Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des loups)

July 30, 2007

Rated: R Runtime: 142 min Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

What in the blue hell did we just watch? That was the general reaction to our screening of Brotherhood of the Wolf, or Le Pacte de Loups if you prefer the original French title. Lest you think we just aren’t sophisticated enough to appreciate foreign films, the fact that this is a period piece with a bunch of guys in frilly clothes and funny hats running around speaking french has little to do with our confusion about the film.

Brotherhood of the Wolf has no idea what it wants to be. Is it just an artsy fartsy film like most of the foreign fare? No. Is it drama? Action? Horror? Actually it’s all of the above and then some. We opted to call it a horror movie as the central theme here most closely resembles a booger movie. However, in addition to a wolf like monster, we also get religion, aristocracy, martial arts, the occult, sword play, gun play and even some really freaky sex. The movie defies classification and changes many times as the story unfolds.

Supposedly this is based on the true story of the Beast of Gevaudan. In 1764, this remote part of the countryside of France was terrorized by a wolf-like animal which they simply called “The Beast”. A man named Gregoire de Fronsac, played by some French guy we’ve never heard of, arrives to help solve the mystery. He is called a “naturalist”, but is accompanied by a Native American and has obviously been taught much about animals, hunting and fighting by his friend. Did you know Native Americans are well versed in martial arts? Neither did I, but this one carries around a 12 pack of whoop ass. He’s quite capable of fighting off crowds of up to a dozen men. But then again, one American versus a dozen French guys isn’t exactly a fair fight, you need more Frenchmen. At any rate, we follow them in their quest for The Beast.

The movie looks great on the big screen, and the fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed. In fact they remind me of something one might ordinarily expect to find in a movie filmed in Hong Kong. However, in addition to the inherent problem of trying to enjoy the movie while reading subtitles, this movie is about 20-30 minutes longer than it should’ve been. Toward the end it starts to feel long and really begins to drag just a bit. For most of us, I think it might be best to wait on the DVD and see if they offer a English audio track. If so, then this movie is worth watching. Otherwise, avoid it unless really in the mood for something totally different.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 2 Stars, DVD, Emilie Dequenne, Horror, Mark Dacascos, Monica Bellucci, R, Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel