The first time I watched "The Covenant of the Wolf Race" was shortly after graduation. At that time, it was still in the era of scouring discs. The street video shops are like today's Shaxian snacks or Lanzhou ramen. A colleague who is a fancier highly recommended this film to me. After more than ten years, the outline of the story has been indifferent, but the mysterious atmosphere of the film and Monica Bellucci's glimpse are still fresh in my memory.
Looking back at the film, the most impressive impression was changed to the set and costumes. Since the story was born out of a real event in France in the eighteenth century, the film's restoration of the costumes of the time can be described as excellent. That era coincided with the reign of French King Louis XV, and it was the stage when the Rococo style was carried forward. From decoration to furniture, to clothing, all exudes a delicate, delicate, flashy, and complex style, even the brothels in the film. It is also full of palace-like powder. When it comes to the carrying capacity of pleasure, eroticism and sensuality, "Rococo Art" is the one to do my part.
The opposite of feminine lightness and sweetness is the terrorist threat from mysterious monsters. The comparison between the two highlights the frailty and helplessness of the people in Jihuadan. Director Christopher Gans' grasp of the mysterious atmosphere has been revealed in this film. Five years later, he has restored the classic game "Silent Hill".
The mystery not only comes from monsters, but there are also two mysterious characters. One is the Indian male servant Mani, who follows the male protagonist Franz. Ervia, Monica Bellucci perfectly interprets the mystery and glamour. She in the bed is reminiscent of the French painter Boucher’s "Odalysk Lying on the Sofa", plump, fit and curvy. Soft, full of fatal temptation. Of course, she has another hidden identity that is unknown.
In the first half of the film, the clouds and mountains are covered with mist, monsters, villagers, nobles, gypsies, and Français and other foreign guests, making the small Jihuadan area meet. Surrounded by the monster that still hugs the pipa and half-hidden face, there are naturally some intrigue, fear, suspicion, anxiety, and the director is good at making some mysterious and unpredictable montages, forming monsters on the outside and intrigues on the inside. The situation intensified the suspense.
It wasn't until Mani risked his death to break into a catacomb and used the price of his life to exchange the tip of the iceberg. The so-called monster is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. The local priest Sadici and the nobleman Jean-François secretly formed a brotherhood and domesticated and transformed a beast from Africa (not specified in the film, but it should be a lion), and used it to cause tragedies to gradually Undermine people's confidence in the king, so as to achieve the sinister political and religious goals.
In fact, the original appearance of history is much simpler, but the director joined a political and religious conspiracy, making this incident even more confusing, and it is also connected with the turbulence and confusion and undercurrents on the eve of the French Revolution. The atmosphere of the "Covenant of the Wolf Race" and the exquisiteness of the costume lens are worthy of recognition. However, these are ultimately difficult to conceal the shortcomings of the film's "form is greater than the content"-it is also the fate of the Rococo style itself.
The film is a mixture of history, religion, horror, eroticism and other elements, but after all, it is too greedy to chew. Moreover, the director pays too much attention to mystical and entertaining expressions, so that the former two have not played the role of increasing the weight of the work. , But completely reduced to a vassal, it is a pity.
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