En el nombre de la rosa

The story takes place in Northern Italy, during the early 14th Century A.D. Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk (narrating as an old man) arrive at a Benedictine abbeywhere a mysterious death has occurred ahead of an important theological Church conference. William, known for his deductive and analytic mind, confronts the worried Abbot and gains permission toinvestigate the death – a young illuminator appears to have committed suicide. Over the next few days, several other bizarre deaths occur, and the two gradually discover that not everything is what itseems in the abbey.

The monk (played by Sean Connery) and his young apprentice (Christian Slater) also make the acquaintance of Salvatore (Ron Perlman), a demented hunchback who spews forth gibberishin various languages, and his handler and protector, Remigio da Varagine (Helmut Qualtinger) who, as events prove, also has a shady past. William quickly deduces that Salvatore had once been a memberof a heretical sect and infers that Remigio likewise had been involved. He suspects that they may have been involved in the killings. Meanwhile, Adso encounters a beautiful semi-feral peasant girl whohas apparently sneaked into the abbey to trade sexual favours for food; she seduces him, and he falls in love with her.

Investigating and keen to head off accusations of demonic possession theprotagonists discover and explore a labyrinthine medieval library, constructed on multiple levels in the abbey's forbidden principal tower. William is astonished to find that it is "one of the finestlibraries in all Christendom", containing dozens of works by Classical masters such as Aristotle, thought to have been lost for centuries. William deduces that the library is kept hidden because suchadvanced knowledge, coming from pagan philosophers, is difficult to reconcile with Christianity. It becomes clear that the only remaining copy of Aristotle's Second Book of Poetics is somehow related to...