<< Back 10/30/02 'Flicks' By Hunter Pope The Brotherhood of the Wolf French with English subtitles Director: Christophe Gans Cast: Fronsac: Samuel Le Bihan Jean-Francois: Vincent Cassel Mani: Mark Dacascos Sylvia: Monica Bellucci Marianne: Emilie Dequenne Rating: R — for strong violence and gore, sexuality, nudity My intellect has dissipated like a passing breeze. I have succumbed to entertainment that would best be served at a cellar carnival. I became eye-glued to matters of incest, lust, 18th century French peasants who enigmatically know martial arts, a one-armed man with a rifle as his right appendage, a prostitute with more powers than the king, a wolf who dines on women and children, and warriors who flit their hair back as if they were in a Pert commercial. The ludicrous was heightened by the subtitles, but yet, I could not look away. My wife left the room after 20 minutes. I stayed on for the entirety. Never has a French movie been such a blatant rip-off of all that is cheesy and decadent in Hollywood. But the difference was I had a satisfied taste in my mouth when “The Brotherhood of the Wolf” credits began its spiel. Why had I liked a movie that’s obviously destined for “B” stardom? I looked on a critics’ list and found the same trend. They too found the movie to be tacky, but most of them had also been enraptured by its crappiness. I went so far as to recommend it to a few friends. The majority are now sworn enemies. The movie is (uh-oh) based on a true story. It concerns the Beast of Gevaudan, which in 1764 killed more than 60 women and children in the remote district of France. Its trademark was that it never killed males, and it had a penchant for tearing out the victims’ heart and vitals. The killing of the beast was shrouded in mystery, although it was believed that the beast was finally determined to be a wolf. The movie, however, has a much more sinister ending. The movie begins by taking the original 1764 date up to 1794, just in time for the French Revolution. The narrator (Jacques Paren) is about to become close with the guillotine, and he is putting the final pen to his journal on the Beast. He contends that the wolf that was brought to King Louis XV’s court was not the real monster. He knows the truth, and for the next two and a half hours he will treat the viewer to a ribald tale. The movie opens up with the Beast serving a two-year occupation in Gevuadan. The whole of France is terrified by a fiend that some say is the size of a prepubescent dragon. The church surmises it to be a demon, sent to punish France for all its sinful shenanigans. The Royal Court sends the noble Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) to Gevaudan to hunt the Beast and ultimately destroy it. Gregoire is an evolved male, a human who understands the complexities of Darwin (no small feat in the 18th century) as well as anthropology and sociology. Gregoire also spent considerable time in the New World and became immersed in an Iroquois tribe. When he came back to France he brought back Mani (Mark Dacascos, a martial arts expert from Hawaii) an Iroquois he met in New France during the Seven Years War. Mani speaks French, Iroquois, tree, and wolf. He also has an understanding of martial arts. We never learn how he or Gregoire know this Jackie Chan art, or how half the peasants seem to know. Perhaps it’s a secret the French are just letting spill into the American mainstream. Anyway, Mani and Greg are housed at the home of old Marquis D’Apcher’s, whose grandson, Thomas, serves as their guide. Like any formulaic movie, Greg immediately finds a romantic interest in Mariane De Morangias (Emilie Dequenne, who won best actress at Cannes for her role in “Rosetta”), whom he meets during a dinner held in his honor. Marianne and her brother, Jean Francois, are members of the most influential family of the region. Jean Francois lost his arm in an African hunt, and he has put a rifle complete with silver bullets in its place (this apparently is one of the true parts of the story). The Beast’s attacks multiply during the winter, and with it, the citizens’ skepticism for Gregoire’s approach to finding and killing the beast. Greg and Mani both believe that the beast may not be a wolf at all and that a human controls it. This doesn’t sit well with the King, who sends in his own lieutenant, Antoine de Beauterne, to the region. The arrogant Antoine immediately captures a wolf and declares it to be the Beast. Its carcass is sent to the King’s court and the case is closed. Thus, the real story of the “Brotherhood” begins, and my explanation ends. Mani and Greg decide to go the old Shaman route in hunting the monster, and their discovery is quite unexpected. To divulge more would be an unforgivable sin. I will say that once the Beast is revealed, it is an FX marvel, created in the depths of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The story also goes off the deep end, revealing all kinds of subplots and karate kicks. There are political as well as religious themes that raise the cerebral side of the movie by a few notches. Although martial arts seem odd in the French country, they are choreographed splendidly by Hong Kong veteran Philip Kwok (who did the fight scenes for John Woo’s “Hard-Boiled”). Also the landscape and mood setting is beautiful. Director Christophe Gans has created a glossy world that summons the eye’s sweet tooth. You may come away not liking the movie, but it will be hard to deny the artistry. At least that’s the excuse I give people when they look at me in horror for enjoying “The Brotherhood of the Wolf.” (Hunter Pope writes about music and movies for The Smoky Mountain News. He can be reached at w.h.pope@worldnet.att.net)