The Da Vinci Code bandwagon took on a more literal form Tuesday morning as various members of the big screen team hopped on a Eurostar from London to Cannes.
The journey was masquerading as an attempt to break the record for The Longest Non-Stop International Train Journey. No doubt Audrey Tautou felt a little nervous when informed she was going to be trapped on a moving vehicle for an indeterminate amount of time with the scariest ginger beard in history. Happily the elfin beauty will be back among her countrymen for the Da Vinci Code World Premiere on Wednesday night, and can leave the frenzied press barrage to her more geeky colleagues.
Unfortunately The Da Vinci Code movie itself has successfully attracted obscene amounts of publicity by way of its vaguely sacrilegious and occasionally art-related plot. While sensible bookish types with connections to the story enthusiastically jump aboard the gravy train, some of the more mildly-demented parties personally affected by the plot have tried to derail the impending world domination of a multimedia phenomenon.
As the Louvre announces the introduction of a Da Vinci Code interactive audio tour for fans of the story, a Roman Catholic activist began a hunger strike on Tuesday which he claimed would be continued until the Da Vinci Code movie is banned. It does seem a little late to be making a stand given that the book has already sold over 40 million copies worldwide and Dan Brown has become the first person to make a gazillion dollars off the back of unproven religious theory about Jesus’ sex life.
Thankfully, friendly everyman Tom Hanks has tried to head off complaints from religious critics by taking the piss out of them on Saturday Night Live and saying The Da Vinci Code is largely filled with “hooey”. While the rest of the world giggles at his attempt to bring an absurd word and floppy hairstyle back into fashion, there has been some support for Christian whingers from an unexpected source.
Apparently the Koran also recognises Jesus as some kind of prophet, so attempts to blaspheme him have ticked off a bunch of Muslims in India. In the most unlikely team-up since Amelie was cast as the love interest of Forrest Gump it appears the combined weight of two of the world’s largest religions will do absolutely diddly squat to alter the course of a global juggernaut.
So as the release of The Da Vinci Code signals a new chapter in this summers Blockbuster Publicity War it seems like M:i:III finally has some serious competition. Just as well, ‘Tom Cruise is a Member of a Controlling Religion Cult’ was wearing a little thin, let’s all thank God for the onslaught of ‘Jesus Christ & Mary Magdelene – Did They or Didn’t They?’ debates.
Read more:
Da Vinci film protests stepped up – BBC
[story by Jo Gudgeon]