international films
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
They say the riches are in the niches. Turn of millennium French film Brotherhood of the Wolf (BOTW) didn’t get the memo. The film is all at once flamboyantly dressed period piece, conspiratorial drama, whodunit, action and horror film. It has strong romantic elements as well. That’s a lot of stuff. Normally a movie dabbling in so many disparate genres fails to fully succeed in any. Not so with BOTW. It boasts legitimate scares, top notch fight choreography, academy award level production design and second to none cinematography. It’s a film that truly earns the overused cult status moniker. Its very nature (and 142-minute runtime) requires a patient and thoughtful viewer. Starring martial arts extraordinaire/bad guy from John Wick Chapter 3 Mark Dacascos and relative unknown (to US audiences) Samuel Le Bihan, BOTW is a film that must be seen to understand its wonder. Imagine the mystery, eerie sense of place and unceasing dread of fellow 2001 film From Hell mixed with the stunt and action choreography of a western blockbuster film - this is a close approximation of BOTW. I’m hard pressed to identify another film that even attempts to check all the same boxes. The decision to mix so many genres is an ambitious one and BOTW does so confidently and with flourish. There are a few slower exposition-heavy sections but the mystery unraveling across the second and final acts pays it all off. Speaking of the final act, it turns the proceedings into a traditional revenge film and does so with the style and panache lovingly associated with that genre. Samuel Le Bihan (or his stunt double, I had a hard time identifying one) acquits himself as a purveyor of martial arts almost equal to that of Dacascos. I didn’t see it coming and you won’t either. Watch the French language version with subtitles if you can. The dubbed version has some wacky voices.
BOTW receives a score of 8/10 for general audiences and 9/10 for cinephiles that can appreciate a film that successfully combines action, horror, costume drama, romance and mystery while treating each genre with due respect.
The Last Tree (2019) UK
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
I grew up on the east coast of the United States in an environment so integrated I didn’t know integration was a thing. What reason would we have for separating ourselves? We are all different but the same. It was a defining moment realizing as a young adult that I didn’t draw parallels between skin color and character singularly due to my environment. In Cambridge, Massachusetts the value of an individual had nothing to do with pigmentation, religion, sexual preference or any other qualities of the ilk. I was lucky. We all embark on different and winding paths to establishing our personal identity and core beliefs. The Last Tree, directed and written by Shola Amoo, is a film about the beauty, struggles, and intellectual violence of one boy’s path. The movie begins by tenderly setting up protagonist Femi as having spent his earliest years as adopted son to a white mom. He has three white friends who see him as nothing less than a brother. That the scenes of the four boys playing football and innocently howling into the sky are presented as anything other than completely ordinary is cutting commentary on present day earth. Soon after reuniting against his will with his birth mother the film moves forward in time. Sam Adewunmi plays young adult Femi almost expressionlessly. His every movement is measured and indicates a person hardened by the stress of years of silent resentment towards his mother for tearing him from the only family he ever knew. The cinematography and haunting music adeptly express the dread and hopelessness permeating every moment of his life without losing sight of the fact that Femi is a good person pushed into bad decisions by circumstance. He has no desire for or interest in a life of crime but his vacant demeanor, borne from a lost childhood, lends him the ability to blend in anywhere and become anything. Adewunmi is a force of nature and does a venerable job portraying Femi’s calm yet simmering personality. Keep an eye out for Adewunmi’s next move. He has leading man written all over this performance.
The Last Tree receives a score of 9/10 for everyone. It’s a timely and relatable coming of age story with a star-making turn by director/writer Shola Amoo and lead actor Sam Adewunmi.
The Castle (1997) Australia
Le Pacte Des Loups (2001) France
The Castle (1997) Australia
I watched Australian film The Castle untainted by hype or preconceived notions of the filmmaker’s tendencies or preferences. In this age of social media and trailer after trailer it’s rare (and fun!) to go in cluelessly. The Castle utilizes voiceover throughout the lion’s share of its runtime. We come to realize that unending tongue-in-cheek voiceover is the films charm. The filmmaker 101 concept of show and don’t tell is intentionally inverted and the result is awkwardly but undeniably funny in a broad “these people seem to know they are in a movie but also don’t care” Napoleon Dynamite type of way. Every character is absurdly saccharine to the point of unbelievability. A mafia hitman archetype threatens the main character at one point and he is…sincerely polite. Whether with them or at them, you’re laughing. The character’s blissful unawareness is the joke. I would be lying to you if I said I knew exactly what the director was going for and I’m 100% ok with that. We need more experimental cinema. Real Quick: It was an unexpected treat seeing a pre-Hulk Eric Bana in a minor role.