Church cool on Da Vinci Code film

The doorman at Opus Dei’s Manhattan headquarters has a ready response to fans of The Da Vinci Code who stop to ask about the book’s chief villain.

“Silas?” he asks, referring to the Opus Dei assassin who murders, maims and self-flagellates his way through Dan Brown’s bestseller, at one point even bashing a nun to death.

“He’s not such a bad guy.”

Opus Dei, the Catholic sect that is thoroughly defamed throughout The Da Vinci Code, has developed a sense of humour about the book – even as it braces for another round of bad press when the much-anticipated film of Brown’s novel hits screens in May.

Directed by Ron Howard (Cinderella Man) and starring Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings) and Paul Bettany (Master and Commander) as Silas, the film is expected to reach far more than the 25 million people who read the book.

The film had been kept under wraps – until now – out of fear of offending Catholic groups and potential filmgoers.

An anti-Code crusade could deter those audiences that ensured the success of recent Christian-themed films such as The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia.

It seems that the Code’s backers needn’t have worried.

Protests were expected during location shoots at the Louvre, Scotland’s Rosslyn Chapel and Temple Church in inner London, but Howard says only one small demonstration materialised.

There’s been the occasional condemnation from outraged priests and Catholic groups – but nothing that’s organised or likely to threaten the success of the film.

Even Opus Dei seems unlikely to protest, or sue, over the filmed version of the Code – on the condition that Howard includes a disclaimer that the film is a work of fiction, not fact.

At this stage it’s not clear whether Howard will do that. He has said he will not open the movie with the preface to Brown’s book: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals . . . are accurate.”

The Da Vinci Code’s tremendous success – two years at the sharp end of the New York Times bestseller list – has been attributed to its blend of mystery, history, conspiracy and blockbuster pace.

Literary critics have scoffed at Brown’s style, but most readers couldn’t care less, as they finish the book in a couple of sittings.

The apparent accuracy of the Code’s many historical “revelations” has hooked readers – and offended Christians. The book claims – and here’s a spoiler alert for the handful of people who haven’t read the novel – that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were husband and wife, and that they had a child, whose identity has been guarded down the generations by a secret order of religious knights.

According to the book, the Catholic Church is aware of the existence of Christ’s heirs and has been trying to wipe them out for centuries.

Howard was chosen as director, say Sony executives, because he “was not a polariser”.

The book’s potential for controversy needed to be offset by an easygoing film-maker.

After two years of secrecy, Howard has revealed some details about the movie. All the book’s famous locations were used for shooting – except for Westminster Abbey, whose curators denied access to the crew.

The crew was given access to the Louvre after the intervention of French President Jacques Chirac, who tried to have a friend of his daughter cast as the book’s heroine, cryptographer Sophie Nuveu. Howard politely rejected Mr Chirac’s suggestion, along with 25 other French actors, and instead cast Audrey Tautou (Amelie).

One of the book’s crucial codes is hidden inside Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa – but the painting seen in the film is not the original, Howard confesses. Louvre curators would not let the film crew shine lights on the masterpiece. Nor would they allow Howard’s team to spill blood – real or fake – on the gallery floor. As a result, the death that opens the film is a lot less graphic than implied by the book.

Catholic groups in the US say they won’t be protesting outside cinemas.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops will probably give the film an O for “offensive” rating, said spokesman Monsignor Francis Maniscalco.

“There was so much misinformation in the novel – if that is repeated in the movie we would need to do something to advise people about its inaccuracies,” Monsignor Maniscalco said.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone denounced the novel last week, calling on Catholics not to buy or read the book, which he called “rotten food” and a “sack of lies”.

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