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Brotherhood of the Wolf | 2002 | R | - 7.9.3
It is 1765, and by order of King Louis XV two unconventional investigators -- a renowned scientist (Samuel Le Bihan) and his Iroquois blood brother (Mark Dacascos) -- arrive at a French village in order to figure out who or what has been savagely attacking and killing women and children for several years. Also with Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne and Monica Bellucci. In French with English subtitles. [2:22]
SEX/NUDITY 7 - A man and a woman have sex; the woman is on top moving rhythmically and the man moans (we see the woman's bare buttocks and the man's bare chest). A man throws a woman on the ground and climbs on top of her, she screams, we hear cloth tearing and it is suggested that he rapes her. A woman lies in bed nude, we see her back and buttocks, and when she turns over, we see her bare breasts. A woman sleeps in the nude and we see her bare back and buttocks. There are several brothel scenes where women display their bodies exposing bare breasts and buttocks, and invite men to have sex with them by making suggestive gestures. Two men grab a woman and she kisses and licks them while another man watches (she appears to be taunting him). A nude woman lies dead in a pond (everything is exposed except her pubic region). A man tries to kiss a woman and she hits him. A man takes a bath (we see his bare shoulders) and he tries to grab the woman filling his tub with water but she resists him. A man and woman kiss passionately several times, a man and woman kiss, a woman kisses a man, a man and woman flirt in several scenes, and a man kisses a woman's hand. A woman dances suggestively in front of a crowd. A few men are shown in their underwear with bare chests and one man is seen in a loin cloth, which exposes his bare chest and the sides of his buttocks, in a couple of scenes. The clothing of the period is predominantly low cut bodices on long dresses that expose cleavage -- some more pronounced than others.
VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - The creature that's doing the attacking and killing is referred to as the Beast; while mostly obscured, in several scenes it looks large, fanged, quill-covered and has pointed teeth, and long discolored nails. A woman runs through a field in terror, she falls down a hill and we see her very bloody hand and face; she hears a growling sound and is grabbed by something and thrashed back and forth while we hear bones crunching, squishy sounds and her screams. A girl remembers (and we see the images) watching the Beast tearing and devouring her brother then chasing and snapping at her (she has some bloody cuts on her face and hands). A terrified woman tries to climb out of a puddle but is pulled back down and we hear her screaming and thrashing in the water and see the Beast tearing at her from a distance. A man is attacked by the Beast and is thrashed and thrown around crashing into and splintering tables and beams (we see him bloodied). A man throws a rock at the Beast and tries to make it chase him. When the Beast attacks, the man slashes it, and a cage falls on the creature. But it breaks out, grabs a man by the arm and drags him some distance (we see the man's bloody arm and hear him screaming). A spike-covered log is released and swings into the Beast causing injuries. The Beast crashes up through the floor of a house and a man threatens it with a pitchfork; the man is tossed into a wall and falls to the ground and the Beast threatens a woman and we see its huge fangs covered with blood. A pack of wolves chase a man and attack him (we hear growling, tearing, barking, thrashing and hear him screaming). We see the body of a dead wolf on a table; a man proceeds to cut it open (blood pours out of the incision), remove its organs (we see tissue, hear squishy and slurpy sounds and see blood trickling), pry open its jaw (we hear crunching), implant yellow eyes and stuff it with straw. A man with a hatchet is surrounded and attacked by many men and women holding bladed weapons; they fight with punches, kicks and slashes, people are knocked down, one man's hand is cut off, and a man is shot in the back. A man is shot in the forehead with a flaming arrow and another man is shot in the chest. A man runs through a manor killing many people along the way: a man is stabbed in the stomach, one has his throat slit, two more are beaten ferociously, one man's neck is broken, two more are stabbed, a knife is thrown into another man and it pins him to a wall through the neck. Two men fight with a sword and a stick; they kick and swing their weapons around breaking up pillars and tossing each other around, a man is hit in the face with a stick and dragged by a chain wrapped around his arm and one man is slashed in the throat and stabbed in the chest (we hear him gurgle, spurt and gasp as he dies). A woman slashes another woman's throat (we see her bloody neck, hear her gurgle briefly and see the bloody blades). Many people are shot and we hear