tala @ so-phobic

The Da Vinci Code was boring. I was yawning all night, waiting for the appearance of the great Sir Ian McKellen. As soon as he was out of the screen, it was yawnfest all over again. It’s not because I’ve read the book and know how the story progresses (and ends). Truthfully, I thought the book itself was forgettable. I only kept it with me to cross reference it with the more intriguing Holy Blood, Holy Grail. I especially found the Sophie-is-Jesus’-descendant plotline cheesy.

The first 15 to 30 minutes of the film were interesting enough. Robert Langdon’s visual aid during his talk on symbols was beautifully done - Poseidon’s trident, the swastika on Hitler’s flag as well as on pagan gods. I wish they’d extended that scene. I also liked the shift of the camera to Silas’ feet while he was flogging himself. The curl of his toes because of pain, the way his feet shifted on the floor for 5 seconds expressed more than the combined facial contortions of Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou. Heck, Alfred Molina’s eyes had more personality than Tom’s Robert and Audrey’s Sophie. I can’t specifically pinpoint what I found boring. The pacing maybe? On one hand, the pacing enabled the book’s story and background to be told and not swept aside in favor of some good old Hollywood blockbuster car chase scenes. On the other, I felt time dragging on and on. There was no chemistry between Tom’s Langdon and Ian’s Teabing, mostly due to Tom, I think. His best performance in the movie was at the end, when he realized where the Grail’s location was and knelt down in worship, prayer, a surge of emotion, whatever. Other than that, he had one expression to manifest all emotions - that furrowing of brows that reminds of the douche bag Chad Michael Murray (of One Tree Hill).

So the city of Manila decided to ban the movie. That probably explains the influx of movie goers to the already overcrowded Glorietta and Greenbelt cinemas. That Ermita dude has found himself an ally. I’m just wondering, WHY HAVEN’T YOU BANNED THE BOOK FROM BEING SOLD IN BOOKSTORES IN THE CITY OF MANILA? YES MORONS, THERE’S A BOOK! THE MOVIE IS BASED ON THE BOOK! THE BOOKS BEEN OUT FOR WHAT, 3 YEARS? YOU KNOW WHAT A BOOK IS DON’T YOU? YOU KNOW, SHEETS OF PAPER WITH WRITING/PRINT BOUND TOGETHER, USED FOR READING? Maybe the owners of the bookstores contributed more to campaign funds than the cinema owners.

Democracy and freedom of expression aside, this ban is an insult to all citizens of Manila. It basically says that you guys can’t read anyway, so we won’t ban the book. But being illiterate doesn’t mean you can’t go and see the movie so we’ll just ban the movie instead. The ban basically says that your government officials regard you as voters and nothing more. You don’t have the capacity to think, to view something controversial and make up your own minds! But apparently they (your officials) do. Because they’ve just made their own choice for YOU. And look just how intelligent they are:

Ermita, a former member of the board of censors during the martial law period, said he has yet to read the book, but branded the movie as “blasphemous.” (emphasis mine)

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