The Name of the Rose (1986) Jean-Jacques Annaud   Based on Umberto Eco's novel of the same name, The Name of the Rose is a dark murder mystery set in a medieval Italian abbey. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear), it stars Sean Connery as William of Baskerville, a Franciscan monk who has journeyed to the abbey with his young pupil Adso (Christian Slater) to attend a conference. Upon arrival, however, Brother William is taken aside by the Abbot (Michel Londsdale), who implores him to discreetly lend his help in the solving of a disquieting mystery. Several monks have been found dead, and the manner of each death seems tied to the prophesies foretold in the Book of Revelation. On the surface, The Name of the Rose seems like a "Brother Cadfael" mystery. However, despite the fact that the protagonist is a crime-solving monk, this tale proves to be of a much darker character than the Cadfael stories. Brother William must negotiate a perilous journey of twists and turns, and suspicious "men of God" who have varying reason to resent his poking around. Yet brother William, we discover, is no ordinary monk. Beneath his scruffy exterior lies a brilliantly deductive sensibility and an encyclopedic knowledge. The shadow of the holy inquisitors also looms ever-present in this film, all of whom compromise William's sleuthing (for this is not the first time this nonconformist monk has run afoul of them). If all of this were not enough, William also has Adso to protect, not only from the danger surrounding the crimes but also from boy-loving monks and the fact that Adso has fallen in love with a peasant girl. Connery is wonderful in the role of William, in which he indulges a more eccentric side then we are used to seeing from him, and the result is one of his best performances ever. The teenage Christian Slater is also very good, especially when sharing an appealing father/son relationship with Connery. Apart from its effectiveness as a drama/mystery, however, the film is also a powerfully visceral depiction of medieval life. Photographed by Tonino Delli Colli, the film was shot in the dead of winter, and depicts a time and place which is cold, muddy, and raw, where starvation is ever present, and peasants scrape for food among the rubbish discarded by the cloistered monks. It is a world where the Catholic hierarchy holds absolute sway, burning those who step out of line. James Horner's score is also appropriately austere and contains medieval references he would later expand on in Braveheart. It is a pity that disappointing box office figures curtailed the possibility of sequels to this film. Still, The Name of the Rose remains a very fine film and is an impressive success from dramatic, artistic, and historic perspectives. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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