1、The Da Vinci Code (film)The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery film produced by John Calley and Brian Grazer and directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman and adapted from Dan Browns best-selling novel of the same name. The film stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian Mc
2、Kellen, Alfred Molina, Jrgen Prochnow, Jean Reno, and Paul Bettany.In the film, the primary protagonist, Robert Langdon, a professor of religious iconography and symbology from Harvard University is the prime suspect in the grisly and unusual murder of Louvre curator Jacques Saunire. He escapes with
3、 the assistance of a police cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and they are embroiled in a quest for the legendary Holy Grail. He is pursued by a dogged French police captain, Bezu Fache. A noted British Grail historian, Sir Leigh Teabing, tells them the actual Holy Grail is explicitly encoded in Leonardo
4、Da Vincis 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 wishes to keep the true Grail a secret; the revelation of this secret would certainly destroy Christianity.The Da Vinci Code film, like the book, was con
5、sidered controversial. It was met with especially harsh criticism by the Roman Catholic Church for the accusation that it is behind a two-thousand-year-old coverup concerning what the Holy Grail really is and the concept that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married and that the union produced a
6、 daughter. Many members urged the laity to boycott the film. Two secret organizations, the Priory of Sion and the Council of Shadows, whose existence is a polarizing issue, figure prominently in the story. In the book, Dan Brown insists that the Priory of Sion and “.all descriptions of artwork, arch
7、itecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate“.The Da Vinci Code was met with largely negative critical response upon its release on May 19, 2006. However, this did little to hamper its box office performance; it earned US$230 million in its opening weekend and was the second hig
8、hest-grossing film of 2006 behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest.PlotIn Paris, Jacques Saunire is pursued through the Louvres Grand Gallery by albino monk Silas (Paul Bettany), demanding the Priorys clef de vote or “keystone.“ Saunire confesses the keystone is kept in the sacristy of Chur
9、ch of Saint-Sulpice “beneath the Rose“ before Silas shoots him. At the American University of Paris, Robert Langdon, a symbologist who is a guest lecturer on symbols and the sacred feminine, is summoned to the Louvre to view the crime scene. He discovers the dying Saunire has created an intricate di
10、splay using black light ink and his own body and blood. Captain Bezu Fache (Jean Reno) asks him for his interpretation of the puzzling scene.Silas calls a mysterious man known as “The Teacher“, revealing that he has killed all four protectors of the keystone and that all confirmed the same location.
11、 He dons a metal cilice on his thigh and proceeds to flagellate himself with a whip for the sins of murder. Facilitated by Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, Silas then travels to Saint-Sulpice and is admitted by an elderly nun; left alone, he excavates beneath the floor of the church to find a stone saying
12、only JOB 38:11. He confronts the nun, who quotes the passage: “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.“ Realizing that he has been deceived, Silas is enraged and kills the nun.Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist with the French police, enters the Louvre as well and slips Langdon a message which leads him
13、 to the bathroom. There, Sophie meets him and tells him that he is being tracked, a GPS tracking dot has been (unknown by him) slipped into his jacket and that he is a primary suspect in the murder case because of a line of text found by the corpse (“P.S. find Robert Langdon“). Sophie however, belie
14、ves that Saunire, who is revealed to be her grandfather, wanted to pass a hidden message on to her (Princesse Sophie, P.S., was the nickname he used for her), and that he had wanted to bring Langdon into the equation so that he could help her crack the code.Buying some time by throwing the tracking
15、device into the back of a truck, the pair begin exploring the Louvre, finding more anagram messages that Saunire had left behind. Many of these relate to Leonardo da Vincis art, and the pair find a key with a Fleur-de-lis behind Madonna of the Rocks. Langdon deduces from this that Saunire was a memb
16、er of the Priory of Sion, a secret society associated with the Knights Templar.Pursued by the French police and cut off from the United States Embassy, the pair escape to the Bois de Boulogne where Langdon closely inspects the key. He notices an inscription on the side an address. The address direct
17、s them to the Depository Bank of Zurich where the key is used for a safety deposit box.In the bank, they find Saunires deposit box and open it using the 10 digit Fibonacci numbers in order (1123581321). Inside the box, they find a rosewoodcontainer, which contains a cryptex: a cylindrical container
18、with five alphabetical dials which must be arranged in the correct sequence to spell out a 5-letter code word, in order to open and access the papyrus message inside. Using force to open the cryptex would break a vial of vinegar inside, which would dissolve the papyrus and destroy the message.Unfort
