【英语听和读】达芬奇密码

Anna: Hello I'm Anna Jones and this is Entertainment.

And today we’re going hear what some people are saying about the recently

released film of the bestselling novel ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ Now the film has

caused quite a lot of controversy 1 – if something causes ‘controversy’ or is

‘controversial then it means that there is public discussion and argument about

something that some people feel strongly about. The Da Vinci code has caused

controversy because of its plot - A murder inside the Louvre and clues in

Leonardo Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery

protected by a secret society for two thousand years -- which could shake the

foundations of Christianity. The film is directed by Ron Howard and stars

Tom Hanks as the professor who gets drawn 2 into trying to solve the Da Vinci

code. Well, as I said earlier the film has caused controversy and some Church

leaders want it to be censored 4 because it suggests that Mary Magdalen had a

child whose father was Jesus Christ. If you ‘censor 3’ something then you

remove the parts that are considered offensive or politically dangerous.

Now the film has met with mixed reviews. The film critic Jason Solomon saw

it at the recent Cannes Film Festival and he explained how the audience reacted

to it. Listen out for several expressions he uses to describe this reaction. Do

you think the audience liked the film?

Well the reaction here was rather flat, it was met with no applause and normally the first night

audiences at Cannes applaud wildly if they like something or boo vigorously if they don’t.

There was kind of hushed silence that met the whole proceeding 5 – I think in the end it has to

have gone down as a bit of a failure here on the Croisette. 

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Anna: Well according to Jason Solomon the audience at Cannes did not like the film.

He uses the following expressions to describe their reaction: ‘flat’ which

means to lack interest or enthusiasm. He says that the film was met with ‘no

applause.’ – they did not applaud or clap their hands together at the end of the

film. Instead there was a kind of ‘hushed silence’ - throughout the film the

audience was very quiet and said nothing. Jason says that the film was ‘a

bit of a failure’ in Cannes –He uses the noun ‘failure’ which means that the

film did not succeed or was not popular in Cannes. Listen out for those

expressions again.

Well the reaction here was rather flat, it was met with no applause and normally the first night

audiences at Cannes applaud wildly if they like something or boo vigorously if they don’t.

There was kind of hushed silence that met the whole proceeding – I think in the end it has to

have gone down as a bit of a failure here on the Croisette.

Anna: And that was film critic, Jason Solomon.

The historical novelist, Sarah Dunant, has also seen the film – does she think

the film is similar to the book?

It’s a slavishly faithful film of the book and I think there lies its problem. Like it or not the

first half of this book is indeed a page turner – Dan Brown hooks you on adrenalin and keeps

you going on adrenalin. Now the problem is, actually the devices he uses are quite clichéd but

the speed at which he throws them at you means you don’t notice it.

Anna: She says the film is “slavishly faithful” – it’s a very true and accurate reflection

of the book. If something is dscribed as doing something “slavishly then it

means it follows or copies someone or something exactly. Sarah uses the

word “slavishly” to emphasise 6 how closely the film resembles the book .

She says that ‘like it or not’ – whether you like the book or not – it is a ‘page

turner,’ it’s a very exciting read and makes you want to carry on reading it. 

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She says that the author ‘hooks you on adrenalin’ he keeps the readers

interest by getting their ‘adrenalin’ going – the plot is designed to keep the

reader’s interest and excitement. Does Sarah think that the devices that the

author uses to do this work? Listen again

It’s a slavishly faithful film of the book and I think there lies its problem. Like it or not the

first half of this book is indeed a page turner – Dan Brown hooks you on adrenalin and keeps

you going on adrenalin. Now the problem is, actually the devices he uses are quite clichéd but

the speed at which he throws them at you means you don’t notice it.

Anna: Sarah says Dan Brown uses devices that are quite ‘cliched’ – they have been

used so often that they are no longer interesting. Now let’s take a look at

some of the language that we heard today:

Controversy - the book caused quite a controversy

Censor – the theatre director tried to reverse the decision to censor her play

Flat – the lecture sounded very flat and uninteresting

Failure – he felt a failure because he could not pass his exams

like it or not - like it or not you will have to work harder if you want to get a

better job

Anna: That's all from entertainment this week.