癲狂院 Vixen Owl Cigar..。o○

With Thorns That Prick Mind and Heart...


A Nearly Perfect Film about a Terribly Imperfect Time.
It must have been choose-a-movie-you've-never-heard-of night, because that is exactly how it went down when I bought "The Name of the Rose ".
The sole basis of this decision was Sean Connery's presence in the film; only later did I realize that the rest of the cast was as clearly talented and well chosen as he.
Though I did have a bit of trouble understanding the movie at first, and had some difficulty getting into it, "The Name of the Rose " eventually revealed itself as the bizarre and clever mystery tale that it truly is.

The Abbey is dark and forbidding, the terrain about it reflecting the harsh design of the structure; there is an air of gloom and darkness falling upon the monastery and its inhabitants as those slain continue to accumulate.
The monks are, for the most part, frightened and unfriendly; danger hangs in the air, almost as visible as morning fog, and the camera captures it all through the subtle gestures of actors and carefully positioned shots of the scenes.

There are several factors to consider when attempting to classify the movie - it has elements of drama, suspense, and mystery, among others.
Though it was not (to me) a particularly scary movie , there is a definite amount of creepiness to the setting, props, and characters - even if the main mission is, in itself, a simple who-done-it mystery.
The subplots and supporting events make it more interesting and even mildly disturbing.
And disturbing is almost always fun.

There are few things that warrant caution in this movie.
Perhaps some will find "The Name of the Rose " to portray monks in a less than favourable light - but then again, anything can be accused of portraying someone unfairly.
In this case, I think the movie does more than enough to make up for anything bad it may imply.
Also note that there is a sexually graphic scene involving young Christian Slater; otherwise, there is not terribly much else to warrant the R rating, as the violence is usually done out of sight, and only the effects are left to be seen in the form of a few bodies and some blood.
This movie is much of the reason I insisted life in fourteenth-century Western Europe would have been totally unbearable.

【Christian Slater】Name of the Rose【F. Murray Abraham】
They believed in god and traded with the devil..
The medieval world is often anathema to modern movies, which thrive on action, quick cuts, and romance.
It takes a movie like "Braveheart" to bring large audiences to watch a story set in the Middle Ages...and "Braveheart " has a lot of brutal fighting, quick camera cuts, and romance.
The medieval world, while much more dynamic than most people believe, moved at a glacial pace in terms of change compared to the past one hundred years.
This is why most movie versions set in the medieval world are either complete fairy-tale fantasy or downright unrealistic ("First Knight", "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves").
Those films that are accurate in terms of depicting medieval life are either far too documentary-like or get panned as "too slow ."

This is what happened to "The Name of the Rose".
The director, Jean-Jacques Annaud, assumes the audience knows more medieval history than they probably do, and without that knowledge, the background conflict between the wealthy Holy See of Rome and the impoverished Franciscan friars makes little sense, and the terror of the Inquisition is reduced to Bernard Gui (Abraham) torturing a hunchback.
Because the audience didn't understand the history, the movie made little sense.
It would take far too much space to explain it fully here, but the short-and-sweet version is that, by the 14th century, the Church has become extraordinarily rich, and several groups, such as the Franciscan monks, advocate rejecting material wealth and possessions as a means toward gaining spiritual insight and clarity (it's hard to be godly when the clothes you wear cost more than what one of your parishioners would earn in five lifetimes ).

Christian Slater gets an education in carnal knowledge from a bedraggled and filthy but lovely young girl from outside the monastery as well as learning a few lessons in logic, theology, and forensics along the way.
Costuming is quite well done as are the sets and effects.

Overall, "The Name of the Rose " is a window to a past world, where matters of the spirit and the soul were more tangible and more immediate.
When the frightened monks whisper about damnation and the coming of the Antichrist, they truly believe they are right around the corner.
It is that sense of urgency, balanced by William's rationality and stubborn refusal to quit investigating a mystery that becomes extremely uncomfortable to the monastery, that propels this film and makes it worth watching more than once.
The movie has some good intellectual concepts that may make you go "HMMMMMMM " as well as good action and dialogue.
I enjoy a good movie that makes me think for a while afterward and provides a good solid entertainment as well.