Scene Selections — Geoff Carter: ‘Wolf’ is a monster of a film

Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Geoff Carter is a Seattle based free-lance film critic and entertainment writer. Reach him at carter@pre2k.com.

"Convictions can make men blind ... and turn them into beasts." So begins Christophe Gans' 2001 film "Brotherhood of the Wolf," a truly scary monster mash and a valiant attempt by the French to prove that they can make action movies every bit as garish as those made by ugly Americains. Parlez vous Bruckheimer?

"Wolf," now available on DVD (Universal DVD, $26.98), blends kung-fu, in-camera speed changes a la Tony Scott, gratuitous nudity and cartoon gore into one fierce croissant -- a crowd-pleaser that any of Jerry Bruckheimer's acolytes would be proud to claim. It is excessive in almost every regard, and also terrifically entertaining.

And if you watch it in its native language, you can pretend you're watching an art film. You can turn on the foreign-language track for "Armageddon," but it just isn't the same.

Based loosely on a true story, "Brotherhood" spins a yarn worthy of the Grand Guignol. In the year 1764, a beast began preying on women and children in the Gevaudan province of France. It spared men "as if it knew to avoid them," had no fear of bullets, and seemed all but unstoppable.

Two men are sent by the King to deal with the problem. One, Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), is a botanist and swinging David Lee Roth type; he's on hand primarily to study the beast and seduce Marianne (Emilie Dequenne), the daughter of a local nobleman. His traveling companion, the mysterious Mani (Mark Decascos), is a spiritual man and fierce warrior; he's the kung-fu guy.

The men become ensnared in local intrigue almost immediately. Mani, an Iroquois, is the victim of race discrimination, perpetrated by axe-grinding yokels with "Mad Max" haircuts. Fronsac gets involved with a Italian prostitute, Sylvia (Monica Bellucci), who licks blood from daggers and issues breathy threats in lieu of pillow talk. And the beast keeps right on killing.

Director Gans -- no relation to our friendly local celebrity impressionist -- juggles these elements with the frenzy of a man barefooting on coals. He talks about the film at length as he introduces five scenes deleted from the film, and even he seems to get lost at times. Is it a love story, a monster movie, or what?

Gans doesn't know, but praises the film's lightening-quick editing and fight choreography as if these things didn't matter. And you know something? They really don't matter. Not even the French need story when they've got Philip Kwok, the fight choreographer who made John Woo's "Hard Boiled" such an enduring kick-butt fiesta.

The DVD is somewhat light on collateral features -- the deleted scenes are incorporated into a makeshift documentary, complete with behind-the-scenes footage and Gans' analysis -- but the movie itself looks and sounds fantastic, and an English dub is provided if subtitles aren't your thing.

That said, I recommend watching the film in French. You know how opera sounds better when it's sung in a language other than yours? You determine what's being expressed solely through the emotions of the singer.

In English, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is a simple monster movie. In French, it's an epic opera, with lyrics written in blood.