19、unately, the police are called by a security guard and they are forced to leave. The bank manager, Andre Vernet, assists them in escaping by taking them as passengers in an armoured van to escape the routine checks of the police. In the back of the truck Langdon and Neveu have a lengthy discussion a
20、bout the cryptex and Neveu says that her grandfather often played games with her involving cryptexes. Langdon says that the cryptex might hold valuable information or another clue about what they are trying to discover. Eventually, they come to a sudden stop and Vernet forces them at gunpoint to giv
21、e him the cryptex. Langdon tricks Vernet and disarms him and he and Sophie escape with the cryptex in their hands.Langdon suggests that they visit his friend, Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen), for assistance to opening the cryptex. Leigh Teabing turns out to be an enthusiastic seeker of the Holy Grail,
22、which he believes is not actually a cup but instead Mary Magdalene. Mary was pregnant at the time of Christs crucifixion, and Teabing tells Sophie that the Priory of Sion was formed to protect the descendants of Jesus. Jacques Saunire was believed to be a part of this society and Teabing suspects th
23、at he was training Sophie to join it also. Silas, meanwhile, breaks into Teabings mansion and attempts to steal the cryptex. Teabing uses his cane to knock Silas out and they escape again, taking the butler, Remy Jean, and Silas with them. The group escapes in Teabings plane, following the next clue
24、 to London. Fache learns of their destination, and alerts the London Metropolitan Police to apprehend them at the airport. But Teabing manages to slip the party past the police with a trick of misdirection.Teabing leads Langdon and Neveu to the Temple Church in London, which is shown to be a red her
25、ring. Silas is freed by Remy Jean, who is revealed to be a follower of The Teacher as well. The two take Teabing hostage, and Silas, believing Remy to be The Teacher, holes up in an Opus Dei safehouse. Remy is killed by the mysterious man after deceiving Silas. Silas accidentally shoots Aringaros an
26、d is shot by the police. Aringarosa is taken to the hospital and apprehended by Fache.Langdon is betrayed by Teabing, who is revealed to be the true Teacher. He escapes with the Cryptex, and attempts to find the next clue at Isaac Newtons tomb in Westminster Abbey, as Newton was another member of th
27、e Priory. Langdon and Neveau catch up with him, and chase him into the nearby chapter house. Teabing explained that he wanted to find Mary Magdalenes remains to prove he was correct about the Holy Grail and threatens to shoot Sophie if Langdon does not open the cryptex. Langdon throws the cryptex in
28、to the air, and Teabing fumbles and destroys it.Distraught at not receiving the code, Teabing is arrested, but Langdon had cracked the code (Apple, a reference to Newton) and removed the clue from the cryptex before destroying it. Using the clue, they travel to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland where Magda
29、lenes remains had previously been hidden. The remains had since been moved, but they meet other members of the secret organization that protected her. Sophie is actually Magdalenes descendant and therefore is the current living descendant of Jesus Christ. They vow to keep her safe before going their
30、 separate ways. In Paris, Langdon accidentally cuts himself while shaving and the line of blood on the sink reminds him of the Rose Line. He follows the Rose Line and finds the location of the Holy Grail, buried under the pyramid in the Louvre. Langdon then kneels above Mary Magdalenes tomb as the K
31、nights Templar did before him.ProtestsThere have been protesters at several movie theaters across the United States on opening weekend protesting the themes of the film, citing it as blasphemy and claiming that it shames both the Catholic Church, and Jesus Christ himself. More than 200 protesters al
32、so turned out in Athens, Greece to protest the films release shortly before opening day. In Manila the movie was banned from all theaters and the set by the local MTRCB as an R18 movie for the Philippines.40 InPittsburgh, protesters also showed up at a special screening of the film the day before it
33、s widespread release.41 Protests also occurred at the filming sites, but only a monk and a nun stood in a quiet protest at the Cannes premiere.37 In Chennai, India, the film was banned for a two month period to appease local Christian and Muslim groups.42Critics responseThe Da Vinci Code received ge
34、nerally negative reviews from film critics. The film currently garners a “rotten“ 25% positivity rating on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on a sample of 220 reviews and an average rating of 4.8/10, and a top critics rating of only 10% with an average of 4.1/10, based on 43
35、reviews. The critics consensus as gathered by Rotten Tomatoes is: “What makes Dan Browns novel a best seller is evidently not present in this dull and bloated movie adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.“43 The film was poorly received at the Cannes Film Festival, where it debuted.17Michael Medved gave th
36、e film one star (out of four), saying that “all the considerable acting talent in the film is wasted“ and “the plot twists and sudden reverses . seem silly, arbitrary, and entirely contrived never growing organically out of the story-line or the thinly sketched characters.“44 Anthony Lane of The New
37、 Yorker addressed the concerns of Catholics in his film review, stating of the film, “It is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith.“45In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin calls the film “a letdown in every respect.
