The Name of the Rose (1986)

This film's hard to describe: one part murder mystery, one part social commentary / historical context. The movie's built around the ideas of theology, study, and knowledge, so the murder mystery plays second fiddle to these heady concepts. It's an obvious and easy thing to say, but Sean Connery is a treasure, celebrated for good reason. He is no less charming as a Franciscan monk than his portrayal of James Bond, which is weird, because monks are usually celibate (apparently.)Ron Perlman is also in this, playing a ghoulish hunchback. He's a class A ham who's made a career out of playing malformed brutes with beautiful hearts, and it was a delight seeing him pop up during this film. There are other iconic actors throughout, but really this film is about its direction and atmosphere. Tweaking an element or two could easily convert this film into a fantastic horror show. Anyway, recommended.

*Spoiler/plot- The Name of the Rose, 1986. A bizarre series of monks murders in an isolated 14th century abbey brings a Papal Inquisaitor and Franciscan Brother William of Baskerville to investigate the evil crimes.*Special Stars- Sean Connery, Christian Slater, F. Murray Abraham.*Theme- Truth is always worth finding.*Trivia/location/goofs- The film features several clerical groups: The papal legates, Benedictine and Fransciscan monks.*Emotion- An off beat but rich film with colorful locations, actor faces, and historical intrigue involving the Middle Ages with a satisfying 'who-did-it' plot.*Based On- A best selling novel of the time.

Basically, it's a mix of Sherlock Holmes in a 14th century monastery and science vs. religion.Fantastic film, everything about it is excellent: Production, acting, writing, cinematography, score, makeup. Great directing with excellent atmosphere, but realistic and surreal. Each and everyone in the cast is great, with an honorary mention to Ron Perlman and F. Murray Abraham.A great bunch of weird people in the cast (I recall watching the "behind the scenes" and the director(?) said that he wanted unusual-looking people).It's hard to believe that this movie wasn't nominated even for one academy award.

an inspired adaptation for Umberto Eco novel. good performance. realistic atmosphere. impressive manner to use each nuance of text. but, more important, a remarkable show. for the definition of essence of a period, for the remember of spirit of a closed community, for the measure who can be, in this case, easy to be ignored. and, sure, for the mark of a great director. it can be a thriller or a historical movie. each definition has its advantages but , in fact, it is a film about knowledge. not only as gesture to have a large personal culture, not as seed of power but as basic way to be free. so, the lead character in this case is a book. and its shadow. the precise science of Sean Connery to use each possibility opened by his role remains remarkable. and seductive in measure in which the performance of Christian Slater is not less.