by A.J.
Night 7: Werewolf Party Night!
“Our people would not be afraid of a simple wolf. The beast is different.”
The French film Brotherhood of the Wolf is not precisely a werewolf movie. It is a little bit of all kinds of different movies: period piece, mystery, romance, action, thriller, horror, political intrigue, and, of course, kung fu. Also, it is based on a true story. Sort of. For several years during the 1760’s the rural province of Gevaudan was plagued by frequent, vicious attacks by a creature that survivors described as being like a wolf, but not a wolf. The death toll rose so severely (between 60 to 100 victims depending on the source) that King Louis XV sent royal hunters to catch the Beast of Gevaudan. Brotherhood of the Wolf, directed by Christophe Gans, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Stéphane Cabel, dramatizes this event, with extremely broad dramatic license. The result is a movie that looks like a serious epic in terms of cinematography, costumes, and production design, but is actually a big budget B-picture. At times it is absurd, thrilling, and suspenseful; at other times it is downright silly. What I mean by that is, if you don’t take this movie seriously, it is quite fun and entertaining.
The story is told in flashback as a French aristocrat awaiting his doom from The Terror of the French Revolution uses his final moments to tell the true story of the Beast of Gevaudan. Then we flashback to 1764 and see a woman killed by the offscreen “beast” in a scene that plays like an over-the-top version of the opening of JAWS. Instead of a royal hunter, here King Louis XV sends knight and naturalist (biologist) Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), and his Iroquois companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos). Both are veterans of the Seven Years’ War (or French and Indian War as it was known in North America), which France and the Indians lost. After he finds a metal fang, Fronsac realizes that the beast is indeed no mere wolf but is something being controlled by someone. The conspiracy he uncovers involves a mysterious forest cult, suspicious nobles, an always suspicious Vincent Cassel, and, of course, the Vatican. It is all convoluted but the more outlandish this movie gets the more entertaining it gets. By the time a character reveals a monster-like arm, you’d be disappointed if they didn’t.
Mani fits the cliché of the mostly silent, in tune with the spiritual and natural world Native American. It’s not the fullest portrayal of a Native American but in addition to great action scenes, Mani does have a backstory that fleshes out his character and his presence only enhances the movie.
There is a camp value to certain things about Brotherhood of the Wolf that works in its favor. The hand-to-hand fight scenes are the most wildly anachronistic element of the whole movie, but they are very much in line with the martial arts inspired, highly choreographed style of a post-The Matrix action movie. Once revealed, the beast proves to be a decent monster, though the shots that use early 2000’s CGI look quite dated. However, even after the look of the beast is revealed the mystery deepens and continues to unfold. Whether it’s the over the top, out of place action scenes or the scenes of romance, intrigue, or horror, every scene works and somehow adds up to a coherent story and a very entertaining movie.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is available to stream on Prime Video and Shudder and for free on Tubi, PlutoTV, and Kanopy.
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