[7]
Sean Connery and Christian Slater star in this 14th century murder mystery set at a remote monastery in Northern Italy. There for an upcoming conference, the two discover a young monk recently died under mysterious circumstances. Connery leads Slater, his young student, on a private investigation. As they uncover clues, more monks turn up dead. Just as Connery suspects a conspiracy, a member of the Papal Inquisition (Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham) arrives to sort things out. The Inquisitor hastily charges three innocent people and sentences them to fiery deaths. With the clock ticking, Connery and Slater race to solve the mystery, risking heresy and execution by openly defying the Inquisitor.
Fans of Umberto Eco’s philosophical novel may be disappointed at how condensed and diminished the film adaptation is, but director Jean-Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, Wolf Totem) delivers terrific atmosphere and ambience within the sprawling Abbey location, which includes a labyrinthine, M.C. Escher-like secret library. The mystery plot builds well for the first half of the film, involving a gay, self-flagellating, albino monk, a secret sex trade between the monks and the hungry poor people living outside the Abbey walls, and the discovery that all the dead monks have black tongues and index fingers. The investigation loses some steam in the second half, relying a bit too much on luck and convenient plotting to resolve as well as it could have.
Connery gives one of his best performances as a world-weary, non-conformist monk who evaded execution at the hands of the Inquisition years earlier. Slater spends much of the film with a quizzical look on his face, but a scene in which a poor mute girl (Valentina Vargas) robs him of his virginity is quite a striking one. Annaud fills the supporting cast with unusual-looking actors that give the Abbey an off-kilter, horror vibe. Abraham (Amadeus) is reliably commanding and villainous. Look for William Hickey (Christmas Vacation, Tales from the Darkside) as one of the more superstitious monks, and Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Pacific Rim) as a volatile hunchback character.
Even though The Name of the Rose struggles with plotting and pacing at times, the cast is interesting and the setting is beguiling enough to make it worth revisiting. With Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin, Michael Lonsdale, and a minimalist, evocative score by James Horner.