Da Vinci needs no disclaimer
2006-05-09 12:26
Los Angeles - The director of the upcoming
religious thriller The Da Vinci Code says he sees no need for
a disclaimer labelling the film a work of fiction - provoking a
rebuke on Monday from Catholic group Opus Dei.
Filmmaker Ron Howard has acknowledged the controversy
renewed by his film of Dan Brown's best-selling novel, which
depicts Opus Dei as a shadowy sect at the heart of a murderous
conspiracy to conceal dark secrets of the early Christian
Church.
But the Oscar-winning director of A Beautiful Mind
rejected the notion that his latest film should carry a
disclaimer - as requested by Opus Dei - stating what he said
was already obvious.
'This is a work of fiction'
"This is a work of fiction that presents a set of
characters that are affected by these conspiracy theories and
ideas," Howard told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. "Those
characters in this work of fiction act and react on that
premise. It's not theology. It's not history. To start off with
a disclaimer ... spy thrillers don't start off with
disclaimers."
Opus Dei, which urged movie distributor Sony Pictures
Entertainment in April to consider running a disclaimer,
expressed disappointment with Howard's stance.
"A disclaimer could have been a way for Sony to show that
the company wants to be fair and respectful in its treatment of
Christians and the Catholic Church," Opus Dei's US spokesperson
Brian Finnerty said on Monday.
The film, which opens May 19, stars Tom Hanks as a Harvard
scholar who teams up with a French cryptologist (played by
Audrey Tautou) to solve a murder mystery entwined in the works
of Leonardo Da Vinci and a supposed alternate history of
Christianity.
A central premise of the story is that Jesus sired a child
by Mary Magdalene, and that a clandestine society has for
centuries protected the identity of their descendants from
agents of the Catholic Church.
The Vatican, which considers the story blasphemous, has
launched its own public relations offensive against the film.
Archbishop Angelo Amato, the No 2 official in the
doctrinal office headed by Pope Benedict until his election
last year, called in April for a boycott of the movie. And the
Catholic Church has produced a rebuttal documentary titled The
Da Vinci Code - A Masterful Deception.
A Sony spokesperson last month said the studio sees the film
as "a work of fiction" rather than a "religious tract" and
believed the film "will delight audiences, not offend them".