Art School Confidential vs. The DaVinci Code; FIGHT!
Written by John Rozewicki   
Wednesday, 24 May 2006
It is not often I get to the theatre in time to see new movies. I love film as well as discussions of it. Last night I saw not only one new movie, but two; Art School Confidential and The DaVinci Code. They don't really relate at all on the surface but serendipity brought us to two movies instead of one. This is one of the few posts that I get to write that's actually timely while being relevant.

The DaVinci Code

The DaVinci Code is a bad movie and probably a bad book. I'm a snob when it comes to things that are inescapable in pop culture. I hate having to judge something based on how it is being perceived rather than its own merits. At this point I cannot discern if the cultural phenomenon of the book is simply reactionary or if there is more to it. The key will be if people still talk about the book in 10 years. I have a feeling that it is a well-researched adventure story with a good overarching concept because this is what the movie was. As with any work of fiction there are lapses in logic at the points that most tenuously connect to reality. Anyone treating The DaVinci Code as anything but fiction is extremely ridiculously silly.

Unsubtlety

The film version of The DaVinci Code was exactly what was expected. Mainstream Hollywood movies have huge problems with subtlety. Everything has to be explicitly stated for fear that if it is not then the audience will not understand. If the audience does not understand then they might not like it. This is what happens when you actually have too much money being thrown at a picture. The studio starts to feel more and more apprehensive about its success and so starts scrambling to format it so that as many people as possible like it. Unfortunately their scrambling ends up not working and you end up with a piece of drivel like The DaVinci Code.

Wrongful Death

The opening scene with the murder in the Louvre is completely unnecessary. It's a painfully unsubtle grab for suspense that makes later scenes difficult to understand. Langford's very compelling presentation on symbols would have worked well in concert with his speech at the end about how everyone can agree that Jesus is a great figure. The opening murder scene wouldn't have worked if everyone was unfamiliar with the story. It really really doesn't work when you make explicit in the trailers that this is a story concerning a murder and the majority of the world has heard about this book at length for the last 4 years. Better suspense and identification with the main character could have been achieved by cutting off the beginning. We would have exactly as much information as Langford does when the police first approach him. This is essential in a mystery-adventure movie.

A Hack Director

Most of the problems in The DaVinci Code stem from this bizarre need to make every single thing explicit; the comical portrayal of Langford's claustrophobia and the ridiculous flashbacks for every character. The movie tips its hand early by showing way too much of the Opus Dei. The book may do some of these things too, but that's not an excuse. Ron Howard is a filmmaker. He should know better than to fall in to the stupid cliché traps that this movie falls in to.

Best Moment:

The nun falling backward in the chair when Silas hits her. I had to make myself stop laughing so as to not disturb everyone around me. There are also many moments where things become almost unintelligible because of the horribly awful script.

Art School Confidential

I loved this movie. That's not hard to imagine as I loved Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes last picture Ghost World. If the The DaVinci Code had a painful lack of subtlety then this movie was a glorious cornucopia of subtlety. Art School Confidential is the type of movie that rewards the audience for thinking.

Truth is in the Details

I think anyone in any sort of higher education can relate to everything in the first 3 quarters of this movie. The people in the fine arts programs doubly so. The beginning of the movie is this lovely commentary of how confusing and annoying people in art programs can be. The main character is confronted with these opposing viewpoints about subjective experiences and he has trouble figuring out which side to believe.

Stop Listening to Jive Critics (But Do Listen to Critics of Jive)

While the mystery component of this movie is good, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It feels like Zwigoff and Clowes were responding to one of the criticisms of Ghost World that nothing much happened by penning a mystery in to Art School Confidential. I still like this movie a lot, but I would have been fine with it if it had been this moody low-key painfully honest movie about art school.

Interesting Implications

The mystery storyline was told in a campy, but entertaining, B-Movie fashion. The rest of the drama around it was completely golden. One of the things I noticed was that most of the action save for a few key scenes was implied. This is probably a budget issue. It's a lot easier to show a normal apartment and then later the burnt out shell of an apartment than to shoot an elaborate burning scene. The elaborate burning scene is also completely unnecessary if it is not happening to the most important character.

Much Love

I loved this movie, I would like to write more, but I fear I will become repetitive. Anyone who appreciates movies by Wes Anderson, Terry Zwigoff, Sofia Coppola, or Paul Thomas Anderson will probably love this movie also. Not to mention that attached to this movie is an amazing trailer for a movie I'm very very excited about, Marie-Antoinette by Sofia Coppola. Mmm.

Best Moment:

Any scene with the first friend Jerome makes in his drawing class is awesome. That guy and Ethan Suplee steal the show.
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