Der Name der Rose (1986)

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Umberto Eco (novel)
Andrew Birkin (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 September 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

Who, in the name of God, is getting away with murder?

Plot:

An intellectually nonconformist monk investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Abbey | Monk | Franciscan | Apocalypse

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 14 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	William of Baskerville
Christian Slater	...	Adso of Melk
Helmut Qualtinger	...	Remigio da Varagine
Elya Baskin	...	Severinus
Michael Lonsdale	...	The Abbot
Volker Prechtel	...	Malachia
Feodor Chaliapin Jr.	...	Jorge de Burgos
William Hickey	...	Ubertino da Casale
Michael Habeck	...	Berengar
Urs Althaus	...	Venantius
Valentina Vargas	...	The Girl
Ron Perlman	...	Salvatore
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Michele da Cesena
Franco Valobra	...	Jerome of Kaffa
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Hugh of Newcastle

Also Known As:

The Name of the Rose (UK) (USA)
Il nome della rosa (Italy)
Le nom de la rose (France)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:14 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Spain:13 | UK:15 (re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Abruzzo, Italy

Company:

Neue Constantin Film

Trivia:

When filming on the Eberbach monastery, the German police was assigned to protect the manuscripts and books used on the movie. Even with this measures, a key page was stolen; it's the one that appears on a close up on the desk of the missing monk, showing a capital "B". The shot used in the movie was made a year after this incident, the time that took to made a new page, two weeks before the release.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The statue of the Virgin Mary in the church is in Renaissance style but it should have been Romanesque or Gothic.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice of Adso as an Old Man: Having reached the end of my poor sinner's life, my hair now white, I prepare to leave on this parchment my testimony as to the wondrous and terrible events that I witnessed in my youth, towards the end of the year of our Lord 1327. May God grant me the wisdom and grace to be the faithful chronicler of the happenings that took place in a remote abbey in the dark north of Italy. An abbey whose name it seems, even now, pious and prudent to omit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Une américaine à Paris (2005) (TV)

The Name of The Rose is a superb film but requires thinking.

A murder mystery set in a monastery in the late middle ages, at a time when the Franciscan order and the Holy Inquisition were at odds, mostly over the extravagances of the Papacy, is a dark and moody film, which matches the period of the story well. Once again Sean Connery takes a difficult role and makes it uniquely his. Fifteen year old Christian Slater is seen in his breakout role. But the real star of the film is the library of the monastery, a labyrinthine building that is many floors high and created with stairways that seem to always lead away from where you want to go. I found the book, frankly tedious. Umberto Eco writes in a style that is very pedantic at times, and just plain confusing at others. But the story translated well to the screen, but you must be willing to exhaust a little brain sweat to get anything out of the story. Be well rested before you watch this one.