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*** Official "BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF"Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

John Rockwell

Auditioning
Joined
Jan 12, 2002
Messages
12
I agree, Emilie was the more beautiful of the two (in my opinion). All in all, I highly recommend this film. I waited quite a while for it to come here, and was not disappointed. The only problems I had was the rather poor CGI (but I'm rabidly anti CGI, good ol' makeup is always better), and it was a little overlong, some trimming here and there would of been good. In response to some of the questions on here (POSSIBLE SPOILERS), I thought I was quite obvious that Jean-Francois was mauled by a lion during his trip to Africa, or possibly while training the Beast, resulting in the horribly scarred arm. Whether he kept it hidden out of shame or to avert suspicion, I wasn't sure. My guess was to avert suspicion, and to throw his enemies off track (Lon Chaney in The Unknown, anyone?). Also, it was VERY obvious that the Beast was a lion, the meanest of the litter had by the lion that he brougt back with him. I actually guessed this as soon as I saw the body shape of the Beast when it attacked the house. They later make this very clear during their talks. I don't understand the confusion. SPOILERS OVER I thought this was a very entertaining film. Beautiful women, awesome fight scenes, great score and lovely scenery, with a bit of horror thrown in, What else could you want? The american DVD of this better have some good extras, the french get two commentaries, making of, etc. in their three disc set.
 

Richard_D_Ramirez

Second Unit
Joined
May 21, 2001
Messages
439
I had my reservations about seeing this film when I first saw the commercials (kung-fu moves in a European period piece? C'mon!), but when I finally saw it today, I was pleasantly surprised.
This film takes about every film genre out there and mashes it together. It also blatantly rips off from so many other films. But it works! Was this intended? Did anyone else notice how many genres and other films were used (stolen?) to construct this film?
Werewolf movies: Ok, this is what the commercials and the basic story portray the film to be.

Jaws: The opening scene just rips (pun intended! :D) from Jaws! Even down to the shot where the lass "bobs" up and down as the Beast tugs at her legs!
Westerns and the "gunfight standoff": When the two heroes are first introduced, they confront a rabble beating a father and his daughter. At the "silent moment" right before the rabble attacks the heroes, you could have sworn Ennio Morricone's score was about to play! They even had close-up shots of hands on the weapons, "ready to draw"!
Sleepy Hollow: When the first image of the Beast's "master" is shown, the first thought to come to mind is "Is that Christopher Walken?". The film also emulates its base story of the unknown horror killing townsfolk, with the "intellectual" arriving to use science to dispel the notion of the supernatural...
Kung-fu flicks: As soon as Mani strikes with his first kick, you know this is not your typical period piece. The makers of this film even got the "kung-fu fight" down perfectly: The rabble circles the hero, they attack one at a time, then when that doesn't work, they attack in twos, threes, etc. until the hero takes 'em all down!
Frankenstein/Rambo: When the whole french countryside assembles a hunt for the wolves, this just mirrors the scene when the townsfolk hunted down Frankenstein's monster/Rambo into the wilderness; a frenzied mobs hunts down the misunderstood prey for the wrong reasons.
Murder Mystery: During the quieter moments, there are scenes throught the film falsely hinting that a particular character is the Beast. Is it the brother? The sister? The priest? The whore? Heck, where is the butler when ye need him?
Last of the Mohicans: Fronsac and Mani are mirrors of Hawkeye and Chingachgook; In Brotherhood, they are French and Iriquois, and in Mohican, they are American and Mohican. Both groups are also from the same war, just opposite sides! Another similarity from Mohicans (the film)was Fronsac 'relentless' attack to avenge Mani's death. It was very much like when Hawkeye and Chingachgook's 'relentless' attack to get to Magua.
Gladiator: The jail cell scene is directly from Gladiator. right down to the "poison" scene!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The final duel between Fronsac and Jean-François is reminiscent of Yu and Jen's duel in the training room, with its focus on the weapons and its capabilities.
John Woo: This film even emulates John Woo's style of sudden shifts to slo-mo. splashing water, brandishing of weapons, the turning head. All we're missing is a slow-mo of a flying dove...
13th Warrior: Both films contain a "descent" into the lair of the enemy, with similar "atmosphere". The "witch" even reminds one of the "mother" in 13th. They even die similar deaths with blows to the neck!
Cat People ('82 version): Besides the incest angle, there is the similarity of the scene when the Beast attacks everyone but Marianne, due to the "overprotective" brother.
Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring; Ok, credit this one to the marketers. Makes one wonder if the thought process was "we'll release this right after Fellowship, and everyone will think that Brotherhood will be the same type of flick: Fellowship of the Ring - Brotherhood of the Wolf. See?)
All that, and it was still a fun movie! :D
8^B
 

