Film:  L'Inchiesta (The Final Inquiry)
Studio:    Italian International Film; distributed by FoxFaith
Director:  Giulio Base
Principal Actors:  Daniele Liotti; Monica Cruz; Dolph Lundgren; Hristo Shopov; Max von Sydow;
Release:  2006; On DVD released February 19, 2008
Film length: 112 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (for violence)

3 Stars

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner

The Final Inquiry  has an exciting beginning.  There are reports that in "the ninth hour" of a day, the sky blackened to darkness, and earthquakes were felt throughout the Roman Empire.  Emperor Tiberius (Max von Sydow) summons an exiled general, one of his best investigators, Tito Valerio Tauro (Daniele Liotti), to determine whether the execution of a Judean rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, is related to these strange phenomena.

Taking his barbarian servant, Brixos (Dolph Lundgren), Tauro travels to Jerusalem.  Governor Pontius Pilate (Hristo Shopov, who also played the role in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, in 2004), with an ear in every wall, quickly learns an incognito investigator has been sent by the emperor, and he is prepared to do whatever is necessary to thwart the investigation.  Shopov's Pilate is a smooth and scheming bureaucrat, played like Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves.  If Pilate is troubled by a guilty conscience, it is well hidden; his only concern seems to be making certain nothing happens to cost him his governorship.

Tauro encounters some of the followers of Jesus, such as the imprisoned Stephen (Christo Jivkov)  and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Maria Pia Calzone).  He also observes the harsh tactics of Saul of Tarsus, one of the primary persecutors of the followers.

A far-fetched and biblically confusing romance develops between Tauro and Tabitha (Monica Cruz, sister of Penelope), a young woman who becomes a follower of Jesus.  When Tabitha's father, a Pharisee, beats her for her love of the Roman, she is near death.  She asks Tauro to go to the followers of Jesus and bring them to pray for her.  Although a physician advises she has only hours to live, Tauro and Brixos set out on a journey to Galilee, a distance that requires at least the two campfires we see them beside.  Tauro asks Mary for help, and she leads him to the apostle Simon Peter (Enrico Lo Verso).  Peter refuses to return to Jerusalem, however, citing the harsh persecution of Christians there.  Tauro returns to Tabitha and learns she has died.  But Peter appears and sends everyone out of the room.  By a miracle, Tabitha is brought back to life.  (This is, roughly, the story of Tabitha, a disciple known for her works of charity, who fell ill and died.  "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, 'Tabitha, arise'. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive." Acts 9:40-42). 

Tauro, convinced of the resurrection of Jesus, writes of his findings in a letter to Tiberius.  The emperor, ill and in bed, prepares an order to accept Christianity as the official religion of the empire, but his nephew, Caligula (Vincenzo Bocciarelli), objects and suffocates his uncle, claiming the empire as his own.  His first act is to destroy the order and all correspondence from Tauro, then order Tauro's execution.  But Tauro, now with his wife, Tabitha, has disappeared, living among the followers of Jesus.

There are some nice performances.  Liotti clearly presents the fine mind of a military leader and investigator, one who is used to dealing with facts, taking on the question of faith.  Lundgren plays well the faithful servant and friend, and the moments they share on screen, particularly their final scene together, demonstration a closeness between them.  Cruz is lovely, but is given little to do; the same may be said for Max von Sydow and F. Murray Abraham.

The film's messages of the resurrection of Jesus and the power of faith are thwarted by the monkeying with history, the unbelievable romance between Tauro and Tabitha, and the too obviously choreographed fight scenes throughout the film.  Further, the score is overpowering, making certain we realize any powerful or mystical moment on screen.  What began as an interesting premise and a useful method of presenting its message becomes bogged down by its efforts to drive its point home at the expense of history and the Bible itself.