The Name of the Rose

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
3 years before Last Crusade, set in 1327, this featured Sean Connery and Christian Slater finding secret passageways through catacombs into a labyrinthine hidden library with Escheresque stairways. Concealed buttons reveal stone steps, and there's even a "Word of God" style riddle:
Adso remembers how Salvatore said "tertius equi", which is Canis Latinicus for "The third of horse" (when he meant "the third horse"). William concludes: "the first and the seventh of the four" really means "the first and the seventh of the word four", and "four" is "quatuor" in Latin, so you have to push the letters Q and R!
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Mickiana

Well-known member
Good post, Moedred. I've watched this movie many times. I love the austere, religious and academic atmosphere it portrays. All the wonderfully ugly faces amidst the intrigue of a medieval murder mystery. The significance of the subject of laughter, the coded entry to the labyrinthine library, the traps, the books... I could go on and on.

I read Umberto Eco's book years ago. I enjoyed that first read, but have found it difficult to read again, mainly due to my impatience. An attempt to read it again found too many long winded passages!
 

AndyLGR

Active member
This was one of those late night gems that I remember watching as a kid. I love the atmosphere and gothic setting of it. There's something about old dark settings with secret passageways and tunnels that I like. The deceit, the secrets and the religious beliefs make this a fascinating film. Although I've never read the book it's based on.

I like the fact that it's an olden day detective film. And why is it no matter who Connery plays with the same accent, that he's always commanding and believable?

I think the film loses a bit of momentum when F Murray Abrahams character is introduced. But overall it's one of my favourite Connery movies with an interesting story, subject matter and some very good performances all round.
 
Mickiana said:
I read Umberto Eco's book years ago. I enjoyed that first read, but have found it difficult to read again, mainly due to my impatience. An attempt to read it again found too many long winded passages!

Eco is definitely a phenomenal author, but his writing style is often redundant and prolix, a reminiscence of him being a very literate professor and philosopher. Reading his books is not always easy and smooth.
 

Gabeed

New member
Name of the Rose is one of my favorite novels of all time, and if you really want your mind messed with, Foucault's Pendulum (by Eco as well) is like the Da Vinci Code on anabolic steroids.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Gabeed said:
Name of the Rose is one of my favorite novels of all time, and if you really want your mind messed with, Foucault's Pendulum (by Eco as well) is like the Da Vinci Code on anabolic steroids.
Ha! Nice description, Gabeed. A colleague of mine used to be nuts about Eco's novels and was always trying to get me to read them.

After seeing "The Name of the Rose" in the theatre, a friend of my mother's bought me a couple of the Cadfael books for my birthday. The character is another murder-mystery-solving monk. Have you ever read any of those?

My default, Sean Connery impersonation happens to be a line from "Name of the Rose":

"Booksh. Shpiritually dangeroush booksh."
 
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