Mario Bartel

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 20, 1998
Messages
176
I finally saw this today, and I really think this is one of those movies that would have benefitted from "less is more."

I kinda wish the director had opted NOT to show us the beast, except maybe as shadows or moving leaves. Not only would that have solved the problem of crappy cgi, but it would have had us experiencing the same mystery and fear of the unknown as the terrorized villagers.
 

LisaH

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 20, 2000
Messages
65
I finally saw this Saturday night in a packed screening (always a hopeful sign when a subtitled film in it's 3rd week is packed in Oklahoma City :D )
Even though our tardiness forced us to sit at the front, we absolutely loved it. I haven't had that much fun watching a film since Moulin Rouge.
 

Lance_R

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Messages
130
Hey Richard don't for get about

Predator:



The Native American who "fears no man"

They are hunting the wrong enemy in the begining, wolf's/guerrillas

When they try and trap the beast, alot of the traps are right out of Predator.

Their were a few more me and my friends came up with but I am drawing a blank




I loved the movie btw.
 

Ben Motley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 3, 2001
Messages
738
Just saw BOTW tonight and I must say I was very impressed. I do have some criticisms of it, but overall, I think it is a great movie.
I was just the other day trying to figure out if there had been any real epic horror films, and here this one creeps up and bites me on the ass. Okay, maybe it's not quite an epic, but it sure is damned close. And then, it's not entirely horror either, is it? No.
This brings me to my criticisms; there are many elements to the film, that on paper just don't sound like they would fit together, including martial arts (practiced by French militia and American Indians?? Okay...), the monster itself being so, um, complicated a creature (?) (I'm trying not to give away any spoilers here, bare with me.), and most of all, the extreme reliance on camera effects (slow-mo, alternate speed to freeze frame shots, Matrix-esque stuff...). But I think the movie does a great job of utilizing these elements, using them to serve the story, rather than the other way around. This is exactly what I personally see is wrong in "Big Budget Hollywood Blockbuster" films; that they use the story to serve the action.
BOTW sets out on a heady task indeed, to tell a serious, period horror story (and at a time when these type of films are just simply put, not in fashion) with very unconventional elements, and to my very happy surprise, pulls it off beautifully. Not only do these elements come together nicely, but the story itself is a good, no holds barred horror story, with hardcore gore, and which doesn't wuss out of showing the violence that causes that bloodshed. And for anybody who wants to bemoan violence in film, keep this in mind... it's a horror movie. And one that I recommend highly.
By the way, I went in knowing nothing about the film, other than it was a werewolf story, and was "kickass". I had not read anything about it either in the media or here on the forums. It sure made me happy to see these credits...
Samuel Hadida - Producer (True Romance, Killing Zoe)
Joseph LoDuca - Original Music (Evil Dead trilogy, Xena)
Jim Henson's Creature Shop - several Visual Effects credits go to these Jim Henson's Creature Shop personnel...
Jolene McCaffrey - Digital compositor
Karim Sahai - Digital compositor
Val Wardlaw - Visual effects supervisor
Arthur Windus - Visual effects producer
Piers Hampton - Project producer
Hadida's name woke me up right away. It was either the first or second name to come up in the opening credits, and from that point I was buzzin'. Killing Zoe is one of my all time favorite movies, as is True Romance, and as I had no idea Sam was involved with BOTW, it was really cool to see his name up there.
I've been listening to Joe Loduca's works on cd ever since they've been putting the Xena and Hercules soundtracks out. The Evil Dead movies have always been favorites of mine, but unfortunately, I've never been able to track down those soundtracks for cheap. A lot of people say Joe steals his ideas from everybody, but hey, I like his stuff. So sue me. BOTW is my next soundtrack purchase, count on it.
What can I say about Jim Henson? He was da man! He left a legacy, and his Creature Shop excels in carrying it on. It's always cool to see them in action.
Okay, so have I recommended you see this film yet? ;) So go see it already! :D
 

