THE NAME OF THE ROSE: elementary, dear Adso

Santander, 31 de enero de 2.014

Umberto Eco wrote "The name of the rose" in 1.980. He had written a lot of essaies but this was his first novel. I read it and I liked it.

In 1.986, Jean-Jacques Annaud directed a film based on the novel. I saw it too and, although it may sound incredible, I liked it even more. Today I've watched the movie again.

In 1.327, in a lonely Benedictine abbey in the north of Italy, a group of Franciscan monks and some of the Pope Juan XXII ambassadors met up to discuss about the poverty of the Church.

William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) was one of the first monks to arrive to the abbey. His name hasn't been chosen without sense: the habit hides his pride and his arrogance but he's got the same intelligence and deductive reasoning as the famous detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1.887.

He came to the abbey with a young and shy monk. His name was Adso de Melk (Christian Slater) and he is the one who, many years later, tell us how his master solved the mysterious murders that happened there.

The abbey becomes one more character in the film.
The sin and the heresy grow behind its walls. Inside the books of his library is the light but the monks prefer to hide them because without fear of the Devil there's no need for God.
Elementary, dear Adso...