours and 29 minutes. Silas needs no flashbacks to explain his connection with the Bishop; he’s a fanatic who’s been tricked into being a tool of the Teacher. He can break into Saint-Sulpice rather than via the Bishop’s invitation. Sister Sandrine secretly sees him and rings the Saunière and the three sènèchal, but is killed by Silas who discovers her. Fache needs no connection to Opus Dei; he’s just a tenacious cop who uses any means at his disposal to catch his man. I think that a version along these lines would fairly race along, but some might complain that took much of the novel had been lost. Oh well, I’d find that better than it dragging its heels like it does.
The Da Vinci code is not a bad thriller; it’s just not a good one. It reminds me of last year’s non-action action movie National Treasure. Most of the work has been done to make a successful genre piece. It’s a pity it couldn’t quite make the grade.