The Brotherhood of the Wolf

In the year 1764 the area of Gevaudan France was visited with a beast of extraordinary cunning that killed over a hundred people in just three years. This "werewolf" is the source material for this movie.

Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) is a naturalist for the Royal Gardens. He and his companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), an Iroquois Indian, have been dispatched to capture the Beast of Gevaudan and return it for study.

Though the beast is constantly called a wolf, examination of corpses killed by the beast and measuring its bite radius proves it must weigh 500 pounds. Gregoire and Mani set about trying to find the beast.

Their path is not without problems. The force that is charged with hunting the beast are mercenaries, without many redeeming qualities. There are roaming packs of claw wielding gypsies, and the local nobility is by and large, bigoted, narrow minded and mendacious. There are bright points, of course. The young Marquis d'Apcher, Thomas (Jeremie Renier) is bright, curious, and accommodating, and the young daughter of Comte de Morangias, (Jean Yanne) the beautiful Marrianne (Emilie Dequenne) is a fiery lass who catches Gregoire's attention. She is no shrinking violet, no; she is a rose, complete with thorns of razor sharp wit.

At the local brothel, Gregoire encounters another smart beautiful woman, Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). Sylvia is no ordinary prostitute, nor is she a rose, no, she's more like belladonna. There is an interesting scene at the brothel where the girl who was to service Mani is scared off by his tattoos. The Madame calls for another girl to finish the job, at double the price. The offer is quickly taken, and the girl asks Mani if he is a sorcerer. His answer is to throw back the covers over his lap. Guessing by her expression, yes, he is a sorcerer.

One thing that Sylvia put them onto is heretical texts circulating. These say that the beast represents the failure of the aristocracy and the church to protect the people.

The weeks become months and they are still no closer to the beast. But other things are becoming clearer. The first is that Marrianne is also interested in Gregoire; the second is that no amount of hunting wolves will have any affect on the killings, and the third is that Jean-Francois de Morangais, (Vincent Cassel) is a dangerous man. He lost an arm under mysterious circumstances in Africa. It is becoming clear he may have left his mind with it. One charming habit he has is signing his shots by using silver bullets.

Eventually, they close in on the beast, and get some idea of what it looks like. It is smaller than a horse, but not by much, and covered in spines. But at one attack, it leaves a metallic fang.

So now Gregoire thinks he has a better idea of how to deal with this thing, but he had better hurry, because it seems that the beast is now specifically hunting him.

The Analysis
This is a beautiful movie, the country side in all seasons, is spectacular. The costuming is incredible and in fact won and award. And the actors; Le Bihan, Dacascos, and Renier are very easy on the eyes. The ladies, Belluci and Dequenne are quite lovely. The lighting serves the mood, and every frame is a poster waiting to happen. The musical score is also excellent, underlying the mood and helping to build tension, usually without calling attention to itself.

And the action. Mark Dacascos is poetry in motion. A friend of mine called him Mani; Indian sidekick with new kung fu action. Dacascos is a gifted martial artist, and the scenes of violence are wondrous to behold. Le Bihan as Gregoire is not slouch either, and the local tribe of gypsies apparently stole many ninja babies through out the years. I know it is supposed to be savate, but the martial arts are much more advanced than that. I will admit that this is the first chink in the flawlessly built world the filmmakers have created.

The other, and I really wish they had left this out, was Jean-Francois' bone sword. This segmented combination longsword, and spiked chain had to be rendered with CGI. It gave the film a bad kung fu movie feel that I think cheapened it. If it had been a real prop that Jean-Francois had really used on set, that might be different. As it is, it's just that one step over the top.

That one sour note aside, this is great movie. Originally French, the dubbing is superlative and unnoticeable. It has action, intrigue, romance, sex and horror. It has martial arts and secret societies, Vatican spies and vile plots. It has everything.

One note on the sex: it is graphic, with plenty of nudity, all of it female, unfortunately. Even in the brothel, the men are covered or wearing their small clothes. The women display a stunning and varied array of bosoms and buns. This will make this movie a favorite of most guys. At any rate, this movie is not suitable for children.

I really love this movie, and it bears up under one of my big acid tests; you can watch it over and over again.