The Name of the Rose (Italian: Il nome della rosa) is a 2019 historical drama television miniseries created and directed by Giacomo Battiato for RAI. It is based on the 1980 international bestseller novel of the same name by Umberto Eco. The series stars John Turturro as William of Baskerville and Rupert Everett as Bernard Gui. It was co-produced by Italian production companies 11 Marzo Film and Palomar, and distributed internationally by the Tele München Group.
The Name of the Rose premiered on 4 March 2019 on Rai 1, which commissioned the series in November 2017.
Contents
Plot
In November 1327, Pope John XXII and the Emperor Louis the Bavarian are at war. The Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his young novice Adso of Melk, reach an isolated Benedictine abbey in Northern Italy to participate in a dispute over the role of poverty in the Church. Upon arrival in the abbey, William is drawn into investigating a chain of mysterious deaths.
Cast
Starring
John Turturro as William of Baskerville, Franciscan friar.
Rupert Everett as Bernard Gui, Dominican inquisitor.
Damian Hardung as Adso of Melk, Benedictine novice.
Peter Davison narrates the events of the series from the point of view of an old Adso.
Fabrizio Bentivoglio as Remigio of Varagine, a former Dulcinian and now cellarer of the abbey.
Greta Scarano as Margherita, Dolcino's partner, and as their daughter Anna.
Kiara McKormick as Anna as a child.
Richard Sammel as Malachi of Hildesheim, librarian of the abbey.
Stefano Fresi as Salvatore, former Dulcinian and now papermaker of the abbey, friend of Remigio.
Roberto Herlitzka as Alinardo of Grottaferrata, the oldest monk.
Fausto Maria Sciarappa as Nicolas of Morimondo, monk and master glassmaker.
Maurizio Lombardi as Berengar of Arundel, assistant librarian of the abbey.
Antonia Fotaras as the Occitan Girl.
Guglielmo Favilla as Venanzio of Salvemec, monk in the Scriptorium.
Piotr Adamczyk as Severinus of Saint Emmeram, monk and herbalist.
Supporting
Leonardo Pazzagli as Adelmo of Otranto, young illuminator monk in the scriptorium.
Alfredo Pea as Pacifico of Tivoli.
Derek Boschi as Guillam de Masan.
Federigo Ceci as Eudes, Bishop of Carpentras.
Diego Delpiano as Martino.
Gianluigi Fogacci as Roberto, count of Florence.
Nicholas Turturro as Pedro López de Luna, Aragonese politician and Archbishop of Zaragoza.
Production
Filming began in 2018. The miniseries was shot in Italy and in particular in Abruzzo: at the gorges of Fara San Martino, in Roccamorice, at the hermitage of Santo Spirito a Majella and at the castle of Roccascalegna. Other panoramas were shot in Perugia and Bevagna, while churches and cloisters were reconstructed in the Cinecittà studios in Rome. Other scenes were shot in the Vulci archaeological natural park in the territory of Montalto di Castro and in the Tusculum Archaeological Cultural Park.
Dialogue in Occitan language was translated and supervised in collaboration with the University of Salerno.
Distribution
In Italy, the miniseries made its world premiere on 4 March 2019 on Rai 1. It premiered on 5 March 2019 on OCS in France, on 23 May 2019 on Sundance TV in the United States, on 24 May 2019 on Sky Deutschland in Germany, on 3 October 2019 on SBS in Australia, on 11 October 2019 on BBC Two in the United Kingdom, and on 3 July 2022 on KBS 1TV in South Korea.