The Name of the Rose (1986)
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
© 2003
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LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com