REVIEWS83 revealed by the physical effecrs ofher drinking ofwatefs into which her husband's written curses have been dissolved (115). The Pardoner, the authot claims, subjects this Judaic text to a christological reconfiguration (127). Nevertheless, according to the author, the Chaucerian text's very reliance on the biblical intertext enables this intertext to sound a 'subtle yet petsistent call' within it, a call unwittingly decrying this text's own rejecrion ofJudaic precepts (144). Cox's book joins important work published in recent years which unmasks subtle inscriptions of Hebrew and Judaism in canonical texts of medieval literature. It contributes to the interdisciplinary interrogation ofthe medieval canon not only in tetms ofthe traditional tools of literary criticism, but also in terms of mote recent developments inJewish studies and in literary rheory. Yet this strengrh ofthe book is also where it is most wanting. The exegesis of Hebrew wavers at crucial points such as the discussion of the homophony of the Hebrew words for 'man' and 'woman' (92), which misses their derivation from different roots which accentuates the absence ofrelation between them as categories. Linguisric rerms such as 'sign,' signifier' and 'letter' are often elided (e.g. 24) or used imprecisely (most notably, the category 'rrope' which seems to be used as a synonym for 'theme'). Most dismayingly, the major conceptual category to which the book's title alludes—the 'Othet'—is discussed but in a footnote (160), which does not do justice to the intellectual origin of the category ofthe Othet as the locus where 'subjectivity' is not constructed as conscious 'identity' but emerges as unconscious desire, which is never identity-related because it is ever particular which can only be half-said but whose exegesis is never infinite because always obstrucred by the unrepresentable it excludes. SHIRLEY SHARON-ZISSER Tel Aviv University The Da Vinci Code, Columbia Pictures (2006), directed by Ron Howard from a scripr by Akiva Goldsman (based on the novel by Dan Brown); producers Brian Grazer and John Calley. Cinematography by Salvatore Torino; score by Hans Zimmer. With Tom Hanks (Robert Langston), Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu), Ian McKellen (Leigh Teabing), Jean Reno (Bezu Fache), Paul Bettany (Silas), Alfred Molina (Bishop Aringarosa). 148 minutes. Let's begin with what is good about this film. Fitst, Ian McKellen is excellent as Leigh Teabing. He manages to give his chatactet a bir ofdepth—and even a bit ofchatm unril Teabing finally shows his true colors. Second, rhe movie features many ofthe novel's appealing settings, most notably the Louvre. Third, we have to appreciate the film in part because ofwhat it is not; that is, we must be grareful for the absence of much of the (mis)information found in the novel. Having identified what is good, let's move on. Although it is obvious that much ofwhat Btown presented in his novel as absolutely ttue and accurate is neithef of those, some of that material is of course essential to the intrigue, and screenwrirer Akiva Goldsman has retained the novel's core, the Grail-related material: the sacred feminine, Mary Magdalene's marriage, the Priory of Sion, certain aspects of 84ARTHURIANA Leonatdo's art, and so on. In some cases, though, the exposition is so sketchy that a viewet who has not read the book may not fully undetstand, for example, the connections among the Templars, the Priory, Mary Magdalene, and even Opus Dei. Of course, the last gets a good deal of attention (which includes graphic scenes of Silas the albino 'monk' mortifying the flesh as well as a good many viewers). Although the film runs ro rwo and one-halfhours (and feels longer), the screenplay naturally required the excision ofa great deal ofthe novel's material. For instance, the omissions mercifully spare us most of the novel's fanciful excursions into art criticism, the exception being Teabing's long analysis of'The Last Supper' and a few comments by Langdon about the 'Mona Lisa.' Paring down the story fortunately eliminates many ofBrown's errors, large and small, about Church history, art history, geography, and other subjects. In a numbet ofcases, though, the condensation suppresses essential information. When Langdon looks at the series of numbers on the Louvte...
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May 25, 2013
Sunkari Sridhar 
Open Access
