Der Name der Rose (1986)

Der Name der Rose (1986)
Der Name der Rose (1986)

The book (the name of the rose, by Umberto Eco) was read about 12 years ago, in Portuguese. All these years made me forget some details. I mostly recall the fact there was a girl (the rose), that there were some dead mongers (I did not recall how many or how) and that there was some killer (and I knew who he was, although I was not remembering how). From the book, I also recall the long descriptions about the church, the library, the scriptorium (in the image above). In fact, these descriptions and some insights on religion history (being it real or invented by Eco) were the sugar on top, that makes the book great, and not just another crime book.

And the movie is good in most of these aspects. It follows the main story, and it has some details focusing the descriptions of the church, library, etc. It just doesn’t include the history insights, but those are not crucial (and the movie is already too long).

Probably because lately I watch too many series and too few movies, that I feel now that movies are too slow… but regarding Der Name der Rose, only the initial 30 minutes (the movie lasts for two hours) are somewhat boring (mainly for someone who love the original book, and was anxious for the main story to develop).

I did not vote more than 8 in 10 (at IMDB) because I feel the movie could be better. Probably because when reading the book I was going imagining the characters, the places, the way things go on, and as it was expected, the movie doesn’t match them.

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