The Name of the Rose

"Who, in the name of God, is getting away with murder?"

1986 2h 10m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🍅

74%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 3,416🍅74%Rotten Tomatoes●54Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 126,142

DramaThrillerMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.

“Who, in the name of God, is getting away with murder?”

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Cast

Sean Connery
William of Baskerville
Christian Slater
Adso of Melk
F. Murray Abraham
Bernardo Gui
Elya Baskin
Severinus
Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
Jorge de Burgos
William Hickey
Ubertino da Casale
Michael Lonsdale
The Abbot
Ron Perlman
Salvatore

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Writers: Andrew Birkin, Gérard Brach, Howard Franklin
Languages: English, Italian, Latin, German
Countries: France, Germany, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Italian, Latin, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, shot by Tonino Delli Colli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jane Seitz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sean Connery and Christian Slater and F. Murray Abraham carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Jacques Annaud directs. Tonino Delli Colli behind the camera. James Horner scores. Jane Seitz cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Germany, Italy. Dialogue in English, Italian, Latin, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
240 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Italian, Latin, German.
4International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.
5Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, shot by Tonino Delli Colli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jane Seitz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Sean Connery and Christian Slater and F. Murray Abraham carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Who, in the name of God, is getting away with murder?".
10IMDB entry: tt0091605 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 25 themes, including "based on novel or book", "library", "christianity", "inquisition".
12Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Jane Seitz
Production design: Dante Ferretti
Costume design: Gabriella Pescucci
Makeup / hair: Margrit Guthmann
Sound: Frank Jahn
Runtime: 130 min · 2h 10m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $77,200,000
Return: 429% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Name of the Rose (1986)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 54/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 126,142 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 2 BAFTA 17 wins & 6 nominations total

César Award for Best Foreign Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jean-Jacques Annaud

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2019-01-20
★ 6/10
At first I was like "Hah, this is some kind of Sherlock Holmes but a priest thing!", and then I was like "Oh, this is some kind of Sherlock Holmes but a priest thing!" Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.
John Chard2020-04-26
★ 5/10
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
Wuchak2023-08-13
★ 6/10
Murder mystery at a gloomy abbey during the Dark Ages with Sean Connery In 1327, a Franciscan monk and his pupil (Connery and Christian Slater) arrive at a monastery in northern Italy to attend an important theological Roman Church conference. When monks are found dead in mysterious ways, William (Connery) winds up being the Medieval version of Sherlock Holmes. While he seems to figure the mystery out due to the evidence, a mirthless inquisitor is called in and sees things differently (F. Murray Abraham). Ron Perlman plays a hunchback and Michael Lonsdale the Abbot. Based on Umberto Eco’s 1980 book, “The Name of the Rose” (1986) is outstanding as far as locations, sets, costumes and make-up go. Anyone interested in a shadowy drama with the dreary Gothic ambiance of the Middle Ages, this is the film to see. It’s helped by Connery’s towering performance, marked by his nonchalant confidence. Slater is also excellent as the inquisitive novice. Meanwhile Valentina Vargas as the feral peasant girl is yet another highlight (there’s some nudity, just a heads up). The murder mystery is decent enough and there are interesting theological debates, but this is mostly a commentary on the good, the bad and the ugly of Medieval Catholicism. Remember, there was good reason for the Protestant Reformation that started less than 200 years later. I advise using the subtitles, as this is a dialogue-driven piece filled with mumbled Latin words and unusual names; it will help you understand the convoluted goings-on. Speaking of which, the film seems weighed down and needed a rewrite to make the story more compelling. Yet it’s still well worth checking out for those interested and it influenced many movies, like “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” (1991). Fans of "Black Death" (2010) should appreciate it, although it’s not on that level of greatness; the contemporaneous “Season of the Witch” too. Those films, however, are more conventionally entertaining. This one’s more along the weighty lines of “The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (2004), which most people hated, but I appreciated. The flick runs 2 hours, 11 minutes, and was shot at a replica of the monastery on a hilltop outside Rome (exteriors and some interiors) while most interiors were done at Eberbach Abbey, Germany, over 700 miles to the north; the mountain scenes were shot nearby in Taunus Mountains, Hessen, Germany. GRADE: B-