the bullets entering their bodies with a squish. A man is scalped and we see blood dripping from the hair. People watch as the Beast enters a pen with three dogs chained to the wall; it is suggested that the dogs are devoured. The Beast watches a man from the shadows and follows a man into a dark basement. A woman stabs a dead body. A woman is knocked out with a hard punch. A man falls on the floor and writhes in pain from having been poisoned (we see his body later and he has trails of foam and blood on his face). A man tries to attack a man from behind and the attacker is stabbed in the stomach. A man and woman are chased by a group of men with sticks; they bash the man on the head repeatedly and we see his bloody head and face, the woman pulls out a knife and threatens the group of men, but she is hit and falls to the ground. A woman pokes a man with a knife (while they are having sex) and licks the blood off the blade. There are several fights with one man against a group of men and women: these scenes show lots of martial arts kicks accompanied by loud sounds of impact and occasional bone crunching sounds. The fights usually include the use of weapons (sticks, a hatchet, knives, etc.) and during these scenes people are tossed through the air after being kicked or punched, some are stabbed with accompanying squishy sounds, some have their throats slit and one is shot in the hand, (many of the injuries are shown with lots of blood flowing). A large group of men and a woman go on a hunt for the Beast and during the hunt many wolves are killed; we see the wolves being hit by bullets (they fly into the air and yelp) and we see a huge pile of dead wolves. A man throws a woman on the ground and climbs on top of her, she screams, we hear cloth tearing and it is suggested that he rapes her. A man and woman walk their goats through a dark pass and they hear growling. A woman kicks a man three times while he lies on the ground. A boy's dead body is found in a cave, we see his frozen hand raised, and we see that part of his face is missing. A man imagines another man being tortured. A man has a dream, sees strange images in a mirror, and watches as a woman stabs him in the back. A nude woman lies dead in a pond and we see a huge, gaping, bloody wound on her side. A man cleans the blood off a dead body and removes a bullet from a hole. A blood-covered dead body is thrown over a ledge and lands hard on the ground below. A man is hit in the face with a rifle butt. A man spits out blood after being kicked and a man has a very bloody face after being beaten. A man hacks at the hanging body of a wolf to remove its skin (we see some blood and tissue falling from it) and a man tracks the Beast and finds several pools of blood along the way. A man has several scars on his body from animal attacks and battles, and we see a scarred and twisted arm with really long nails a few times. We hear a woman screaming in a hospital and hear that, "the Beast took half her face." There are many ominous and tense scenes where we hear wolves howling, people reacting with apprehension and fear, lightning flashing and thunder crashing. A woman has a fit and falls to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth, and a woman lies unconscious in a bed and we hear that she is dying. A dead body is set ablaze on a bed of straw. A man shoots flaming arrows into a stable causing horses to panic. Two men use pumpkins for target practice and we see the pumpkins splattering and oozing when they are hit by bullets, arrows and a hatchet. A man throws knives at a woman while she dances on a stage and she ducks to miss them (it appears to be some kind of game). A man enters a candlelit room that contains things floating in jars, skeletal remains of animals on tables and strange writings on the walls. We see many paintings of wild animals, some in the midst of attacking or devouring prey. A man eats what looks like some sort of moss and passes out. There are several discussions and references to violent and gory acts: we learn that the Beast is attacking women and children and listen to descriptions of its monstrous appearance. A statement is made that, "Indian hunters eat the hearts of their prey for strength." There's a conversation about 25 people having been burned alive. A man talks about having lost his arm during a lion attack.
LANGUAGE 3 - 2 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for Africans and several derogatory terms for Native Americans.
SUBSTANCE USE - Men and women are shown drinking wine and one man appears inebriated and stumbles a bit.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Religion, Christianity, science and rationalism, the Age of Reason, libertines, demons and the devil, legends, rituals, totems, animal spirits, racism, cannibalism.
MESSAGE - There's a rational explanation for everything, including phenomena that seem supernatural. Religion is often used as an excuse for committing evil.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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