Review of Da Vinci Code Decoded

Introduction

The Da Vinci Code is a modern literary phenomenon, a fictional novel by Dan Brown that re-defines the composition of The Holy Grail and asks us to believe that Christ`s bloodline did not end with him. This book is now almost an ever-present in the bestseller lists (a literary version of Pink Floyd`s Dark Side Of The Moon perhaps…) and has sold an estimated 25 million books translated into 44 languages. Now a film has been commissioned with Oscar-winning director and ex-Happy Days star Ron Howard at the helm.

But the interest in this book has not been limited to contemporary literary audiences. It also appears that many people, including devout religious followers from all denominations, are re-thinking traditional beliefs and ideas after reading this book. This has led to direct intervention from the Vatican of all places, where a seminar debunking the book as lies was held recently by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Archbishop of Genoa. Whether this is an official Vatican stance or, as is claimed, the personal opinion of the Cardinal is debateable again, but that the Church itself has seen fit in any way to comment on it is quite remarkable and highlights just how much this work of fiction resonates with modern audiences. Even Tony Robinson took hiatus from Time Team recently to disprove it in a recent documentary. This is what happens when deeply held beliefs are challenged though. Well, bar the Tony Robinson bit at least…

A lot of people are now looking for answers to questions they didn`t think about so much before, and here, handily, is a documentary film that `decodes` the references seen in the novel. It comes from the same company as recent documentaries Outfoxed and Uncovered, and promises to give answers to many of the questions spawned when reading this book.

So is it any good?

Video

Presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, it`s a good, solid broadcast quality picture. It`s mainly talking heads anyway, and it`s clear with no sign of any damage as you would expect from a recent film.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack, which is all this film needs. It`s mainly dialogue with music in the background when required to add a bit of atmosphere.

Features

Mainly more interview pieces on different aspects such as discussions on The Holy Grail, the relationship between John The Baptist and Jesus, Tarot and a long segment on the Gnostic Gospels. There are a couple of small pieces on The Louvre, Westminster Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel as well.

Also some trailers for further releases from The Disinformation Group, some of which look really good.

Conclusion

Ironically, there is a bit of disinformation about this DVD from The Disinformation Company. The artwork and blurb suggests that Dan Brown himself will be contributing to this DVD, and the hope is therefore that he has something to say about his research and his beliefs that comprise his best-selling novel. This is blatantly false, as the only glimpse we see of Brown is some old C-Span footage that starts off the film. What we`re left with is a collection of eight `experts` discussing aspects of the book based themselves on books they`ve written, taking credit back from Brown for some of the revelations he makes.

This doesn`t make this any less interesting mind, but each author only seems to be interested in the theories that make up their own books and talk about them at times as if everything mentioned is an indisputable fact. The one exception, without doubt, is Henry Lincoln who published Holy Blood, Holy Grail back in the 70`s and who is unequivocal in his statements that everything in the main novel, his book and every other book including the Bible is only factual in that they exist. There is no proof, he says, that anything written in any of them is known to be proven fact. If you take away one idea about everything that encompasses The Da Vinci Code and it`s ensuing controversy, it should be that one statement.

The theories given on the codes in Da Vinci`s works and the bloodline of Christ are all very interesting and well thought out, and may well find a home with both those who like to question the validity of the Bible and those conspiracy theorists who see hidden motives everywhere. It is clear to this reviewer that the motives of the contributors is more about raising interest in their own theories and books than the interest in Brown`s work as it is rarely mentioned. The fact that this has all been captured under the umbrella of that novel is just judicious timing, and the packaging lists all the contributors and their respective books. There is even a quarter page ad in the packaging for the book of the DVD, so I`m guessing that people are trying to capture the wallets of those interested in this subject.

Back to the content, though, and it is really just a lot of interview footage of the above mentioned authors dissecting parts of the Brown work and adding in more detail to give the viewer a better understanding of what the story entails. As someone who only read this book about a month ago for the first time, the story was still quite fresh in my mind. I`ve not thought too deeply about the storyline other than it was a very good read and that the basis of his story could very well be true. I found the interviews in each section to be interesting and a little thought-provoking, if sometimes a little sketchy on backed up sources - there is a lot of talk of first-hand discoveries by these authors.

Overall this release is put together very well and is an interesting audio-visual companion to the novel if you are interested in finding out more detail behind the plot of the novel. It can be a little dry in places, but then it is all interview footage, so you can`t expect any different. I didn`t receive any damascene conversions or `eureka`-type moments from listening to what these people had to say, and I`m still not convinced one way or the other as to the histories given here (or that of the bible either, if truth be told), but I was never bored over the two and a half hours viewing time. Certainly a good view for those with open minds, maybe not a good idea for those who dismiss Brown`s book without question, whether making the effort to read it or not.