Hidden Fleet Street church where The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks was filmed

Hidden Fleet Street church where The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks was filmed

Accessible from Fleet Street, Temple Church is the 12th Century church tucked away in the Inns of Court.

It was built by the Knights Templar, a Catholic military order, as their English headquarters in 1185.

The church more recently came to the public’s attention following the release of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code in 2003.

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In the narrative that was later depicted in the 2006 film starring Tom Hanks, the main characters Robert Langdon (Hanks) and Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), along with Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen), visit Temple Church to solve the below riddle:

In London lies a knight a Pope interred. His labour’s fruit a Holy wrath incurred. You seek the orb that out be on his tomb. It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb.

The church can be seen in the film as the characters decipher the riddle, believing the stone effigies of the Knights, which still lay in the church, to be actual tombs (which is not factually correct).

The trio then realises the riddle is leading them to Westminster Abbey – not Temple Church.

However, this wasn’t the first time the church appeared in famous works of literature.

In Shakespeare’s play Henry VI, Part I, the beginning of the Wars of the Roses (a dynastic civil feud that ran for centuries between the Lancastrians and the Yorkist families in England) takes place outside Temple Church.

Shakespeare wrote that a member of the House of Lancaster and a member of the House of York each plucked actual roses (the symbols of their Houses) in a symbolic gesture at the beginning of their decade-long feud.

Originally Temple Church was where the initiation ceremonies of Knights Templar members were held.

However, today Temple Church is an active house of worship and holds regular services on Sundays.

Women’s Day watch: Binge-watch these movies that break stereotypes

The 2009 biographical drama by Anne Fontaine features Audrey Tautou as French fashion designer Coco Chanel.

By Reya Mehrotra

Cinema is undergoing a significant evolution. Pathbreaking stories that shatter stereotypes are being increasingly preferred by the audiences. With Women’s Day around the corner, we bring to you an eclectic selection of movies over the years that broke stereotypes by sensitively portraying a woman’s story.

Coco before Chanel

The 2009 biographical drama by Anne Fontaine features Audrey Tautou as French fashion designer Coco Chanel. It follows the story of a young Gabriel Chanel who, after leaving her orphanage, works in a bar and as a cabaret singer. The film further traces her rise as an iconic designer as she ventures into designing fashionable hats and eventually the French high society. The movie won several awards under various categories, including a BAFTA, European Film Awards, Cesar Awards and an Oscar.

The Great Indian Kitchen

The 2021 Malayalam drama by Jeo Baby is the story of a newlywed woman struggling to be the submissive wife that her husband and family members expect her to be. After a series of trials and tribulations and battles with conventions and rigid practices, she leaves her husband’s house and chooses to become an independent woman who follows her passion. She becomes a dance teacher and is shown arriving in her own car, while her husband has remarried another woman who has met the same fate as hers. The film has opened conversations around kitchens being viewed as gendered spaces.

Wadjda

The 2012 Saudi Arabian film is not only the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, but also the first feature film to be made by a Saudi female director. The film entered the 86th Academy Awards and was also nominated at the BAFTA awards. The story is of a 10-year-old girl Wadjda living in Riyadh. She dreams of owning a bicycle and riding it, something which is frowned upon in her homeland. She eventually wins a competition, which awards her a cash prize, which she uses to buy the bicycle.

English Vinglish

The 2012 Indian drama by Gauri Shinde featured actor Sridevi in the lead role. The story revolves around homemaker-cum-entrepreneur Shashi who makes laddoos, but is often mocked for her deplorable English. When she travels to New York for her niece’s wedding, she enrolls herself in a learn-to-speak-English class and, at the end of the film, surprises everyone by speaking the language while raising a toast at the wedding. The movie has gained the status of a cult film.

Little Women

The 2019 coming-of-age drama by Greta Gerwig was the seventh adaptation of the 1868 novel written by Louisa May Alcott. The story is of four March sisters, namely, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, living in 19th-century Massachusetts. It follows the years after the Civil War where Jo is a writer, Amy is studying painting in Paris, Meg is married, while Beth develops an illness that unites the family. The movie starred Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, among others.

Queen

The 2014 comedy drama starring Kangana Ranaut, Lisa Haydon and Rajkummar Rao in leading roles is the journey of a young woman that starts with the preparation of her marriage. Rani, the protagonist, embarks on her honeymoon to Paris alone after her fiancé calls off the wedding and explores a new world. As she gathers experiences alone, she makes friends and finds confidence. After her sojourn, she returns to India a changed woman who now rejects the proposal of her ex-fiancé. Critically acclaimed, the film has been labelled the ultimate feminist film and a groundbreaking one. Its success brought a shift in conventional Hindi cinema.

On the Basis of Sex

The American biographical drama is based on the early life and cases of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She served as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020 and was only the second woman to serve in the Supreme Court. Actor Felicity Jones portrayed the role of Ginsburg. The film begins in 1956 when she is a first-year law student at Harvard. Her husband, a second-year student, is diagnosed with cancer and the film traces her upward journey.

Arth

The 1982 Indian film starred Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Smita Patil in lead roles. The movie is about a woman who finds her husband involved in an extramarital affair. She leaves the house and decides to live in a hostel, finds a job to sustain herself and becomes independent while facing emotional trauma. The movie concludes with her finding new meaning in life. She adopts the daughter of her maid and continues on her journey with her newly found freedom and independence and chooses to remain single.

The 27 Best French Films of All Time

Hollywood may be the undisputed king of global film industries, but modern cinema owes its entire existence to the French. In 1895, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière invented a motion-picture camera called the cinematograph and made their first feature, the 46-second long La Sortie de l’usine Lumière à Lyon, which they screened for a private audience that March, making it the first presentation of projected film. In the 126 years since, the French movie industry has grown into one of the most highly regarded in the world, credited with giving rise to influential movements like the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) in the late ’50s, and with creating generations of talent, from Brigitte Bardot to Léa Seydoux, Alain Delon to Omar Sy, Jean Renoir to Olivier Dahan.

Lately, French TV has been having a moment (see: the brilliantly meta Call My Agent! and the slick caper Lupin), reaching a wider American audience thanks in part to Netflix’s commitment to produce more content in the country. The best movies, on the other hand, have long been accessible, if only for a small rental fee on Amazon. So whether you are a diehard Francophile, need to brush up on your French, or just want an excuse daydream about—and plot—your next trip to Paris, we’ve curated a list of 27 French masterpieces to consider for your next movie night.