The Name of the Rose has been described as "a European film on a Hollywood budget," which isn't a bad way to think of this brooding, thoughtful film that's partly a murder mystery and partly a musing on the human thirst for, and simultaneous fear of, knowledge. Set in an exquisitely reproduced 14th century monastery, and with meticulous attention to historical detail, The Name of the Rose introduces us to William of Baskerville (Sean Connery), a Franciscan monk who has come with his young pupil Adso (Christian Slater) to an Italian monastery to participate in a doctrinal debate between the Franciscans and the Benedictines. When he arrives, however, William finds that something horrible is afoot. One monk has already died – murdered by Satan, the monks believe – and the death toll soon rises. William seeks to use the tools of reason to uncover the truth, but the visiting Inquisitor Bernardo Gui (F. Murray Abraham) takes a harsh view of such heresy.

The Name of the Rose works hard to create an atmosphere of brooding intensity and foreboding, and it comes off very effectively: from the leering gargoyles that frighten Adso to the grim outlines of the scriptorium building, from the pallor of the monks to the filthy rags of the peasants, the film contains many little details that combine to create a sense of oppression and doom hovering around the abbey. Since the film is also very attentive to historical accuracy in everything from costumes to sets, and certainly in the attitudes and beliefs of the monks, the dark atmosphere never goes over the top. Grim as it is, it's easy to believe that The Name of the Rose shows us how dark the "Dark Ages" could really have been.

And yet, we have a ray of light in the character of William, a humane and literate man who is open-minded enough to see the Church's persecution of "heresy" is misguided at best, openly cruel and sadistic at worst. Connery does an excellent job here of portraying William as a man ahead of his times, yet also of his times: we can believe that it was men like him, passing on their wisdom to younger men like Adso, who kept a tiny flame of knowledge and reason alive through the collapse of civilization. William is torn between a desire to champion the truth, and the sure knowledge that to do so openly is to invite imprisonment, torture, and death; he has a keen intelligence, yet admires a fellow Franciscan who chides him for his sin of intellectual pride. We see William as a hero, fighting for reason and the preservation of knowledge. Yet the actual events of the story are more complex than that: at the end of the film, has knowledge been preserved, or lost? Have the monks benefited from his investigation, or suffered?

Running two hours and eleven minutes, The Name of the Rose unfolds slowly; the character of Bernardo Gui doesn't even appear until halfway through, though F. Murray Abraham's portrayal of the arrogant Inquisitor is certainly memorable enough to consider him one of the key characters. As we might expect from a film that adapts the lengthy novel by Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose expects viewers to pay attention. It's never deliberately obscure, but neither does it over-explain. With its secondary themes addressing the abuse of power and wealth, the repression of any thoughts that might challenge conventional beliefs, and the use of fear and ignorance to govern the masses, The Name of the Rose may be set in the Middle Ages, but it is a powerful illustration of how little human nature changes over time.

The opening credits call the film "A palimpsest of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose." A palimpsest is a page of manuscript that has been written on several times, with the earlier writing often faintly visible beneath the newer text; it was a common practice in medieval monasteries, and often ended up being the only way that some classical texts survived (quite accidentally) to the modern day. It's quite a clever way to provide attribution while also reminding us that the relationship between the film and the original novel is not that of a direct translation or copy.

The DVD

The cover art makes the film look like a B-grade horror flick, but on the bright side, Warner's DVD of The Name of the Rose comes in a keepcase, in what is hopefully a new trend. There's no insert.

Video

The Name of the Rose appears in an anamorphically enhanced widescreen transfer, at the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It's not the pristine transfer we might have hoped for, but it's a reasonable treatment of the 1986 film. (Time flies: that's nearly twenty years ago as I write this.) A consistent level of noise appears in the film, but perhaps because of the style of cinematography used here, with its emphasis on misty, shadowy shots, it's really only noticeable in shots with a lot of open sky. Fortunately the print is free of flaws or dirt. There's a nice amount of texture and detail in the image, and only very minor edge enhancement. In a film deliberately dominated by grays, blacks, and browns, there's little use of color. As with many films of the 1970s and 1980s, there's a slight muting of the colors in general; I'm not sure whether this is a stylistic trend, a result of the type of the film used at the time, or the result of aging. Overall, though, the subtleties of shading and tone in this limited palette are handled well. Contrast is perhaps the one problematic area, as it's heavier than it really needs to be, even for this very moody piece. Still, the black levels are kept nicely black, so there's never any graininess or washing-out of dark scenes, and I suspect that most of the very dark appearance is deliberate in any case.

Audio

The remastered Dolby 5.1 soundtrack does a nice job of presenting an attractive and immersive audio experience. Some of the dialogue is a little tough to catch, when we have actors speaking quietly with accents, but overall the actors' voices are captured clearly and with a nicely natural sound. The film's brooding theme music, as well as the in-scene music of the monks' choir, is handled well, and while the surround channels don't get a whole lot of use, they're still used effectively on several occasions.

Extras

The first special feature here is a nicely done audio commentary track by director Jean-Jacques Annaud. He provides an interesting series of comments about the choices he made in the film as well as anecdotes from behind the scenes, and appears to be genuinely enjoying the opportunity to revisit the film.

Next on tap is a German documentary called "The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose." This 43-minute piece was evidently created while the film was in production, and is essentially a promotional piece, though it has a few interesting interview snippets with cast and crew, as well as author Umberto Eco. English subtitles are provided by default, but they're optional.

One special feature that's more interesting than the title indicates is "A Photo Video Journey with Jean-Jacques Annaud." It's essentially a 16-minute extension of the audio commentary, as Annaud looks through various photos from the shooting and comments on various aspects of making the film.

Lastly, the theatrical trailer for the film is included. I was also pleased to note the simple and easy-to-navigate menus.

Final thoughts

The Name of the Rose is a dark and richly textured film that does a commendable job of capturing Umberto Eco's massive novel on the screen. Blending an interesting mystery puzzle with a creepy and authentic medieval setting, brooding music and cinematography, solid performances from a stellar cast, and a thoughtful approach to the story's themes about the search for knowledge, The Name of the Rose is highly recommended.