The Brotherhood of the Wolf
Reviews by : Kyle DuVall and Li Rapkin

If this concept seems valid to you, then you will probably really dig this slick, unapologtic excursion into the action-horror genre, an excursion with far more action, cool stuff and wicked invention than both Mummy films combined. If this concept does not intrigue you, save your 7 bucks and go watch Russell Crowe stutter his way through A Beautiful Mind one more time.

For those of you still with me, Brotherhood is the story of a French naturalist, Gregoire de Fronsac, and his Iriquois blood brother Mani (Mani? Sounds more like an accountant than a kickboxing, animal-talking Indian shaman…) who are called upon by the King of France to investigate a lupine beast that is killing women and children in a French province. Gregoire and Mani are both experienced explorers and natural philosophers. They also, somehow, know Kung-fu, or, at least they fight like they do. Maybe it's actually the French kick-boxing form Savate. I don't really know, but suffice it to say, despite Fronsac's wardrobe of frilly coats with lacy collars, and Mani's peaceful Indian passivity, when it comes down to it these guys can kick your derriere from montmarte to Dijon faster than you can say "bastille day".

But soon after arriving in the province, Mani and Gregoire find out there's more to this beast than any natural aberration or even that old cinematic standby lycanthropy can explain, and they are soon embroiled in secerts and intrigue that will put their capacities for deductive reasoning, talking to trees, and beating people senseless to the ultimate test.

Such a collision of genre sensibilities has an obvious appeal, but unlike many filmmakers seeking to splice conventions the way Brotherhood does, director Christopher Gans knows there's more to making this kind of film than simply throwing all the disparate elements, from historical adventure to kung-fu flick to horror film, in a blender and pureeing them into an iconoclastic mess. Instead Gans is like a gourmet chef making fusion cuisine. For Gans, it's not just a matter of having such varied ingredients at one's disposal, it's all about when and how you put those ingredients in your recipe and how they complement each other. Gans knows just when to throw a pinch of Tsui Hark style kung-fu into his simmering pot of Dumas-intrigue and Hammer horror. He knows when a sprinkle of pseudo-Indian mysticism and a little dab of sophisticated period comedy will bring out all the right flavors, and when he piles the conventions high with things like a hybridized Errol Fflynn by way of Yuen Woo-ping Duels, secret societies and larger than life monsters, the resulting flavor is never too thick to swallow, but, instead, perfectly calculated to bring a quickened pulse or a guilty thrill.

Maybe Gans is the Iron Chef of genre filmmakers. There's also a real sense of conviction in this French film that I find very appealing in these days when Hollywood action movies are becoming either hopelessly pandering or cloyingly self-aware. Gans film doesn't ridicule itself despite the unquestionably absurd story it tells. There's no nudging and winking at the audience, there's no sense that the filmmakers are trivializing their subject matter to save artistic face. Brotherhood is an action film made with sincerity. Its exuberant and fun, but these filmmakers take their fun very seriously.

Likewise, there's a real attitude of "take it or leave it" with Brotherhood. The film feels no need to tell us how Mani and Gregoire know kung-fu, it doesn't labor overly-long to explain just what the beast is and it doesn't wholly connect all the dots involving all the intrigues surrounding it. If you want all these things wrapped up simply in an airtight container, then you should be seeing another movie. This film is completely comfortable in saying "you're either with us or your not." Too many Hollywood films, after navigating the boardrooms and test-screenings, are never allowed to simply be what they are. Love interests get thrown in when they don't belong to pad the demographics, disparate characters and themes are introduced for political correctness or a stab at the youth market… but Brotherhood is what it is and the producers and filmmakers seem to have no interest in trying to lure in people who would rather be watching, say, Kate and Leopold.

If Brotherhood has no evidence of studio-inspired additions, there's no sense of watering down either. The film takes time to revel in all the genre possibilities its makers find intriguing in the film's colliding styles. Gans takes just as much joy in the witty dinner-party repartee as he does in the rampaging monster sequences and Hong Kong-style fights. Whether its aiming for action, horror or romance Brotherhood does not leave any generic vein unmined, and if the film sometimes meanders or loses focus, it's only because the director is making sure he's milking every concept at hand for all its worth.

Of course, this is not a perfect film. Some of the plot vagaries did worry at me as I left, although most likely these things are less the film's fault and more my own, and will probably clear up on repeated viewings. My biggest beef with the film involves some gratuitous over-directing on Gans' part. Gans use of freeze-frames, slow motion and the occasional jump-cut pulled me right out of the intense scenes they were used in. Such inelegant and inorganic attempts at novelty have become increasingly prominent in the post-Matrix action film. One has to wonder why, in a film like Brotherhood where so much attention is given to the establish fantastic pseudo-historical world of the narrative, the director seem so anxious to yank us right out of that world with camera and editing tricks. In the Matrix, the film's concern with the nature of contrived reality made such cinematographic hi-jinks integral. Here, its just seems like showing off.

Brotherhood of the Wolf is still great. You probably haven't seen anything like it, and in this case that's a good thing. This film is great, smart fun. Enjoy this pure shot of unconventional action while you still can, the second-rate Hollywood knock offs are probably already on their way.

Rating:

review by Li Rapkin

There are three things you should know before you shell out cold hard cash for this movie:
1. It's almost 2½ hours;
2. It's in French, with English subtitles;
3. There are no werewolves.
If you're not "prepared for three hours of Frog" (as my husband put it) see something else.

Personally, I only had a problem with the lack of werewolves, at least until the last half hour, in which I could have found half a dozen better endings…or at least, earlier ones. Usually I'm the one complaining that American audiences generally won't sit through anything longer than 90 minutes. However, in this particular case, I think that the final version could drop at least 20 minutes, if not twice that, and still tell a coherent story. The pacing is uneven; the vast majority of the time, the film drags, with an occasional superfast/time-stop Matrix-style action sequence to wake you up. That said, the action sequences are pretty good, and Mark Dacasos is very nice eye candy.

Visually, the film is very intense, with saturated colors and dramatic lighting. Daylight is cold and harsh, while night scenes convey more softness, but also more menace. The editing is very well done, so that what is unseen or barely glimpsed seems more horrific that what is shown. Joseph LoDuca's unobstrusive soundtrack does its job well, underscoring the action without participating in it. Overall, if you like foreign films, it's worth the price of matinee, but don't go out of your way to see it.

Rating:

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