The Da Vinci Code: Fact, myth, fiction & religion

THE DA VINCI CODE COCKTAIL – FACT, MYTH, FICTION & RELIGION

Fuelled by controversy both within its covers and in the courts, The Da Vinci Code arrives on our screens with its intoxicating mix of fact, myth, fiction and religion, crowned by the honour of opening the Cannes film festival. Andrew L. Urban explores the duality behind the phenomenon, and the filmmakers discuss the core elements that drive this religion flavoured adventure thriller.

There’s nothing new about Jesus surviving the crucifixion, nor that he married Mary and had children – but even today there are many Christians (and others) who abide by the old stories and who regard these as explosive concepts. Consequently the notion that there are descendants of Jesus walking among us (perhaps in the South of France like at the Cannes film festival, where the film has its world premiere) is at least preposterous, at worst blasphemous to some.

Striking as this subject does at the foundation stone of Christianity, The Da Vinci Code’s most effective sales pitch is that it dares mix these already volatile elements with the tools of fiction, adding myths and the irresistible element of organised secrecy – a sort of inverted conspiracy.

By blending fact and fiction like this, the work takes on a duality: on the one hand, the author and the filmmakers can claim that this is just entertainment. It’s not history or scholarship (although much research went into it) but a thriller, with fictional characters. On the other hand, they are nudge-nudge wink-winking that actually, there is indeed something to all this hokum. Just look how credible is Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing, “the sphinx of the story,