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Leonardo Da Vinci the man, certainly fits our idea of a man of all seasons who lived by no code other than his own. Born illegitimately in Tuscany in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci took advantage of his considerable artistic and mechanical talents to break free of class constraints and achieve lasting recognition. While we think that the Renaissance Era was a peaceful time of painting flowers, and a free atmosphere in which creative genius flourished, it was this period of time that brought turbulent years which gave birth to the rebirth of civilization. As Bach and Mozart produced the finest music in the styles of their times, Da Vinci was a member of secret orders, most notably the Priory of Sion, a secret fraternal organization founded in 1099. Da Vinci himself was a intellectual paradox: he exerted a curiosity about practical and mechanical things, how they worked, and his artistic thoughts derived from the practical. He was practical, and apparently charismatic, and brilliant enough to produce works beyond anything seen before. According to legend he had such physical strength, could bend horseshoes with his hands, and it is well-known that he wrote his notebooks in script which was backwards. He never stopped experimenting, which unfortunately doomed some of his paintings to premature decay due to unstable primers. He sometime was unable to complete paintings because of attention problems; he would lose business opportunities, as with the Sistine chapel that finally Michaelangelo painted, whom he met late in life and resented. He also had two great strikes against him: he was illegitimate and also accused of sodomy. He overcame the stigma of the former, but the latter, Brown writes that Da Vinci was a “flamboyant homosexual” and fought “a perpetual state of sin against God” despite the public success of his life in historical terms while unproven, it haunted him forever. His love of nature, however, was tempered by witnessing murder in churches and public hangings. Although he refused to eat meat he drew pictures of corpses. He was an artist but also possessed the inquisitiveness of a scientist. Leonardo Da Vinci was the man. A strange one at that. Loretta MarieRead full review
The Da Vinci Code is the controversial movie directed by Ron Howard and based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel that has made Mr. Brown a multi-millionaire and at the same time, angered Christians and Catholics around the world. The movie is sure to do the same. In the movie, Tom Hanks plays Robert Langdon, an American professor trapped in Paris after he is considered the prime suspect in the murder of a prominent French curator and historian. With the help of Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), Langdon manages to elude the police and begins to follow a series of hidden codes and puzzles that lead him to an ancient secret that a mysterious society has been hiding for more than 2000 years. If revealed this secret will shake the very foundation upon which Christianity and Catholicism have been built. I have to admit I went into The Da Vinci Code fully knowing the negative buzz that has suddenly surrounded the movie in the last 24 hours following its screening at Cannes. Nevertheless, I went into the movie with a fairly open mind and really wanting to like this movie. Unfortunately, for a movie with so much publicity, so much promise and so much hype surrounding it, Da Vinci is fairly disappointing. It's a tough book to tackle. There's a lot going on here and a lot that needs to be translated to the screen. But I'll tell ya, I read the book and there were parts of the movie I still found confusing. Between all the different characters, the subtitles, the flashbacks, the pointing guns, the cryptic messages, the prolonged dialogue, and Hanks' humoungous noggin, I'm not too sure how someone who hasn't read the book can totally follow what is happening. There are characters in the book who are central figures, yet in the movie, just seemed like a waste of film and make-up (ie. Alfred Molina's Bishop Aringarosa). The movie certainly seems to lack the urgency that exists in the book. And then there's Tom Hanks, who generally is one of my favourite actors and one of the best of our generation and he just seems to play the entire movie in a monotone, unexcited sort of fashion, despite his long, flowing hair and his acting does not stand out like we are accustomed to him doing. Overall, I have to say that The Da Vinci Code does not live up to the high expectations it seems to have set for itself. The movie has received an extraordinary amount of publicity and in most cases, this would be a studio's dream. It should be interesting to see how this attention translates into box office dollars. There are millions and millions of religious folk who will not see this movie based on its anti-Christian and anti-Catholic premise and that is their right. Hopefully, a lot of them will take the high road and turn the other cheek because protesting will just encourage others to see the movie. Not that I'm against people seeing Da Vinci but wouldn't that just sabatoge the purpose of their protests? Because from what I'm seeing on the news and reading in the papers, there are going to be protests. Heck, I don't even blame them for being upset considering the movie claims the man upon which their entire religious belief is based was nothing more than a mere mortal who also happened to be married. Mr. Brown should be happy that most Christians and Catholics will turn the other cheek and not react like a handful of people did when a certain book written by a fellow named Salman Rushdie was published.Read full review
The photography and set is beautiful in the production. The talented actors are entertaining and the story was interesting however the plot was predictable. I felt the mystery content could have been presented in more depth but perhaps that would have taken to much time. The twists of the diabolical characters in the movie had good development and the story was presented as possible and at times believable. This was not an easy story to tell on film without a sequel. It's a great film for debate and discussion over coffee with friends. We enjoyed it and didn’t mind that it was a long film. Certainly worth adding to your collection if you are a Ron Howard fan.
This movie was very well done considering the amount of information that had to be covered from the book. I read the book and loved it and although the movie could not exactly replicate the book, I found the movie to be very good. My wife did not read the book and also enjoyed the movie very much. The bonus features are great, especially the stuff about the real codes, mysteries and myths surrounding the story. As a historical fiction lover and a history lover, this dvd has a lot to offer. Good acting, good direction, decent screenplay and a great story.
The Da Vinci code (2006) I came into this movie with an open mind and tried to leave everything at the door. Everybody I had talked to said the book was amazing, and the movie was just as good. I was extremely shocked when halfway through the movie I thought to myself "Another supposed Hollywood blockbuster that stinks" I know that my views on this movie will upset all the Da Vinci code faithful, and I don't expect to get any helpfuness votes out of this review, but I really need to voice my opinion. The previews for this movie make you believe that this movie will turn water into wine, when all it does is turn water into... well... water. The movie could be summed up in 3 scenes, but they drag it on for over 2 hours... a 2 hour snore fest. Final Verdict: 2/5 Rent or Buy: I'm not taking anything away from this movie, because I know a lot of people absolutely loved it, but I feel that an equal amount fo people hated it, and their opinions aren't heard. My only recommendation for this film is that you RENT IT before you BUY IT, just in case you are in the 50% of people who dislike The Da Vinci Code. PLEASE VOTE IF YOU FIND THIS REVIEW HELPFUL. Thank you.Read full review
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