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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Geography and Film: Brotherhood of the Wolf

The Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French movie based on the Beast of Gevaudan.

Movie Review

The movie is literally a mixed bag. The first half has a hard time determining if it is going to be a Kung Fu, erotica, travel, or horror movie. The second half, starting with the main characters return from Paris is much better and focused. The action scenes are great. Finally, the movie is free with its liberty to do absolutely unexpected things in the second half.

Geography Review

The Gevaudan province in the Languedoc region is depicted as a forested, rocky, and bogged hinterland region of France. The movie does a good job at portraying and giving a sense of place.

The society of the region is depicted as a rich, interloping oligarchy ruling over the peasant class. The upper class is divided between the Enlightenment movement and loyalties to the Catholic Church. Peasants are depicted as loyal church goers.

Some of the villains are cast interestingly. They seem to be dressed like the Hun hoard and behave like Roma (Gypsies). Secondary villains include some members of the Church's hierarchy. The ruling oligarchs are also portrayed in a negative light. Seems like typical French bias.

Category: Geography in Movies

3 comments:

Younghusband said...

Funny, I thought the first half of the movie was better. The horror revealed and the effects were pretty lame. Loved the kung-fu and the mystery of the beginning.

Catholicgauze said...

The mystery was really neat and Kung fu was cool but it was too disjointed. After a great start it went to the weird dinner party, somesort of erotica sex, then a hunt, then back to erotica. At very least the second part was focused.

Plus, I rented it expecting mystery (horror) action.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed it, for a "period piece" of sorts that showcased a bit of action, drama, mystery and horror instead of simple romance or drama or a review of a period of history.

Rather rare type of film, so I can forgive problems with the pacing and execution.