Copycat, The Name of the Rose, and Sleepers

[gonzalo MX]

Blu-ray review
Movie 4.0
Video 3.5
Audio 4.0
Extras 3.0
Overall 4.0

July 26, 2011
The Name of the Rose Blu-ray, Video Quality
There's good news and bad news with regard to The Name of the Rose's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.77:1. Let's get the bad news out of the way first. The Name of the Rose has never been a gorgeous film, partly due to design, and this new Blu-ray doesn't improve the film's inherent softness (especially in second unit outdoor and establishing shots) and grittiness. The good news is the film looks manifestly better and sharper than it did on DVD, especially once we get inside the monastery. The opening sequence is still hobbled by the opticals of the titles, and so don't judge things too harshly by the opening moments. And Annaud obviously was going for a mist-strewn, soft focus ambience a lot of the time, so some of the softness here is certainly intentional. But there are whole new levels of fine detail in this new presentation, including some excellent new shadow detail which was previously hidden in prior home video releases. Grain is still more than evident in this release, as it always has been, but it never devolves here into digital noise levels.

The Name of the Rose Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
The Name of the Rose was a one of a kind novel, one which defied easy categorization and which required a great deal of attention be paid in order to ferret out its many references and mysteries. That argues against a successful film adaptation, but while this film inarguably loses some of the depth and grandeur of Eco's source novel, it's remarkably faithful to the spirit of the book and it manages to create a very viscerally creepy, almost Fellini-esque, ambience. Part mystery thriller, part philosophical rumination, and part history lesson, The Name of the Rose as a film may not be quite as singular as Eco's novel, but it is still a fascinating and compelling film. Newcomers to this title might be a bit distressed by the softness and graininess of the film, but that's how it's always looked, and the Blu-ray is a marked improvement over the DVD. Highly recommended.

Me imaginaba que seria dificil poder obtener un transfer impresionante de este film pero definitvamente perderia la esencia de la trama, asi que un 3.5 me va bien, es buenisima pelicula, ¿la mama de codigo da vinci?.