Bookish or Boorish?
The Name of the Rose is directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and based on the novel of the same name written by Umberto Eco. It stars Sean Connery, Christian Slater, F. Murray Abraham, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin & Michael Lonsdale. Music is scored by James Horner and cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli.
Sean does Sherlock the Monk.
It's one of those film's that I just can't get into, three times I have tried but it's now consigned to the recycle bin, never to be unearthed again. I see there is great artistry there, it's very literate and the mystery element is strong, but it saps my strength to the very last. Connery is miscast because he plays it as nudge nudge wink wink detective fare, and film strains too hard to be some intellectual medieval musing on inquisitional power, berserker religion and the search for truth. Now I like gloomy moods, especially when part of some Gothic architecture, but even with the delightful weirdness of this monastery and the even weirder haircuts, I find it hard to sit still, such is the haphazard directing of the plot. In all honesty, the makers really would have been better off just making another Sherlock Holmes movie and setting it in a monastery. Now that would be fun...
This wants to be a paean to Arthur Conan Doyle, a brain teaser and an observation on some tricky subjects, but the mix doesn't work, sadly, for me anyway. Because I don't like it doesn't mean it's a bad film, clearly it is loved by many and has things of value to a discerning viewer. But to me, no, leaves me cold and frustrated. 5/10