Review of The Name of the Rose (1986) by Kai82 — 22 Feb 2021

A murder mystery set in a medieval abbey with a great cast and of a lot of religious and philosophical motives. It is based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco and it is his most known work. Because Umberto Eco is a medievalist, philosopher and great novelist it is a great book but definitely not for everyone.

Remark: It is a good movie but not an ideal adaptation as it would be hardly possible to fit in all the stuff of the book (Also the book is darker and has a different ending). The story starts when Franciscan friar William of Baskerville travels to an abbey in norther Italy with his pupil the novice Adso of Melk.

There the Franciscans want to debate with papal emissaries about the poverty of Christ. This means basically if the church should be allowed to amass money and possessions (A lost cause as being pope or church dignitary is a lucrative job that no one wants to give up).

Secondary the abbey is famous for its library including translating and copying books. William who is famous for his deductive skills figures out when they arrive that a monk has died shortly before his arrival and is ask by the abbot to solve this as the circumstances are puzzling.

With this set up the story starts. I like it really well. It is full of ideologies or better said interpretations of believes, philosophical problems, clashing characters and has good twists. The medieval setting works great and I never doubted the atmosphere nor the setting.

It feels organically crafted and the strong cast completes this movie. Lets directly continue with the cast. Sean Connery as William of Baskerville gives a great performance. He has deductive skills close to the level of Sherlock Holmes but is far more adept at social interactions (Some will say less would be hard to archive.

Just ask Dr. Watson about this;-). Christian Slater plays Adso of Melk the novice and pupil of William. He is the Doctor Watson to his Sherlock Holmes but is different too. He is young and a bit naive but not stupid or lets say he has not the life experience.

Another great performance by this great actor. Then there is Murray Abraham as Bernardo Gui. He is an excellent adversary or rival for William. A magnificent performance as he creates a lot of emotion in the viewer.

From the rest of the cast I will praise Michael Londsdale as the Abbot (Forgot if he was even named in the movie), Feodor Chaliapin jr and Ron Pearlman (yes that one) as Salvatore. A strong cast with a lot of good actors.

I must praise the sets too as everything looks authentic. Some parts were filmed in Germany in the Ebersbach Abbey, some in castle Molin de Aragon but the most impressing was a specially created set build in Prima Porta which was back then one of the biggest sets in movie history.

They did a lot to archive the style and visuals and I praise them here for this. I think I continue with my final statement. Overall this is an excellent movie with lots of interesting themes. The cast fully delivers and it was enjoyable.

I must also admit that it is not for everyone as it could be to complex or confusing. This makes a recommendation nearly impossible as you could fully agree or ask yourself if we have even seen the same movie.

Lets say the murder mystery at least should be enjoyable for nearly everyone and the philosophical and religious themes at least for some.