Pacte des Loupes, aka Brotherhood of the Wolf, dir. Christophe Gans, 2001.
Oh. My. God.
OH MY GOD.
This is by far the most amazing French film I have EVER seen. And I don't say that lightly, as I love French cinema. I have NEVER seen a French film so amazingly brilliant as this piece. I want to try to find fault with it, because I can't actually believe that there could be such a thing as perfect film, but I can't find any fault at all.
The story is based on the real life events of a small town in the Languedoc region of France in 1794. A beast, which historians have deduced was half wolf, half dog, was trained by two Sadists, to kill women and children for their pleasure. King Louis XIV sends numerous representatives to the region to try to kill the creature, and it sees the largest hunt ever organised in France - 40 000 hunters - assembled to try to kill the beast.
This is the basis for one of the most amazing pieces of cinema I have ever had the privelleg to see. The cinematography is absolutely flawless. The settings are incredibly lush, although, given the locations, not that hard to achieve. The costumes are fantastically gorgeous. The plot is so intriguing that you are kept guessing right up until things are revealed. The acting is amazing. The direction is very clever, beautifully manipulating the horror of the deaths of those killed by the beast with the individual personalities of those who are sent to investigate.
I can't say enough good things about this film. It is beautiful, rich, extremely well paced in terms of narrative flow, brilliantly directed, and the action sequences, seguing Matrix-esque combat into 18th century France are not so much anachronistic as they could have been, as they are extremely cleverly done.
I am, I confess a historic film nazi. I tend to view any sort of anachronism with a great deal of disgust. I knew that the combat sequences would be completely inaccurate in terms of historicity, but the way in which they are done is so clever that even though I know better, you could easily be fooled into believing that they are an accurate portrayal of combat of the period.
This is a stunning film in ever respect. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you dash down to the video store and rent it. You won't be disappointed.
OH MY GOD.
This is by far the most amazing French film I have EVER seen. And I don't say that lightly, as I love French cinema. I have NEVER seen a French film so amazingly brilliant as this piece. I want to try to find fault with it, because I can't actually believe that there could be such a thing as perfect film, but I can't find any fault at all.
The story is based on the real life events of a small town in the Languedoc region of France in 1794. A beast, which historians have deduced was half wolf, half dog, was trained by two Sadists, to kill women and children for their pleasure. King Louis XIV sends numerous representatives to the region to try to kill the creature, and it sees the largest hunt ever organised in France - 40 000 hunters - assembled to try to kill the beast.
This is the basis for one of the most amazing pieces of cinema I have ever had the privelleg to see. The cinematography is absolutely flawless. The settings are incredibly lush, although, given the locations, not that hard to achieve. The costumes are fantastically gorgeous. The plot is so intriguing that you are kept guessing right up until things are revealed. The acting is amazing. The direction is very clever, beautifully manipulating the horror of the deaths of those killed by the beast with the individual personalities of those who are sent to investigate.
I can't say enough good things about this film. It is beautiful, rich, extremely well paced in terms of narrative flow, brilliantly directed, and the action sequences, seguing Matrix-esque combat into 18th century France are not so much anachronistic as they could have been, as they are extremely cleverly done.
I am, I confess a historic film nazi. I tend to view any sort of anachronism with a great deal of disgust. I knew that the combat sequences would be completely inaccurate in terms of historicity, but the way in which they are done is so clever that even though I know better, you could easily be fooled into believing that they are an accurate portrayal of combat of the period.
This is a stunning film in ever respect. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you dash down to the video store and rent it. You won't be disappointed.