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 Brotherhood
of the Wolf (Le Pacte Des Loups)
Starring: Samuel Le
Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne
Monica Belluci, Jeremie Renier, and Mark Dacascos
Directed by: Christophe Gans
Rated: R
French w/ subtitles
I am still trying to figure out A. who thought this film could
work and B. who financed it. The film is shot beautifully. The
sets are gorgeous and the costumes exact...it's the multi-genre
story that leaves something to ponder.
Based
upon the French legend of The Beast of Gévaudan, we are
transported back in time when the townsfolk believed a werewolf
was roaming their countryside gobbling up folks like fancy appetizers.
So
far so good. But the film makers decided to ad CGI special effects
of a muppet-like werewolf and martial arts battling ala that
oh-so-done Matrix with a couple of lead characters that made
no sense at all. Hey, I love schmaltzy films as much as the
next- but this was draining with all the subplots and way-out-there
scenarios they expected us to fathom, nay, embrace. I laughed
aloud a few times- but it's not a comedy.
The
biggest film faux pas was the obviously Asian fellow (Mark Dacascos)
who plays an American Indian named Mani. He's the silent brooding
sidekick (more like servant) to a young Depardieu French actor
type by Samuel Le Bihan who plays the Chevalier de Fronsac.
Dacascos is there to provide the martial arts stuff - nothing
more. The poor guy is given about six words- uttered in "Indian"
French.
They've returned home from the America's to teach the French
about the wildlife there (think Audubon). But instead are to
become hunters of the beast.
The
king, figuring they are used to beasts and burdens, hires the
two to investigate the multiple murders and all around strange
goings on in the small hamlet. They oblige.
As
the two get closer to discovering the secrets of the wolf, the
story leaps off the celluloid into Beyond Belief Land. Spies
and cults, gypsies and warlocks. It's a B Horror movie extravaganza
that would make Hammer Films' producers cringe!
A
shady one-armed count Jean-François de Morangias (shady
Vincent Cassel) immediately despises the newcomers and starts
a campaign against them. He's a sick demented sort with a chip
on his shoulder the size of Gibraltar and a taste for the family
tree...
Meanwhile,
studly Fronsac befriends a local brothel Madame (Monica Belluci)
and starts an affair. Of course she's not what she appears either...There's
another sub-plot rearing its ugly head. But the sex scenes were
good.
We
watch as the dynamic duo gets closer to solving the mystery,
which we've pretty much long since figured out ourselves. Everyone
is suspicious, all are suspect. The story plods on.
The
actual legend is far more entertaining and mysterious.
Bottom
line, Brotherhood of the Wolf is too pretty for the B
horror crowd and too stupid for the film crowd. The bad guy
is obvious by the hundredth frame, the villains cut from Villain
Character Study 101, and the legend is lost somewhere after
the fist ridiculous fight scene. Yeccy-poo-poo.
Snack
Recommendation: Dinner and another movie.
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