"The Name of the Rose" is yet another recommendation from Cat and again there is nothing to gain by comparing it with any of the others except that it's excellent. The only other point of similarity between any of her recommendations is that all of them are love stories but they are shown in very different ways.
While this one is a mystery, it far surpasses the simple titillation of the cop show mysteries so popular on television. The photography is stunning and the portrayal of Fourteenth Century Catholicism has an horrifying surrealism even though it's quite real.
At first I was drifting as I wasn't so sure I wanted to commit the time to a mystery but the depth of the love stories is what kept it alive. There's the love of God and the love of the woman and each is equally fascinating. It's easy to guess the woman is the Rose but it's not until the final line, in a last ironic twist, that you learn how the story got its name. The story couldn't have ended any other way and it's perfect.
Sean Connery plays the lead and he's backed by a very young Christian Slater, both of whom do fantastic jobs. Connery is always interesting to me as he has an uncanny resemblance to my ol' Dad, partially in his appearance and very much in his manner. F. Murray Abraham is an excellent actor also but this one wasn't a huge stretch for him as he starts out as the Evil Inquisitor and he stays that way. If you're not convinced of his talent, check him out playing Salieri in "Amadeus" in which he is exquisitely evil but in a much more complex way.
Cat scores again.
While this one is a mystery, it far surpasses the simple titillation of the cop show mysteries so popular on television. The photography is stunning and the portrayal of Fourteenth Century Catholicism has an horrifying surrealism even though it's quite real.
At first I was drifting as I wasn't so sure I wanted to commit the time to a mystery but the depth of the love stories is what kept it alive. There's the love of God and the love of the woman and each is equally fascinating. It's easy to guess the woman is the Rose but it's not until the final line, in a last ironic twist, that you learn how the story got its name. The story couldn't have ended any other way and it's perfect.
Sean Connery plays the lead and he's backed by a very young Christian Slater, both of whom do fantastic jobs. Connery is always interesting to me as he has an uncanny resemblance to my ol' Dad, partially in his appearance and very much in his manner. F. Murray Abraham is an excellent actor also but this one wasn't a huge stretch for him as he starts out as the Evil Inquisitor and he stays that way. If you're not convinced of his talent, check him out playing Salieri in "Amadeus" in which he is exquisitely evil but in a much more complex way.
Cat scores again.
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