Ben Motley

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 3, 2001
Messages
738
Story location; the Gevaudan region, in the mountainous central part of France, 1765.
Filming location; Esparros, the Pyrénées mountains, France, 2001 ;) .
france_map.gif
http://maps.fallingrain.com/perl/map...&name=Esparros
From A course in medieval Gévaudan...
La Bête du Gévaudan was a real wolf-like monster that prowled the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the years 1764 to 1767, killing about 100 people, often in bizarre circumstances. Every effort to stop her failed and she became nationally infamous. The King - Louis XV - took a personal interest, partly because she caused unrest in an area of tension and potential revolution. Many explanations - mutant, prehistoric beast etc. - were put forward at the time and during the two centuries since but none has ever been generally accepted. The important firm fact is that sufficient evidence remains to prove La Bête really did exist and was not just a myth.
Click the above link to see the full story.
So far as I can tell (and forgive me, but I've never studied France, so I could easily be wrong here), it looks like while the film was shot in the Pyrenees, the soutwest border, the story and historical events actually took place near Cevannes National park, in south central, as that is where Auvergne seems to be (click following link for Auvergne map). I could find nothing on South Dordogne though.
Auvergne, France
Auvergne, detail
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2002
Messages
21
What a leg huncher this mutt turned out to be after all the hype!

The opening assault, while frightening, is a direct ripoff of the first shark attack in 'Jaws'. Okay, well...it WAS done with panache - so far, so good. Then, a rousing rain-soaked rumble as one of the protagonists mops the floor with a bunch of hygienically challenged kookamongas - another well executed scene. The hero's duds are tres chic and the action is dynamic and sharply choreographed.

Alas, this is where it gets the wack-on-the-snout-with-the-rolled-up-newspaper as the next hour goes nowhere and lacks any dramatic tension what-so-ever (a diverting little detour into a brothel is good for some predictable soft-core cavorting.) The only thing to wake you from your slumber in this reel is Mark Dacascos's sinewy, stalwart mohican and a fairly standard-issue repartee romance.

Then, just as you're face down in a bowl of popcorn, it finally musters some momentum as the flea-bitten beastie bashes a cabin into toothpicks and renders a nifty set-piece of boobie traps and barriers into so many kibbles and bits. But by then it's pretty much irredeemable with repetitive chopsocky and convoluted contrivances about the origin and organizers of the puppy from hell.

One thing this flick does do is give you a looksee at hubby and wife team Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci just before they shocked the world in Gaspar Noe's subsequent subversive 'Irreversible'.
 

Todd Terwilliger

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 18, 2001
Messages
1,745
I was reading through the pages of the thread. About the title "Brotherhood of the Wolf", I thought that refered to Mani and Fronsac, who were blood brothers. Mani's spirit was the wolf and the boat that Fronsac sails off in at the end was called "Wolf Brother".
 

Seth Paxton

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 1998
Messages
7,585
Not only that, but then later I agreed almost exactly with Michael

The opening bit is so Jaws it's amazing, yet at the same time unique in how they achieved the same effect in a much different setting. And the violence of it still sets you back with some fear.
I understand you didn't like it, but I wonder if you have looked at some of these other reviews. I think almost everyone acknowledged its weaknesses as well as its strengths.

And I will stand fully behind the statement that the cinematography is amazing.

Todd, I assume you read my post on page 3 then, which spoke explicitly about the double meaning to the title.
 

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