A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Dan Brown's controversial best-selling novel about a powerful secret that's been kept under wraps for thousands of years comes to the screen in this suspense thriller from Director Ron Howard. The stately silence of Paris' Louvre museum is broken when one of the gallery's leading curators is found dead on the grounds, with strange symbols carved into his body and left around the spot where he died. Hoping to learn the significance of the symbols, police bring in Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), a gifted cryptographer who is also the victim's granddaughter. Needing help, Sophie calls on Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a leading symbolized from the United States. As Sophie and Robert dig deeper into the case, they discover the victim's involvement in the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members have been privy to forbidden knowledge dating back to the birth of Christianity. In their search, Sophie and Robert happen upon evidence that could lead to the final resting place of the Holy ...
In the novel, Dan Brown claims that the Disney movie The Little Mermaid (1989) gave its heroine Ariel red hair as a reference to paganism, and a symbolic grail story. This is inaccurate. Ariel, in fact, had red hair to distinguish her from Madison in Splash (1984) (the first collaboration between Ron Howard and Tom Hanks). Tom Hanks went on to play Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013). See more »
Goofs
When Langdon and Sophie go into Westminster Abbey there are crowds of people, with police behind barriers and watching filming. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Silas:
Stop now. Tell me where it is.
[removes hood]
Silas:
You and your brethren possess what is not rightfully yours.
Jacques Saunière:
I... I don't know what you are talking about.
Silas:
Is it a secret you will die for?
Jacques Saunière:
Please.
Silas:
As you wish.
[cocks gun]
See more »
Crazy Credits
The Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Skylark Productions logos are treated as 2D paintings and are scanned with an ultraviolet light. See more »
Alternate Versions
The film was originally shown to the UK censors in an unfinished form, with a temp score and sound mix. The BBFC advised Sony Pictures that sound levels during some acts of violence may be too impactful for the requested "12A" rating, so the film was likely to receive a 15 classification. When formally submitted, the final levels of sound effects on the completed soundtrack had reduced the strength of some acts of violence to an extent which made the film able to get a "12A" rating. See more »
La Javanaise
Music by Serge Gainsbourg
Lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg
Performed by Serge Gainsbourg
Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a division of Universal Music S.A.
Under Licence from Universal Music Enterprises See more »
User Reviews
The standard 'not as good as the book' applies here.
I can't say I was blown away by The Da Vinci Code - as is often the case, the book was far superior. I generally like Tom Hanks in almost all his roles, however I found that I had such a pre-conception of what Robert Langdon should be, that it took me about half an hour to get used to Hanks occupying this character. Once I settled into it though - it was a thoroughly enjoyable, occasionally slow moving thriller. Having read the book, I did have a knowledge of the various groups and factions involved - I'm not sure how someone who hasn't read the book will fair though. The casting of the movie is surely one of it's stronger points - Paul Bettany is almost unrecognisable and plays the menacing single minded Silas to utter perfection. Sir Ian McKellan too, it totally fantastic, and really steals most scene's he appears in. He delivers some great one liners too - a real character actor playing a real character. Audrey Tautou is as we have come to expect, just lovely, and who else could have played Bezu Fache - Jean Reno was made for the role. As you'd expect from a Ron Howard Production, there is a good amount of cheese, especially towards the end. Langdon's "Godspeed" caused me to awake in the night sweating! I am a fairly harsh marker on the IMDb, so don't be put off by a 6 out of 10 - I did enjoy the movie, but my anticipation was so great with this film, that it could never live up to my expectation.
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I can't say I was blown away by The Da Vinci Code - as is often the case, the book was far superior. I generally like Tom Hanks in almost all his roles, however I found that I had such a pre-conception of what Robert Langdon should be, that it took me about half an hour to get used to Hanks occupying this character. Once I settled into it though - it was a thoroughly enjoyable, occasionally slow moving thriller. Having read the book, I did have a knowledge of the various groups and factions involved - I'm not sure how someone who hasn't read the book will fair though. The casting of the movie is surely one of it's stronger points - Paul Bettany is almost unrecognisable and plays the menacing single minded Silas to utter perfection. Sir Ian McKellan too, it totally fantastic, and really steals most scene's he appears in. He delivers some great one liners too - a real character actor playing a real character. Audrey Tautou is as we have come to expect, just lovely, and who else could have played Bezu Fache - Jean Reno was made for the role. As you'd expect from a Ron Howard Production, there is a good amount of cheese, especially towards the end. Langdon's "Godspeed" caused me to awake in the night sweating! I am a fairly harsh marker on the IMDb, so don't be put off by a 6 out of 10 - I did enjoy the movie, but my anticipation was so great with this film, that it could never live up to my expectation.