Viewers says they are keeping the faith: The Da Vinci Code jampacks cinemas

Manila moved to ban the showing of "The Da Vinci Code" as the controversial film started its opening march around the world yesterday, but cinemas that decided to run the movie in Cebu City, the birthplace of Christianity in the country, happily opened their doors to full houses.

The Tom Hanks starrer, adapted from the controversial Dan Brown novel which has rankled the Roman Catholic Church because of its suggestion that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and had fathered a child by her, had many traditional thinkers biting their nails in apprehension.

But it appears that all the nail-biting had been for naught.

If exit polls were any indication, the overwhelming sentiment of those interviewed by The Freeman as they emerged from packed theatres was that rather than undermining their faith, the movie only served to strengthen it.

" A few hours in the cinema will not make one waver in a faith that has been built up over the centuries, " said Bai Quinanola, a student, as she emerged from one of two moviehouses showing the film at the Ayala Center.

" You must have faith in your faith, " added lawyer Democrito Barcenas, who admitted having asked the court to postpone a case just so he can watch the movie, which runs for two hours and 20 minutes..

Most viewers agreed they went to see the movie mainly because of their curiousity. They wanted to find out what was in it that had the Roman Catholic Church so offended.

" It would be interesting to see how religion would fit in this fiction film, " said Karl Murphy, a visiting Australian who said he was a " non-practicing " Roman Catholic.

Reacting to the heavy turnout, Episcopal Vicar Msgr. Esteban Binghay said people were just curious to see why the movie and the book has generated so much controversy.

Binghay said the movie should prove to be a great challenge to the faith of the faithful. " Those who are mature in their faith will stand up for Jesus, " he said.

Binghay, though, said he himself is not going to watch the movie. " I do not honor anything that is blasphemous. I do not have time for it. It is only fiction. "

The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines has decided not to push for a ban against the movie, and the national film classification board decided to allow its showing for adult audiences.

Nevertheless, the city council of Manila adopted a resolution banning its showing in any moviehouse within its jurisdiction.

In Cebu City, which has more than two dozen moviehouses, only five theatres showed the film.

Joy Polloso, marketing and theatre operations head at Ayala Center, which had two moviehouses showing the movie, said they are showing " The Da Vinci Code " because they are in the business of showing films. " So long as we carefully follow MTRCB guidelines, everything is okay, " she said.

Ayala started advance selling of tickets Tuesday afternoon and premiere showings were booked full.

Elizabeth Mall cinema manager Aileen Go said viewers started queueing up at noon to fill one 506-seat cinema, prompting management to plan opening an additional outlet for the film. Go said she expects the number of viewers to triple this weekend.

The Gaisano Countrymall had one theatre showing the film.

None of SM City Cebu's eight cinemas showed the film but this was not because of the controversial nature of the movie. It has a standing policy of not showing movies with an R-18 classification.

In the downtown area, one Oriente theater is showing the film.

At Cannes, the director huffed, offended believers protested and critics carped as " The Da Vinci Code " premiered.

Ron Howard, who adapted American author Dan Brown's worldwide mega-selling novel to the big screen, had a suggestion for people riled by the way Christian history is depicted in the film: " If you suspect the movie will upset you, don't go see it. This is supposed to be entertainment, not theology. "

As the movie premiered, a Roman Catholic nun wearing a brown habit kneeled and prayed the rosary at the foot of the red carpet in Cannes, while in Paris, the setting of much of the book, 200 Roman Catholics prayed and sang outside a theater showing the film.

One reporter asked Tom Hanks if he believed Christ was married. The actor quipped, " Well, I wasn't around. " - with Philippine Star News Service