Day of Wrath (2006)

Christopher Lambert, Bianca Marsallich

Screen Media Films

Starts off looking like a b-movie with limited sets made of paper-mache stones, but actually this turns out to be a halfway decent film. Basic premise: Lambert returns to his childhood village in Spain to be a constable, but while trying to investigate several murders he is thwarted by the local Inquisitors, who seem to lord more power than they really deserve. It's an interesting depiction of the power that the Church had during those times in the Middle Ages.

The intrigue deepens as the reason for the murders AND the cover up points back to one deeply held secret that runs through the entire village. In fact, everybody seems to be in on the secret BUT Lambert himself, a fact that he actually exlaims about midway through the film, which I thought showed some great self-awareness on the part of the script.

There are, of course, some weak points in the plot (i.e. certain characters who conveniently die in order to disentangle others, etc.) but for the most part the characters are symbolic but are never caricatures, which they could have easily become in a film such as this. The Hungarian assasin, hands down, is the coolest of all. The governor has surprising depth, and the Head Inquisitor himself is unexpectedly multi-dimensional.

So, all in all, this one is nice to watch, just to pique your interest in the Spain of the Middle Ages, the Inquisition and rooting out all the heretics and all that! But it's not earth-shattering or life-changing or anything.

VG