ANGELS & DEMONS

I was disappointed with the film version of The Da Vinci Code as it failed to replicate the finer history as well as the thrill of the book. But I was upbeat about Angels & Demons, which I didn’t like much when I read it 4 years back. The reason I didn’t like the book was that it was very filmy in setting while The Da Vinci Code was more like an alternate view of history. When I heard that the producers were also making Angels & Demons into a film, I knew they were going to make a better film this time. Today I can say I wasn’t wrong in my assumption.

Whoever hasn’t read the book, (though I don’t really fancy that someone who hasn’t read Dan Brown’s books reads my blog and if it happens it surely is a tragedy), here is a peek into the plot. Robert Langdon is a Harvard Symbologist who is called by the Director of CERN, Geneva to inspect a symbol inscribed on the body of a murdered scientist. Soon they realize that the murderer has stolen the ‘anti-matter’ which can turn into an apocalyptic bomb if used. But the bigger revelation is that Illuminati, a secret society of scientists, which was thought to be dead a hundred years ago have resurfaced to take revenge. Great intellectuals of middle ages were part of this society to save their knowledge from the atrocity of the Church who didn’t allow any ‘blasphemous’ discourse to happen. Many scientists including the Great Galileo were killed. As revenge, the Illuminati will blow up the Vatican City while a new Pope is being elected. Not before the assassin kills the four Preferiti (among them one would be the Pope) by branding them with Illuminati symbols. The major part of the book is focused on Langdon’s efforts to save the killings along with Vittoria Vetra, the adopted daughter of the murdered scientist, by following the hints hidden in the Vatican architecture while they are running out of time. The climax throws few more surprises and though Langdon fails to save any of the papal candidates, he saves the day.

The film is very well made. In fact I found it more thrilling than the book. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon is superb of course. He is the kind of actor who remains above the script always. The producer said they were too reverential in adapting The Da Vinci Code which resulted in it being little too long and stagey. This time no such mistake has been made. Every moment is thrilling. But a lot of minor changes have been made to suit the feature film mode like- the book is a prequel while the film is made a sequel to The Da Vinci Code. Wikipedia mentions all the changes made in the film except one which I think is very important. In the book, the assassin is a Middle Eastern while in the film he is a regular white guy. In middle ages, the idea of contract killing began in Middle East or Muslim World. The killers who secretly lived in caves used to take Hashish (also known as Hash or Ganja, is a form of drug) before going out on mission. They were called Hashishin in Arabic and the word ‘assassin’ originates from it. The fact that the assassin in the book is a Middle Eastern draws direct parallel to its history which is mentioned in the book itself. Now the book was written in 2000, before the attack on World Trade Centre and popularization of ‘Islamic’ terrorism. Much has changed since the book was written. I think there are two reasons for changing the assassin from a Middle Eastern to a White man. Firstly, the assassin is an Illuminati who fights for science against religion while post 9/11 Middle Easterns are increasingly seen as people who fight for religion. Secondly, the mere indication that the assassin could be a Muslim planning to blow up the Vatican would have taken the focus away from Illuminati v/s The Church to Islam v/s Christianity in the current milieu. I really wonder how such small things could mean so much.

Coming to my favourite series, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code was scheduled to arrive in 2006. Now it’s finally releasing on 15 September, 2009 with a different name. The working title was The Solomon key which will be released as The Lost Symbol. I’m eagerly waiting.