“We intentionally wanted it so when the police rush in, they come through the magnetometers, and our security officials are there,” Raymond said.īut there are other things officials let the cast get away with that wouldn’t fly in real life. For example, at one point in the film, FBI agents rush into Library to find Gates, and make a lot of noise in the process. It eventually became a balancing act, with LOC officials insisting some things be included. One of the primary concerns Library officials had during filming in the spring of last year was the display of security measures used at the LOC, Raymond said. In the movie, the Book of Secrets is located under a special classification starting with “XY.” In reality, there is an “X” classification also considered a special category - they hold materials “predominantly of a pamphlet or ephemeral nature,” according to Raymond. Other tidbits in the film aren’t so accurate, however. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to show some of the science and the fact behind the fiction,” Raymond said. “Book of Secrets” producers worked closely with Diane van der Reyden, the LOC’s director of preservation, to make sure they used the correct terms and techniques when using the equipment in the movie, giving the film more than just entertainment value. Toward the start of the movie, she uses the equipment to find a hidden cipher on the diary page. In the film, Chase is the LOC’s “director of document conservation,” so she has access to special spectral-imaging machines that analyze historical documents for faded and hidden writings and other marks. That, for obvious reasons, couldn’t be shot on Capitol Hill.Īside from pretty views, there also are many additional elements that move the treasure-hunting plot forward at the Library - some based in fact, others in fiction. The only exception is Gates jumping off the roof of the Jefferson Building into a waiting vehicle, which then crashes through a security barrier to evade police, Raymond said. So, Gates, his ex-girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) and buddy Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) head to the Library.ĭuring the LOC’s 10 minutes of fame, there are plenty of breathtaking views of the Thomas Jefferson Building’s ornate interior, and nearly all of the shots are of the actual Library, including a stairwell scene involving a chase between the lead characters and police. But he needs information found in the Book of Secrets, a hidden tome containing information only available to the president that includes details about America’s secrets, including the lost city of gold.Īnd where’s the book kept? The Library of Congress, of course. Therefore, Gates makes it his mission to find Cibola. Gates uses clues found in a recently discovered missing page of the diary of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth to find the truth - his ancestor wasn’t helping Booth but rather seeking to prevent the Confederacy from finding the lost Native American city of gold, Cibola. In the sequel, Gates is out to learn the secret behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and thereby clear his family name, which had been tied to the plot. Gates is a treasure hunter famous for discovering a massive trove in the original film. (Be warned, there are some spoilers - although nothing that gives away the movie’s ending.) “There is a level of authenticity,” Raymond said.īefore diving into what’s fact and what’s fiction in “Book of Secrets,” here’s what you need to know if you haven’t seen it. While most of the stuff Gates and his colleagues do in the movie probably couldn’t actually happen (such as sneaking into both the queen’s suite at Buckingham Palace and the Oval Office without getting caught), a lot of the action at the Library actually isn’t all that half-baked. The LOC gets about 10 minutes of screen time in the two-hour flick, which centers on a treasure-finding mission led by Benjamin Franklin Gates, played by Nicolas Cage. “It’s a movie, so there obviously is going to be a lot of fiction, but what is interesting about the ‘National Treasure’ franchise is the way they use fact as a jumping-off point.” “Our mantra was, ‘it’s a movie,’” said Matt Raymond, director of communications for the LOC. Historical accuracy isn’t exactly the mantra of “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” the second installment in the popular Disney action-adventure franchise.īut with the Library of Congress featured as a key setting in the movie - which already has brought in more than $200 million at box offices worldwide - who cares if everything isn’t exactly true to life?
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