The Name of the Rose (1986)

Michael Lonsdale: The Abbot

Photos 

Quotes 

• The Abbot : We found the body after a hailstorm, horribly mutilated, dashed against a rock at the foot of the tower, under a window which was, uh, how shall I say this? I trust...

  William of Baskerville : Which was found closed.

  The Abbot : Somebody told you?

  William of Baskerville : Had it been found open, you would not have spoken of spiritual unease - you would have concluded that he'd fallen.

  The Abbot : Brother William, the window cannot be opened! Nor was the glass shattered, nor is there any access to the roof above.

• [William tells the Abbot what he discovered so far. He shows the Abbot the parchment found on Venantius' desk] 

  The Abbot : [examines the parchment]  A few lines of Greek.

  [the Abbot hands the parchment back to William] 

  William of Baskerville : Yes, written by Venantius. Notes from the book he was reading, just before he died. You see how the calligraphy changes?

  [William points at the writing on the parchment] 

  William of Baskerville : From this point on, he was dying. And what can we conclude from that?

  The Abbot : A spot of blue paint.

  William of Baskerville : Yes, but a unique smudge of blue... blended by your finest illuminator, brother Adelmo, who possessed this parchment before Venantius. How do we know that? Because those notes overrun... Adelmo's blue smudge, and not vice-versa.

  The Abbot : Brother William... this abbey is enshrouded in a terrifying mystery. Yet, I detect nothing, in your obscure dissertation... that sheds any light upon it.

  William of Baskerville : Adso, the light.

  [Adso takes a candle and holds it close to the parchment. Hidden words become visible] 

  William of Baskerville : Someone was at great pains to conceal a secret... of the first magnitude. The calligraphy is, without question, left-handed.

  [William hands the parchment to the Abbot] 

  William of Baskerville : The only left-handed member of your community is... or rather was... brother Berengar, the assistant librarian. Now, what kind of secret knowledge would he have been privy to?

  The Abbot : [dryly]  I feel you're about to tell me.

  William of Baskerville : Books. Restricted books. Spiritually dangerous books. Everyone here knew of the assistant's passion... for handsome boys.

  [a flashback: Berengar, while carrying books, looks lustly at Adso] 

  William of Baskerville : When the beautiful Adelmo wanted to read such a forbidden book, Berengar offered him the key to its whereabouts enciphered on that parchment, in exchange for... unnatural caresses.

  The Abbot : [shocked]  Enough, brother William!

  William of Baskerville : Adelmo submitted to Berengar's lustful advances. But afterwards, wracked by remorse, he wandered desperate in the graveyard, where he met the Greek translator.

  [a flashback: Adelmo, walking at the graveyard, remorseful of his sins, encounters Venantius] 

  The Abbot : How could you know this?

  William of Baskerville : There was a witness. The hunchback.

  [a flashback: Salvatore, hidden behind a corner of a wall, watches Adelmo handing the parchment to Venantius, then throws himself from a tower window] 

  William of Baskerville : Who saw Adelmo giving this parchment to Venantius, and running towards the small tower, and hurling himself out of the window. The night of my arrival, while Berengar punished his sinful flesh...

  [a flashback: Berengar whips himself] 

  William of Baskerville : Venantius, following the instructions on the parchment, entered the forbidden library and found the book. He took it back to his desk and began to read it. After scribbling down those mysterious quotations, he died with a black stain on his finger. The assistant discovered the body, and dragged it down to the pigpen to avert suspicion falling on him. But he left his "autograph" behind.

  [a flashback: Venantius, while reading the book, suffers a great pain and dies. Berengar drags the body to the pigpen, leaving a visible footprint in the snow. William matches it to Berengar's shoe] 

  William of Baskerville : The book remained on the translator's desk. Berengar returned there last night and read it. Soon after, overcome by some agonizing pain, he tried to take a soothing bath with lime leaves, and drowned. He too had a blackened finger.

  [a flashback: Berengar reads the book, suffers a great pain, and drowns in his bathtub. William examines his fingers, finding one of them blackened] 

  William of Baskerville : All three died because of a book which kills... or for which men will kill.

  [a flashback: Berengar snatches the book, with William's glasses inside it] 

  William of Baskerville : I therefore urge you to grant me access to the library.

  [Jorge and Malachia enter the room] 

  Jorge de Burgos : Brother William, your pride blinds you. By idolizing reason, you failed to see what is obvious to everyone in this abbey.