dir.Christophe Gans
* Samuel Le Bihan - Gregoire de Fronsac
* Mark Dacascos - Mani
* Jeremie Renier - Thomas D’Apcher
* Vincent Cassel - J.Francois de Morangias
* Emilie Dequenne - Marianne de Morangias
* Monica Bellucci - Sylvia
I just bought this on dvd after seeing many good reviews of it since its release. Plus, you know werewolf film so figured for 8 quid I wasn’t really wasting any money if it was rubbish.
It wasn’t. It is a great film. Very french in places, but never in a cliched manner.
The film is told in flashback by an noble facing the wrath of the crowd during the French revolution. He tells of the Geraudan Beast who chooses to attack only women and children, who cannot be killed, and who dominates the area.
In the pouring rain we meet our two main heroes, Fronsac; the king’s naturalist, and Mani; an Iroqui who has returned to France with Fronsac. Their first actions are to rescue an old man and his daughter from a beating by a group of men, dressed in women’s clothes.
The main plot, of course, revolves around the Beast. How to find her and kill her, as well as figuring out what she is.
Based on actual events that happened in France in the 1760’s, the film is stylish and great to watch. The fight scenes impressive and the whole film looks fantastic. The creature herself isn’t quite as good as the rest of the film, but she isn’t onscreen enough for that to be a problem.
Perhaps it is a little easy to id the “baddie” from the start, but overall the film is far from predictable. And it is interesting to see the differences between this and how a huge-budget Hollywood film might have been made.
Visually stunning, but also a great film
Official site (us) | IMDb
There aren’t a lot of special features on the dvd I got, just an option to watch a dubbed version, a trailer and “The Legend.” This is actually quite an interesting interview with Michel Louis, a naturalist who has written a book on the subject. The film seems to be adapted from his historical account.
It is around twenty minutes long, and interesting, although the editing cuts out some parts that would have made his story more understandable.
Tags:
10 Stars,
action,
Christophe Gans,
Emilie Dequenne,
excellent film,
France,
Jeremie Renier,
Mark Dacascos,
Monica Bellucci,
Samuel Le Bihan,
sff,
stylish,
Vincent Cassel,
werewolves
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