The Name Of The Rose (1986)

dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Based on the Umberto Eco novel, set in 14th Century northern Italy. Charismatic Franciscan monk with a rebellious side (Sean Connery), and his young novice Adso (17 year old Christian Slater) travel to an abbey, and try to unravel a mysterious series of deaths among the monks, however the Spanish Inquisition (!) arrives and complicates their investigation. The father-son like relationship between Connery and Slater’s characters is a highlight, especially their late night conversation on the difference between love and lust. Ron Perlman steals the movie as the multilingual “heretic” hunchback, Salvatore. The untranslated non-English dialogue is always frustrating, the only subtitled dialogue being the latin prayers. The Sherlock Holmes references are a bit too cute. Much longer and slower paced than I remember, I found my attention drifting often. It would be much better suited to a mini series, and I was pleased to read that a series was produced last year, starring John Turturro.