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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Unfairly maligned, this well
made but flawed atmospheric adaptation of Umberto
Eco's complex novel manages to capture the flavor
of the book quite well. Someone expecting Eco's
snaking novel would be advised to look elsewhere;
film is a narrative medium and Eco's complex novel
had to be boiled down to the essential story at
the heart of his penetrating look at Christianity
in the middle ages, featuring an outstanding
performance from Sean Connery as William of
Baskerville (a nice tug of the hood to Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes) a Franciscan monk
who uses science to understand the mysteries of
our world and in service of God.
William travels to a monastery with young
apprentice Adso of Monk (Christian Slater) to
debate the issue of Christ's poverty with
representatives of the pope. Just before he
arrives a young monk is killed. William dives in
trying to solve the mystery of the boy's death
when he realizes that the clues don't quite add
up. Suddenly the body count increases as more and
more monks mysterious vanish or die. What terrible
secret is the murderer trying to hide? Just as
William thinks he may have the answer inquisitor
Bernardo Gui (F. Murray Abraham) arrives with a
quick and easy solution; it's the work of the
devil. Bernardo hates William's passion for
science believing him to be nothing more than a
heretic in a monk's robe. William has little time
because Bernardo will indict the monk of heresy if
he can.
Director Jean-Jacques Annaud ("The Bear," "Seven
Years in Tibet," "Black and White in Color," "The
Lover") tackles the challenging material admirably
recreating 14th century Europe in intimate detail.
The gritty locations and creation of a monastery
for the film (Annaud couldn't find the location he
wanted so much of his budget went into building a
12th century monastery on location; the DVD box
states in error that the film was shot at a 12th
century monastery) help impart a sense of realism
to the movie. The diverse cast reflects (according
to Annaud) the fact that monks from all around
Europe would live in a monastery doing God's work
and illuminating (illustrating) biblical texts.
The final screenplay by Andrew Birkin ("King
David," "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc")
manages to distill the important story points of
Eco's novel. Birkin (who was one of four writers
that tackled the difficult assigned) fills the
script with witty dialogue and borrows important
parts of Eco's text as well. Annaud colors in the
figures and backgrounds creating as realistic a
portrait as possible.
Featuring a sharp looking transfer, the DVD of
"The Name of the Rose" looks remarkably good
although some of the sequences are a bit too dark.
The use of high-speed grainy film enhances the
sense of gritty reality for the film and isn't a
flaw of the transfer. The remastered soundtrack
available for the first time in Dolby Digital 5.1
makes good use of the surround channels smothering
the viewer in the atmosphere of the middle ages.
As usual Warner Home Video has done an outstanding
job with the extras; we get an hour documentary on
the making of the film originally shot for German
TV. Unfortunately, the narration is in German so
you end up having to read Connery and the other
actors/crew members comments in the subtitles.
It's an extremely well done documentary that
captures the behind-the-scenes intimate moments
frequently missed in these types of productions.
There's also an exceptional photo video journey
with the director. We also get the original
theatrical trailer.
The best part of this DVD is the informative
commentary track by director Annaud. He doesn't
blather away but only speaks up when he actually
has something interesting to say about a
particular shot or share a behind-the-scenes story
about the production. Annaud comes down hard on
actor F. Murray Abraham noting that his Oscar win
inflated Abraham's ego to such a degree that he
was extremely difficult to work with during
shooting. Abraham insisted that Connery had to
arrive at the set first because Abraham was an
Oscar winner and Connery wasn't. We also find out
quite a bit of detail about the building of and
location shooting of the sets and his unusual
casting decisions. He extols the virtues of actor
Ron Perlman stating that he was a delight to work
with and literally made it a joy to come to work
with every day.
Likewise, he discusses the challenges of working
with Connery who was much more established than
Annaud at this time. Nevertheless, they had a
marvelous time working together with Connery
taking a keen interest in the production.
Interestingly, Annaud had to fight for Connery in
the role. After a series of flops, his star power
had dimmed and Michael Caine and Albert Finney
were first choices for the role by the studio. The
low lighting and diminished budget proved to be a
challenge to the director; he couldn't afford a
dolly nor could he afford the time to have his
director of photography Tonino Delli Colli (a
frequent Fellini collaborator), light the set for
complex camera moves. Annaud points out that many
of the shots are static and those that aren't are
simple pans. He also discusses actor Helmut
Qualting a hero during who fought against the Nazi
party during World War II. It seems Qualting
frequently forgot his lines or would pause during
the takes because he was in enormous pain during
the shooting. He died shortly after completing his
role.
An unusual mystery that doesn't focus on whodunit
but, instead, on why (were clued in early as to
who the murderer might be), "The Name of the Rose"
hasn't wilted with time but has actually bloomed.
This rose has many thorns that make it a less than
perfectly smooth mystery but given the challenges
that director Annaud faced, it's still one that
smells sweet. |
