L'inchiesta

a Biblical film. not great ambitions, few nice fight scene, basic line, a cast with exercise in this type of drama ( Hristo Shopov - new / old Pontius Pilat, Hristo Jivkov - ex - John in Passion of Crist, now Stefan ), Dolph Lundgren in skin of different kind of role, Max van Sydow, Enrico Lo Verso , F. Murray Abraham as solid pillars , Ornela Mutti like drop of scent and beautiful Monica Cruz - alter -ego of her sister and basic attraction of a movie who is not Quo Vadis, not Jesus of Nazareth but little exercise to recreate atmosphere of Church beginnings. so, it is just an exercise. not spectacular, not interesting, almost boring and predictable but decent at first sigh. crumbs of history - legend about Tiberius death -, pieces of innovation - the decree about Chistianity freedom -, authentic miracle of come back to life of Tabitha and the end - mixture of dust and faith. a drawing like so many others.

Sometimes it is a matter of 'giving up two hours of your life.' Then, there is what I call my 'Lifecycle time' when I have donated my time to exercise and so no risk of lost time over a bad film. After reading the mixed reviews I expected a Romanesque Jerusalem based soap opera and the film delivered big time in that regard. Perhaps it begins with the cool art work on the DVD cover where Monica's troubled countenance begs one to 'rent me.' As for the film, I found it entertaining Lifecycle fare. Nice location shots in Bulgaria and Tunisia, decent choreographed battle/fight scenes, very good role/performance by Dolph Lundgren, Monica offers nice Miriam eye candy and well done job by Daniele Liotti as lead Tito Valerio Tauro. Also enjoyed Hristo Shopov as the scheming Pontius Pilate. Bottom line: Better than expected, have seen lots worse but some will regret giving up two 'real life' hours to see it.

The original movie, made in 1986 and starring Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel, is a little-known gem of an intellectual thriller, with a plot that takes numerous unexpected twists.

This "remake" (hardly that, since the title, basic premise, and name of the lead character are all that remain) is essentially a Sunday school movie made by hacks, full of pious posturing. It's pretty to look at, but utterly lacking in suspense, narrative drive, good acting, or just about anything else you might desire in a movie.

I am beginning to think that any movie with Valerio Massimo Manfredi's name in the credits is going to be very, very bad.

The basic motif to see it was Max von Sydow. Unfortunatelly, he remains the only one. Because, not being real bad, it has the unluck to be a grey one, easy to ignore, easy to critic, easy to see it as remind of Quo Vadis , for Ursus becoming Brexus, for Taurus. The story remains conventional and, not so good, totally predictable. The acting is like the story - without spices or some salt. The love story sounds nice. But it only sounds. The life of first Christians and the effort of poor Tito Valerius for conquest the truth are decent points and the presence of the two Bulgarian actors reminds The Passion of Crist, another reasonable good point.

Short, a Christian film, modest but far to be awfull, well intentioned, having desire to have some targets - the cast remains the clue in this sense - but not being more than modest and decent.

First, I was unaware that this was a re-make. If the first movie is on DVD, I'll try it to see any difference. As to this movie (2006), I am going to write my usual bug-aboo about historical accuracy and the movies.

I wish just once that a film set in the period of Yeshua/Jesus would depict the Jewish people with a less than jaundiced - read: historically inaccurate - eye. I was confronted at the very opening of this film with yet another scene of "crazed Jews" stoning a woman for adultery. According to some extensive research on this period, I have learned that the imposition of the death penalty in ancient Jewish society was rare and could only be undertaken under very controlled conditions. For example, a woman caught in adultery was not automatically put to death. Both she and her husband had to appear before the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem - and only this body, with the consent of every single member, could actually pronounce the death sentence. One "no" vote and there was an acquittal. The husband could forgive his wife and take her back and that was the end of it. Or he could divorce her. If she was freed and committed adultery again, then the matter would be returned to the High Court. Trials took three days: testimony and evidence on the first day; deliberation by the court on the second, and the third day reserved for the verdict. This third day was meant as a "cooling off period" to avoid a rush to judgment. The sentence upon conviction was not always death. None of this "crazed outrage" in the streets followed by an angry stoning as depicted in this film. It is also said that any Sanhedrin that passed two death sentences within 7 years was called a "bloody Sanhedrin." In other words, the Jewish people had made a deliberate attempt to provide justice in an orderly and civilized way. To depict them as simply a bunch of "crazies" running about the streets like blood-crazed savages is nothing more than pure propaganda.

One other note on the trial, each member of the court had a small pebble - a stone - that they tossed (cast) into a large pot. The stones were then counted to reach a verdict. This is what is meant by the phrase: "Let those among you who are blameless (without malice; pure of heart) cast the first stone."

Further, no Sanhedrin would meet to hold a "trial" - especially one involving a potential death sentence - within three days BEFORE and three days AFTER a religious holiday. This is because of the three-day trial concept. Therefore, Jesus couldn't be tried and convicted on the same day.

As far as this movie is concerned, it is a standard Christian story told with some reverence for the faith, although it is not entirely original in it's story line. Compare it with "The Robe" (1953) where a Roman soldier (Richard Burton) is sent by the Emperor Tiberias to find the "true" story of what happened in Jerusalem. That Roman is cynical at first but, through the miracle of Peter saving a young woman (played then by Debra Paget), the soldier converts to Christianity.