warriorlike artsmovies that dual ashistorical epicsare supposed to be set in Asia . They ’re not supposed to take post in the deluxe , luxurious , pretentious star sign of the bewigged aristocracy of 1760sFrance . Yet 2001 ’s Brotherhood of the Wolf has the audaciousness to take these wildly incohesive elements , along with so much more , and mesh them almost seamlessly into one hell of an entertaining moving picture .
There ’s the monster itself — based on the legendaryBeast of Gévaudan — a mysterious beast who killed over a hundred men , women , and children in France between 1764 and 1767 . There ’s the titulary Brotherhood , a hugger-mugger society see to it themonsterfor their own villainous aim . There ’s politics , romance , a hombre with a brand that twist into a lash , and an Italian courtesan - spy ( Monica Bellucci ) who ’s secretly working for the Pope . At the marrow of it all are two knight : the imperial natural scientist Grégoire de Fronsac ( Simon Le Bihan ) and the Iroquois tracker Mani ( Mark Dacascos ) , sent by the king to inquire the giant beast terrorizing Gévaudan .
There ’s so much going on , Brotherhood of the Wolf should be an out-and-out mess , but the film has such complete confidence in itself that it works — again , as if a historical epic / martial artistic production flick / cabal thriller / romance / mystery story / monstrosity movieset in eighteenth - 100 France is the most instinctive writing style in the world . Director Christophe Gans ( Silent Hill ) movement from badass fight sequence to gauzy Latinian language scene to beast plan of attack to unbelievably ornate historical dramatic play with ease , all of them just a bit overindulgent but in the best sorts of mode . It helps that Gans ’ focusing and cinematography are marvelously fashionable , sometimes mythic , sometimes empyreal , often simply beautiful . If you want a perfect encapsulation of the style of the motion picture , see no further than the unbelievable transition from Bellucci ’s body , lounging in a luxurious bed , into a beautiful Gallic landscape painting , which you could glimpse in this poke ( along with a quite a little of other heavy stuff ) .
Mani (Mark Dacascos) shows some French thugs the bottom of his boots.Screenshot: Studio Canal/Shout Factory
To be certain , it ’s not dandy that the non - aboriginal American Dacascos was regorge as Mani , but the actor has never been better than in Brotherhood of the Wolf , bringing a world of profundity and wittiness to the mostly still role . It also help that the relationship between Mani and Fronsac is built on Dacascos and Le Bihan ’s unbelievable charisma together . Fronsac telephone Mani his “ brother , ” and their performances , as well as the tale , prove it . Honestly , all the actors are solid at the very least . None of the plastic film ’s other main lineament are particularly imaginative , and the actors portraying them could do the roles in their sopor : Vincent Cassel as the increasingly deranged aristocrat / hunter Jean - François de Morangias ; Émelie Dequenne as his ethereal sister and de Fronsac ’s love interest Marianne ; Bellucci as the puzzling seductress Sylvia . But all of these actors are so gifted that they ’re compelling by nonremittal , and Brotherhood of the Wolf benefits immensely from them all .
The film also benefits from the fact that the Beast of Gévaudan was genuine . Whether it was an actual giant wolf or some other creature will always remain up for debate , but there really was something that kill multitude in 1760s France . It killed for sport instead of food for thought , so barbarous that its victims were frequently receive beheaded , and so powerful that it could shrug off bullet train . Without spoiling the film , Brotherhood of the Wolf is based on some real theory about the nature of the wolf , including that someone purposefully make it and controlled it . There ’s just enough realness inside the moving-picture show that Brotherhood ’s Thornton Wilder sequences feel satisfyingly grounded instead of totally laughable .
However , the picture does need to add up with a gun trigger word of advice : There ’s a intemperately implied colza scene , and there ’s a farseeing scene of even wolves paying the price for the beast ’s violent disorder , as they sadly did in reality . Mani is very much the “ Magical Native American ” image , and you could argue Fronsac does some ethnic appropriation later in the film . So there ’s sure enough no shame if you want to give Brotherhood of the Wolf a miss . But if you decide to arrest it out , you ’ll be repay with a beautiful , genre - defying , and extremely entertaining film that ’s unlike any other movie you ’ve ever seen . Unless there ’s another historical epic / martial arts flick / conspiracy thriller / love story / mystery / monster film I do n’t know about .
Brotherhood of the Wolf is currently available onBlu - rayfrom Shout Factory ( be warned , though , because the subtitles areimpossibly unsound — a magnanimous problem if you want to view the movie in its native Gallic speech communication or else of dub in English ) .
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