The film for this month's "Best of Cinema" screening was announced at very
short notice. I wasn't made aware of it until 28th December, less than a week
in advance. On that day the first six films were announced for 2024.
2024
- Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- Donnie Darko (2001)
- Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)
- The Doors (1991)
- Der Bewegte Mann (1994)
"The Brotherhood of the Wolf" is the only one of the six films I hadn't seen
before. In fact, I'd never even heard of it. I've seen "The Fifth Element",
and I even have it on DVD, but the last time I watched it was before I started
my blog in September 2010.
At the cinema this evening one of my friends told me that his father has
watched it ten times. How does he know the number of times so accurately? Does
his father write a blog? This high praise made me expect something special.
Yes, it really was special, although it confused me from the start. The
director is deliberately breaking genre conventions. Any attempt to put a
label on it is doomed to fail.
In 1764 a mysterious beast is terrorising an area in southern France. The
beast only attacks women and children. It flees from men. The rare survivors
tell tales that it's a giant monster with spikes on its back. King Louis XV
sends the knight Fronsac to capture the beast. He's accompanied by an American
Indian called Mani. The local nobles are irritated by his arrival, because
they say they're able to capture the beast themselves. They capture a large
wolf, which they claim is the beast, but shortly after Fronsac leaves the
beast strikes again, so he returns to take action.
Mani is an unusual character. He's an American Indian, but his fighting style
resembles Chinese martial arts. He can fight off any number of men who attack
him. Fronsac has a similar fighting style, though he's not as adept. The film
is also a love story, with Fronsac falling in love with Marianne, the daughter
of a local count. Neither the count nor his son approve of Fronsac's advances.
The film overwhelmed me and intrigued me. It's a film that I regret not seeing
years ago.
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