Negative
while Bettany comes across as a sympathetic character, the movie, like the 1986 filmed version of Eco's monastery murder, generally casts church authorities in a less-than-flattering light. Throughout the film they are depicted as weak-willed at best, and, at worst, as venal, corrupt and complicit in unspeakable crimes, with a few examples of less heinous hypocrisy filling in the middle ranks. In one scene Martin must haggle prices with a heartless priest in order for the cleric to recite the rite of Christian burial over his father's grave; needless to say, the church door is swiftly slammed in Martin's face when he comes up a few shillings short.