The Name of the Rose

In one of the roles that came to reinvent Connery as an excellent character actor and not just the man-who-was-Bond, William of Baskerville is a revelation, a transfixing mix of intellect and wit, possessed of the kind of irreligious thinking that would eventually bring about the Renaissance. Part of the purpose of both Eco’s and the host of screenwriters Annaud employed to unearth a workable script from the novel’s dense detail, is to expose the conflict between religion and rationalism. Indeed, as if they didn’t need anymore bad news, the Inquisition is soon to pay a call and start burning fetching kitchen maids as witches.

Connery convinces in his cassock and, though the themes will not capture everyone’s interest, this is a refreshing, inventive whodunit.