Howard ignores Da Vinci critics
2006-05-18 07:41
Cannes - Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard brushed aside savage criticism of his film on Wednesday, saying his controversial movie was pure entertainment which he hoped would win box-office fans.
"I haven't read any of the reviews, and I don't know if any of the others might be slightly more upbeat," Howard told a packed press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.
"I've made a lot of commercial films and I really stopped prognosticating a long time ago.
"I choose films because the subject has fascinated me and I would like to spend a year-and-a-half or two years of my life telling that story.
"The book is high-profile, a lot of people are interested in it and I certainly hope it's very successful."
Early reviews - after a preview for 2 000 journalists and critics on Tuesday - pummelled the $125m film version of Dan Brown's best selling novel as lacking in pace, "lifeless" and clunky.
Daily Variety, the top Hollywood trade magazine, gave it a blistering review.
Film is 'a stodgy, grim thing'
It said the novel - which has sold 50 million copies worldwide - "has become a stodgy, grim thing in its exceedingly literal-minded film version".
Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman "conspired to drain any sense of fun out of the melodrama, leaving expectant audiences with an oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material".
Howard was unconcerned by the critics' blows: "The book entertains a wide range of people in different ways. And I really wanted the movie to operate on a number of different levels as well. I hope it works as a very entertaining, sometimes funny, summer enjoyment."
Stars Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen also argued that movie fans could take from the film and the book what they liked.
'Proof Jesus was not gay'
Speaking about the character he plays, McKellen said: "When I read the book I believed it entirely. I believed Leigh Teabing argued his case very convincingly, and clever Dan Brown for twisting my mind in the right direction.
"And when I put the book down I thought: what a load of potential codswallop.
"I know the Catholic Church has problems with gay people and I thought this would be absolute proof that Jesus was not gay."
His comments as a gay rights activist raised the biggest laugh from the gathered journalists.
Hanks also defended the movie: "As a guy who likes to go see movies I certainly like two things. I like certainly like crackerjack entertainment. I like to be exposed to the same sort of film that a book is a page-turner.
"But at the same time I also do want to be challenged somehow. I want to see films that are provocative, so I have great things to talk about and argue about once the movie is over."