Brother Cadfael - The Rose Rent
by Sebastian Graham Jones
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Derek Jacobi, Julian Firth, Mark Charnock, Michael Culver, Terrence HardimanDirector: Sebastian Graham Jones
Writer: Simon Burke
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-02-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
Movie Reviews of Brother Cadfael - The Rose Rent
Movie Review: Very untrue to the book.......
Summary: 2 Stars
I will never really understand why the director of the Cadfael movies made some of them so faithful to the book, and the other totally off-course. This one, the Rose Rent, is definitely in the latter category. :-(
The basic plot is that a wealthy young widow, Judith Perle, deeds her spacious house in the Foregate to Cadfael's abbey after her husband died there; the rent she demands is simply one rose from the bush at the house, delivered annually. She is thereafter bothered by suiters hunting after her money, (she is the sole owner of a very large weaving business) and by a more deadly chain of events in connection with the rose bush and the house in the Foregate - culminating with Judith's own disappearance.
As others have mentioned, the biggest problem with this movie is that Judith performs a mercy killing on her husband while he is dying - aided and abetted by Cadfael. This is totally contrary to both their natures in the book, and is an absolutely unnecessary addition. This also brings me to the changes in Judith's character: in the book, she is kind, calm and strong, only occasionally showing passion or grief. In the movie, she is weepy and sarcastic, and instead of calmly turning down her suiters, she cries wildly and yells at them that she will never marry again. (?!)
Another problem that I have is that Brother Eluric (I'm assuming that you've read the book here :P) says truly, in the book, that Judith was absolutely unaware of his affection for her, and that it was all his fault; while in the movie she is constantly giving him long 'looks', and confesses to Cadfael afterwards that she was attracted to him. This leads to the third problem I have with the movie: that the reason Judith wants to enter a convent is guilt that she is beginning to feel attracted to men once again, while in the book, it was merely grief for her husband.
Point number four: the character of Niall Bronzesmith is not at all like it is in the book; he is rude, short tempered, and portrayed as a 'nomad' type that no one trusts - not even Cadfael. This is attributed to the fact that his wife drowned while running off with a lover years ago, while in the book she died in childbirth. So that is a big problem as far as I am concerned.
(Warning: spoilers from this point on!)
One of the things I have always appreciated in the book was the relationship between Judith and Vivian (in the movie "Thomas") Hynde while she is is his captor in the old counting house; he is simply weak and silly and vain, and after her first fright while he was taking her away, she is decidedly in control and the stronger of the two of them; he even begs her to help get him out of the mess he had made, after the first day or so. And this is one of the main reasons that Judith refuses to denounce him in the book; that he is "no great villain, only vain and foolish". In the movie, he is terribly rough with her, even going as far as gaging and binding her, and is on the point of attacking her when they both hear sounds outside...Bertred, of course. (The character of Bertred is also messed around with, but as he is not a very big part of either book or movie, I won't go into that.)
And the change that pervades the whole movie more than any other is Miles' motive for committing the crimes. (Miles is her cousin who helps her run the weaving business.) In the book, he coldly calculates how to turn things to his own gain, and does anything to get it that way - even murder. In the movie, his crimes are committed through an insane, maniacal love for Judith; though I don't see how the attack on the rose bush (done with white lead in the movie) and the murder of Bertred are supposed to tie in with *that* idea. Also, the crucial part where she is attacked by Miles in the forest and saved by Niall is left out, and replaced by Miles taking her to the garden when he burns the bush, and almost burning her and himself with it - in this scene he is definitely insane. So the element of cold, calculated crime is entirely absent from the movie, taking with it an important aspect of the story.
So, on the whole, this movie could have been much, much better. I guess I'll go watch a good Cadfael, like the Leper of Saint Giles, now!!! :)
Summary of Brother Cadfael - The Rose Rent
What's a single woman with beauty and property to do in the medieval world? The mercenary attentions of the single village men send the grieving young widow Mistress Pearle (Kitty Aldridge) fleeing town, and her return a year later rekindles the competition with a vengeance. Call on Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi), the spiritual Sherlock Holmes of the Dark Ages, when the young monk tending her rose garden is found dead and the widow herself disappears a day later. Cadfael suspects the brooding bronzesmith (the gruff Tom Mannion) who rents her cottage, but he's not the only man in town with secrets. Jacobi is a delight as the medieval humanist, and he's matched by the worldly Sister Magdalen (Sarah Badel, reprising her role from "The Leper of St. Giles"). Their flirtatious scenes remind us they both led vivid lives before taking the vows.The DVD features a few minutes of audio comments by Derek Jacobi, who ruminates on the role; a gallery of production stills; brief filmographies on the featured cast; and a biography and booklist for author Ellis Peters. --Sean Axmaker
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