38、“46Director Ron Howard noted that the overwhelmingly negative reviews were “frustrating“ to him.47Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (who had spoken very negatively of the novel) gave the film three out of four stars, stating, “The movie works; its involving, intriguing and constantly
39、seems on the edge of startling revelations.“ Of the storyline he also comments, “Yes, the plot is absurd, but then most movie plots are absurd. Thats what we pay to see.“48 Ebert and co-host Richard Roeper both liked it and criticized the protests of the film on theirshow.citation needed Lawrence To
40、ppman of The Charlotte Observer, who also liked the film, gave it three and a half out of four stars and noted, “unlike most Hollywood blockbusters, this one assumes audience members will be smart.“49Although many critics gave mostly negative reviews of the film, critics of both sides acknowledged a
41、nd praised the strong performances of Ian McKellen as well as Paul Bettany.50On the “Worst Movies of 2006“ episode of the television show Ebert & Roeper (January 13, 2007), guest critic Michael Phillips (sitting in for the recovering Roger Ebert) listed the film at No. 2. The film earned a Razzie Aw
42、ard nomination for Ron Howard as Worst Director and lost to M. Night Shyamalan for Lady in the Water.The Da Vinci Code WebQuestsThe Da Vinci Code WebQuests (also called The Da Vinci Code Challenges) are a series of web-based puzzles related to the bestselling 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code, as well as
43、 the 2006 film. There have been several web quests, none of which directly related to any other. Probably the most well known is the game run by Google, though it was ultimately met with much more public criticism than the other various gamesOriginal Official Promotional WebQuestsThe original Da Vin
44、ci Code web quest challenges were first made available via the website of the books author, Dan Brown, as part of a promotional campaign, and both remain hosted on the publishers website (RandomH). In January 2004, it was announced on the live television program Good Morning Americathat hundreds of
45、thousands of people had participated in the original challenge, and that 40,000 people had successfully completed it. Though the official “prize“ was given out at that time, the web versions of the quests were never closed, and have remained active ever since. The original version 1 involved deciphe
46、ring a series of cryptic clues at the publishers website. Those wishing to solve the quests were required to examine the U.S. version of the books dustcover jacket, and to search the web to learn the answers to certain questions or clues. The second Da Vinci Code WebQuest, titled “Uncover The Code“,
47、 followed a similar style. 2The Da Vinci TreasureThe Da Vinci Treasure is a 2006 mystery film produced by American studio The Asylum, and directed by Peter Mervis.This direct-to-video film release was noted as being an exploitation of the film The Da Vinci Code (also called amockbuster) since it use
48、s part of the title and several of the plot elements of the Dan Brown story. It was released to video in the same month as the The Da Vinci Code movie.1PlotThe film centres on Michael Archer (C. Thomas Howell), a forensic anthropologist who inadvertently discovers a set of subtle clues within the wo
49、rks of Leonardo da Vinci, that, when interpreted correctly, will lead the finder to“enlightenment“.Archer, convinced of the authenticity of the clues, sets out to locate the treasure by travelling around the world, following each clue in turn. As time passes, however, Archer soon realizes that he is not alone in the quest for the treasure, and that he must combat other more determined treasure-seekers who would sooner see him dead.The Va Dinci CodThe Va Dinci Cod: A Fishy Parody is a parody of the New York
