Product Description

"The Name of the Rose" is a gothic medieval mystery thriller set in a 14th-century Italian monastery. Franciscan monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and a young novice (Christian Slater) arrive for a conference to find that several monks have been murdered in mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his wit and intelligence.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by Director Jean-Jaques Annaud
Documentary:Vintage making-of documentary - The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"
Featurette:All-new Photo Video Journey with Jean-Jacques Annaud
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3027 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 131 minutes

Amazon.com
Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose is a flawed attempt to adapt Umberto Eco's highly convoluted medieval bestseller for the screen, necessarily excising much of the esoterica that made the book so compelling. Still, what's left is a riveting whodunit set in a grimly and grimily realistic 14th-century Benedictine monastery populated by a parade of grotesque characters, all of whom spend their time lurking in dark places or scuttling, half-unseen, in the omnipresent gloom. A series of mysterious and gruesome deaths are somehow tied up with the unwelcome attention of the Inquisition, sent to root out suspected heretical behavior among the monastic scribes whose lives are dedicated to transcribing ancient manuscripts for their famous library, access to which is prevented by an ingenious maze-like layout.

Enter Sean Connery as investigator-monk William of Baskerville (the Sherlock Holmes connection made explicit in his name) and his naive young assistant Adso (a youthful Christian Slater). The Grand Inquisitor Bernado Gui (F. Murray Abraham) suspects devilry; but William and Adso, using Holmesian forensic techniques, uncover a much more human cause: the secrets of the library are being protected at a terrible cost. A fine international cast and the splendidly evocative location compensate for a screenplay that struggles to present Eco's multifaceted story even partially intact; Annaud's idiosyncratic direction complements the sinister, unsettling aura of the tale ideally. --Mark Walker

DVD features
There's more love and care in the 2004 DVD debut of this 1986 film than one would expect. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud is very passionate on the commentary track, going over the intricate production design, discussing his desire to cast those with odd faces ("beautiful landscapes," he insists), and even unloading on star F. Murray Abraham. There's an additional 15 minutes with Annaud, this time on camera, in the "photo journey" that details the production even further. What looks like a standard making-of featurette is actually a 45-minute German TV special with English subtitles. It's a bit different from the usual spin of Hollywood featurettes, and you have to read Sean Connery's interview questions since the German translator talks over the English. The widescreen transfer is solid, and the remastered soundtrack--the first time in Dolby 5.1--helps carry the richness of the original 6-track stereo soundtrack. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Why do all the monks look so weird?
After arriving at an abbey in which one of the monks has recently died under mysterious circumstances, former Inquisitor, Br. William of Baskerville (Sean Connery), proceeds to solve the mystery of this death and the subsequent deaths of a number of other monks, with the assistance of his young novice, Adso (Christian Slater).

Over the past 10 years, I have read "The Name of the Rose" twice (I consider it to be among my top 10 books of all time) and seen the movie twice. The first time I saw the movie, I was disappointed by it, as it pales by comparison to the novel, but watching the film a second time, some years after my last reading of the book, it doesn't seem like such a bad movie after all. Whether in book form, or as a movie, "The Name of the Rose" is a really great story. It's a great mystery, but even if you already know who the killer is, this tale of greed, corruption, lust, and murder in a medieval monastery has all the makings of a top class thriller. The mystery elements simply serve to add structure to events that are already fascinating in their own right.

Sean Connery is perfectly cast as William of Baskerville, a character clearly modelled on Sherlock Holmes, as his name (a homage to "Hound of the Baskervilles") suggests and Christian Slater, in a very early film role, isn't bad, although I, personally, think he is at his best when he is playing slightly deranged characters, such as in "Heathers", which Adso is definitely not.

The main things I have against this film, are, firstly, that the film writers changed the ending of the book (although the killer remains the same, other aspects of the book's ending are changed to make it more convenient and "audience friendly", which ruined it for me), and secondly, all of the monks in the abbey are weird looking. I really can't figure out what possessed the makers of this film to make every monk in the abbey look like a freak, but I find that it detracts from the film. I am guessing that it is the filmmakers' way of saying that all of the monks are in some way corrupt and that that corruption is manifesting itself in their appearances (sort of like comic-book villains), but this is such a heavy-handed thing to do and seems out of place in an otherwise well-made movie.

sublime

The finest piece of literature (Umberto Eco's eponymous book) gave birth to one of the best thrillers ever directed.

Sean Connery's performance confirms why he is such an astounding actor. Christian Slater in, I believe, his first role shines here.

But most importantly, the cinematography and set are sublime (and trust me, I am not biased because I personally knew Tonino Delli Colli), it is truly sublime.

Medieval Murder among the Monks
The Name of the Rose, based on the novel by Umberto Eco, is a dark historical drama set during The Inquisition. Full of suspenseful atmosphere and medieval hardship, this moody film brings to life the brutality of the time. The feel, cinematography, dialogue, and soundtrack all provide the audience a unique view of the Middle Ages. A murder has happened among the monks, and William of Baskerville called on to solve the mystery. William and his young novice make an excellent investigative team for this world of the Inquisition and it's suppression of knowledge.

This rather quiet, quirky little film features the talents of Sean Connery as William, a very young Christian Slater as the novice, and F. Murray Abraham as Bernardo Gui. Additionally, there are a number of recognizable character actors in the supporting cast. The murder mystery whodunit plot develops at a slow, leisurely pace, continually building the intrigue through to the end.

Overall, The Name of the Rose is absorbing film which I found surprisingly interesting. I recommend it for fans of Sean Connery, Medieval history, murder mysteries, or period drama. It is just the thing for a quiet yet unusual evening at home.