Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)

In 18th century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his native American friend Mani are sent by the King to the Gevaudan province to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.

Director:

Christophe Gans

Writers:

Stéphane Cabel (original scenario), Stéphane Cabel (adaptation)

Stars:

Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier

4 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Grégoire de Fronsac
Mark Dacascos	...	Mani
Jérémie Renier	...	Thomas d'Apcher (as Jérémie Rénier)
Vincent Cassel	...	Jean-François
Émilie Dequenne	...	Marianne
Jacques Perrin	...	Thomas d'Apcher (old)
Christian Marc	...	Serviteur Thomas Agé
Karin Kriström	...	Bergère du Rocher
Philippe Nahon	...	Jean Chastel
Virginie Darmon	...	La Bavarde
Vincent Cespedes	...	Soldat
Hans Meyer	...	Marquis d'Apcher
Jean-Paul Farré	...	Père Georges
Pierre Lavit	...	Jacques
Eric Prat	...	Capitaine Duhamel (as Éric Prat)

Storyline

In 1765 something was stalking the mountains of central France. A 'beast' that pounced on humans and animals with terrible ferocity. Indeed they beast became so notorious that the King of France dispatched envoys to find out what was happening and to kill the creature. By the end, the Beast of Gevaudan had killed over 100 people, to this day, no one is entirely sure what it was, wolf? hyena? or something supernatural? Whatever it was, shepherds had the same life-expectancy as the red-suited guys in 'Star Trek'. The Beast is a popular myth in France, albeit one rooted firmly in reality; somewhat surprisingly it is little known to the outside world, and perhaps incredibly it has never been made into a movie. Until now... Based on the true story of the Beast of the Gevaudan that terrorized France in the mid-XVIIIth century, the movie aims to tell first and explain afterwards. In the first part, a special envoy of the King of France, altogether biologist, explorer and philosopher, arrives...

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Plot Keywords:

beast | conspiracy | france | gevaudan | 18th century | 

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Taglines:

The year is 1766... The hunt for a killer has begun

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [United States]

Country:

France

Language:

French German Italian

Release Date:

1 February 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Filming Locations:

Château de Roquetaillade, Mazères, Gironde, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$475,181, 13 January 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$11,260,096

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,752,904

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Davis-Films, Eskwad

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min 152 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All the primary characters, except the Native American Mani, actually existed and lived during reign of King Louis XV.

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Goofs

Mani would not have been called a "Mohawk", even by the Chevalier De Fronsac, as this tribe had not yet been granted this official unique name. In French, he would have been called an "Agnier", "Iroquois" or simply "Indian".

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Quotes

[Sylvia stabs Jean-Francois's dead body]
Capitaine Duhamel: He was dead.
Sylvia: Now it's certain.

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Connections

References The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

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Soundtracks

Once
(uncredited)
by Felicia Sorensen

User Reviews

VERY Cool Movie

From what I saw in the previews this looked like an interesting movie, then I heard from some friends that it was pretty good, so some buddies of mine and myself went and saw it. I have to say that I LOVED this movie. I knew it was going to be subtitled, and I knew it was a French movie, but other than what I saw in the trailers, I didn't have a clue what to expect.

I must say that the trailers were PERFECT, cause they showed just enough to get you interested, but not enough to ruin the cool parts in the movie.

I was truly shocked at how good the "Beast" looked, I was really fearing that it would barely be shown and when it was it would look bad, but I thought it looked great! It was no T-Rex in "Jurassic Park", but nonetheless, it looked believable and quite real at times.

Then there's the fight scenes. These fights were incredible. My hat is off to Mark Dacascos, I saw him in two of his earlier films; "Double Dragon" and "Only The Strong" and was really impressed with his fighting in both of those films. As far as fighting goes though, I think this film takes the cake. Truly impressive, if you ask me.

His buddy in the film, Samuel Le Bihan, was a great fighter too. Mark seems much more of a martial arts fighter though, whereas Samuel is more of a weapon wielder, but equally impressive.

Like most movies there were a few scenes that I could have done without, but overall, I was really happy with the film. It was worth my $9.

Another thing I wanted to mention is the wardrobe. Normally I'm not one to really pay attention to the wardrobe, but it really stuck out in this film for some reason. The costumes were great in this film, I really liked the outfits that the two main characters were wearing in the beginning of the film when they're standing in the rain (the costumes shown on the poster). They just looked so cool.

If I had to complain about something in the movie, I'd say that the director went a little overboard with the slow-motion. And more specifically, the slow-motion-to-full-motion shots. There were certain times in the film where I KNEW the directer was going to slow the shot down and "surprise, surprise", I was right. But it didn't bug me enough to get me upset, just something that struck me as odd.

Well, I hope you like(d) the movie as much as I did and thanks for reading my review.

-Chris