The Name of the Rose (2019)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Miniseries	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2019
Running Time	415:08 (Case: 412)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Giacomo Battiato
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	John Turturro Rupert Everett Damian Hardung Greta Scarano Michael Emerson Richard Sammel Fabrizio Bentivoglio Stefano Fresi Nina Fotaras James Cosmo Piotr Adamczyk Benjamin Stender
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Volker Bertelmann

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     1327 AD is a dangerous time, physically and spiritually. A dispute between the Holy Roman Emperor, who believes in the separation of religion from politics, and Pope John XXII, who claims absolute authority over both religious and temporal matters, has led to the Emperor’s excommunication and open warfare. Both sides agree to take part in a debate in a remote Benedictine abbey in the Alps of Northern Italy to settle religious doctrine and differences; the Emperor choses the Franciscan William of Baskerville (John Turturro) to lead his delegation, the Pope sends Dominican Inquisitor Bernardo Gui (Rupert Everett), together with a military escort.

     William and his novice Adso (Damian Hardung) arrive at the abbey in advance of the other delegates just as the body of a monk, apparently murdered, is discovered. The Abbot (Michael Emerson) asks William to investigate, hoping to have matters settled before the other delegates arrive. William’s enquiries lead him into the Abbey’s scriptorium and hidden library where precious books, both religious and profane, are stored, overseen by librarian Malachia (Richard Sammel) and his assistant Berengaria (Maurizio Lombardi). Other monks in the monastery include the blind Jorge (James Cosmo), Severino (Piotr Adamczyk), who runs the infirmary, and the blond Bencio (Benjamin Stender). As William investigates further the secrets of monks including Cellarer Remigio (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) and the deformed Salvatore (Stefano Fresi) come to light; clearly, not all the monks are saints and as further deaths occur it is clear that a killer is seeking to keep something hidden. At the same time Adso discovers love with a girl from the woods (Nina Fotaras), while Bernardo Gui, on his way to the Abbey, finds time to root out and kill heretics (although when asked by a guard how to tell heretics from Christians he replies “kill everyone as God will know his own”) and as a consequence finds himself the target of the huntress Anna (Greta Scarano), a remnant of the Dulcinian sect.

     The Pope has an additional agenda in the debate; to destroy a Franciscan order that believes in vows of poverty and in the poverty of Christ, a concept that is anathema to the Pope. Indeed, the debate, when it commences, is far more than about the poverty, or otherwise, of the church, but about the Pope’s rule over temporal matters. Can William walk a fine line between conflicting interests and finding the truth of what is really happening at the Abbey and the survival of the Franciscan order? And Adso faces a challenge to his faith and beliefs when the girl from the woods is captured by the soldiers of Gui.

     The driving force behind The Name of the Rose is John Turturro who, as well as starring, was a producer and one of the four credited writers along with director Giacomo Battiato and Nigel Williams, writer of historical dramas including Catherine the Great (2019) and Elizabeth I (2005). Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose had a huge impact on me when I read it many years ago and I also very much enjoyed Jean-Jacques Annaud 1986 film starring Sean Connery, although Eco did not think much of it as the film condensed too many of his themes. So a TV series running for almost seven hours should be expected to give Eco’s dense novel room to breathe.

     The result is complex and, like the book, with almost too much story, too many characters and too many layers of plot some of which, like the sections concerning the very modern seeming Anna, don’t quite fit together. In the series there is murder, lust (in many of its senses, not only carnal), secrets, revenge, power struggles, reflections on the nature of woman, witchcraft and church politics but the connecting factor is that of the truth and logic verses religious dogma and, above all, the power of the written word, i.e., books, for both good and evil. There is the central mystery around the murders, of course, but much revolves around challenges to the religious thought of the time, from within and without the Church, of doctrine and the inquisition, when those who sought or followed a different religious ideal were heretics to be burnt at the stake. There are moments of exposition and illumination within the series but the religious underpinning is not necessarily easy for a modern audience to make much sense of. We have Franciscan, Benedictine and Dominican monks, the Inquisition and, in the background, the Dulcinians, labelled by the church a heretic sect and whose leader, Fra Dolcino, had been burned at the stake 20 years before this story starts. Perhaps to help make things simpler, there is no doubt that, between and conflicted, dogmatic and powerful Bernard Gui, who tortures himself to prove his worth to God and the compassionate and rational thinking William, who is the good guy.

     The Name of the Rose can be a lot to take in and demands one’s attention, which is sometimes hard as many of the monks are difficult to tell from each other and the religious concepts and arguments obtuse. But with compelling performances by John Turturro, Rupert Everett, Michael Emerson, Stefano Fresi and Fabrizio Bentivoglio, atmospheric, dark and forbidding interiors and some intense and powerful sequences, The Name of the Rose will reward those prepared to give it time.

     The 8 episodes of The Name of the Rose are presented on three DVDs.

Video

     The Name of the Rose is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, in PAL and 16x9 enhanced.

     Medieval monasteries are dark and gloomy places; there are few windows and candles provide any dull light and this is reflected in the look of The Name of the Rose. The cloisters, refectory, herbarium, laundry, the scriptorium and above all the library labyrinth are all very dark, the habits of the monks, the black of the Dominicans and the brown of the Franciscans, without colour. What colours there are, such as in costumes of the Papal delegation, are dark crimson. The result is many dark sequences with the backgrounds lost in blackness. This presents a problem for cinematographer John Conroy but close-ups of partially lit faces are strong and the flames firm. He also uses a constantly moving camera, even in dialogue scenes, so that the scenes of action, such as the fight in the laundry, is almost impossible to follow given the darkness of the setting, the black of the habits and the very jumpy camerawork. Exteriors of the monastery surrounded by snow are brighter and the forest, although gloomy, has natural colours. Blacks are solid throughout, skin tones natural, brightness and contrast consistent.

     I noticed no marks although there was some minor motion blur against mottled surfaces such as the trees or the monastery stonework.

     English subtitles are provided in a clear white font.

     The layer changes on Disc 1 at 136:17 in episode 2, on Disc 2 at 64:59 in episode 5 and on Disc 3 at 65:48 in episode 8 resulted in a slight pause.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps and Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, surround encoded, at 224 Kbps. The stereo audio is the default setting.

     Both audio tracks are very good with constant activity in the surrounds and rears including dripping water, scurrying rats, bird cries, the roar of flames, wind, thunder and rain, the thump of hooves, battle cries, screams during the massacre of innocents, the music. The distorted voices in the labyrinth are very effective and unsettling. The subwoofer added rumble and depth when and as required. Dialogue can on occasion be a bit difficult to hear. The score by Volker Bertelmann, who was Oscar nominated for Lion (2016), was suitably grandiose and epic.

     Given the various nationalities in the cast and the fact that the series was made in a number of languages, the lip synchronization is very good.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     No extras. The menu of each disc allows access to the episodes on that disc or there is a Play All option.

     The German Region 2 DVD of The Name of the Rose includes about an hour of interviews and B-roll footage although it has only German subtitles. The UK release seems to be without extras and has the series on two DVDs, not three. There does not seem to be a US release at the moment.

     The Name of the Rose is complex television with many characters, subplots and ideas but once it gets into its stride in sequences such as the trial of the Cellarer it is very powerful and intense television that will reward watchers prepared to give the series the attention it deserves.

     The video and audio are good. No extras of any kind.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall