Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Name Of The Rose’ On SundanceTV, Where John Turturro Plays A Franciscan Monk Investigating A Series Of Murders

Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel The Name of The Rose was a worldwide hit, but adapting it to the screen has been tough. A 1986 film with Sean Connery and Christian Slater got middling reviews, which likely scared people away from taking a stab at this complex novel. Thirty-three years later, John Turturro has made his attempt, co-writing, producing and starring in an 8-hour miniseries version. Read on for more…

THE NAME OF THE ROSE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: ‘EUROPE, 1327 A.D.’ A battle scene between the army of Pope John XXII and the army of Ludwig of Bavaria, the future Roman emperor whom John XXII excommunicated when Ludwig expressed a desire to separate politics and religion.

The Gist: Adso of Melk (Damian Hardung; Peter Davison narrates the series as an older Adso), the son of a general in the Holy Roman emperor’s army, and after a particularly pitched battle, he quits the army and tries to go back to his studies as a novice in the Benedictine monastery. During his journey back, he falls asleep in a field and wakes up to listen to the teachings of William of Baskerville (John Turturro), an English Franciscan monk whose intelligence and words about poverty and serving God intrigue Adso. The novice follows William around; William tries to rid himself of the novice until Adso’s father orders him to take the 17-year-old under his wing.

The two travel to a remote Benedictine abbey so William can debate his side of the dispute between the Franciscans and the Avignon papacy, whose popes resided in France rather than Rome. The priests that aligned themselves with the papacy, including Grand Inquisitor Bernardo Gui (Rupert Everett) decry the Franciscans vows of poverty and want to keep them from taking over the Catholic church.

Shortly after William and Adso arrive at the monastery, the body of a young monk is found. At first, the monks, including the monastery’s abbot (Michael Emerson), believe the death is a suicide. But William sees evidence that indicates otherwise. As he questions the monks, especially the ones who inscribe the prayer books by hand, about the monk’s death, the pope gets word of William’s inquiry and gets concerned that the highly logical Franciscan will win the debate and the papacy will return to Rome. he sends Gui, with an armed guard, to the remote abbey to make his argument.

Then another body is found in a barrel of pig’s blood, and then everyone knows something is going on.

Our Take: Turturro isn’t only the star of this new version of Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel The Name Of The Rose , but he’s also one of the miniseries’ writers and executive producers (the screenplay was also written by Nigel Williams, Giacomo Battiato and Andrea Porporati). This Italian-German production tries to make Eco’s story of the dispute between the Franciscans and the papacy in the 1300s more complex than it is; but at the story’s heart is a murder mystery that William of Baskerville — with the help of Adso — has to solve.

For heaven’s sake, the “of Baskerville” part should give away the fact that Eco modeled his monk after Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. William has the same tendency to see details others don’t, and to think through evidence to a level of detail that others can’t even fathom. Adso is his Watson, learning and assisting at William’s side, and being told by various Benedictine monks about what a bad influence William will be on him.

While we were watching the first episode, we couldn’t help but notice how low-key everything was, from Turturro’s understated performance as William to the overall pacing of the narrative. It indicated to us that the series was trying to be more than it really is, and it makes us wonder how this mystery will play itself out over eight episodes in a way that would make an audience want to stick with it.

Like we said, this is a pretty straightforward murder mystery, with the high-stakes dispute over the future of the Catholic church as a backdrop. As the episodes drag on, it feels that William’s shtick will grow old, even as he’s challenged by Bernardo Gui. But we were so bored by the first episode, we are likely not going to be around to find out.

Sex and Skin: When Adso confronts his father after a battle, his dad is laying down with a naked concubine.

Parting Shot: We see the head of a dead monk, dripping with pig’s blood, as his body is taken out of the barrel where he’s been found.

Sleeper Star: Nina Fortas plays “The Girl”, who was burned out of her village by the King of France. She seems like she’s followed William and Adso to the abbey, but for what purpose?

Most Pilot-y Line: The pacing was so slow and sleepy, it’s hard to recall any line that was either good or bad.

Our Call: SKIP IT. We can’t imagine spending 6 hours of our lives slogging through The Name Of The Rose. You’re better off getting a copy of the novel and reading that instead.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Stream The Name Of The Rose on Sundance