Posted on by Magnus Seter

FAL Review: Le Pacte des Loups

Year: 2001

Genres: Horror, Action, Historical drama.

Main cast: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Rénier, Emilie Dequenne.

Director: Christophe Gans.

Writers: Christophe Gans, Stéphane Cabel.

Length: 137 minutes.

Le Pacte des Loups (aka The Brotherhood of the Wolf) is a strange mix of historical drama, Arthur Conan Doylesque horror and Hong Kong action. It is the epitome of a roleplaying movie, and the style, pace and plot is reminiscent of the common setup of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures. The basic plot concerns a beast that is holding the countyside of french Gévaudan in thrall. The premise has some basis in history, since there actually exists a legend of a beast of Gévaudan in real life. But apart from that nugget of historical accuracy, the rest is made up. The movie builds on the legend and introduces to the mix the main protagonists, biologist and writer Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Bihan), and his american indian companion Mani (Mark Dacascos) to solve the mystery of the beast. They are tasked with hunting down the beast and bringing security to Gévaudan and its people. This straight-forward adventure is complicated by local and national politics, a love story, secret societies, conspiracies and a dose of forbidden lust.

The pacing is sometimes awkward, and long dialogues are interspersed with violent action scenes to quicken the blood. The martial arts scenes came as some surprise to me. Mani turns out to be an accomplished warrior using some kind of martial arts to great effect, although I think that the inclusion of this element is the weakest part of the overall structure of the film. At the time leading up to the release, much was made of the beast itself and the special effects used to bring it to life. Now the effects look a bit dated, but the director did the right thing and never let the camera rest on the monster for longer times, preferring close-ups of details instead of full-figure exposition. At the times the monster is in full view, it is always moving so there is no time to dwell on the details. Well done.

To best enjoy Le Pacte des Loups you must view it without any expectations on historical logic. The movie is a fun and beatutiful action roller-coaster, with anachronistic elements. No more, no less. As an added bonus, the plot can easily adapted to serve as elements in your next fantasy horror adventure. I highly recommend it.

Magnus

Posted on by Magnus Seter

WFRP: The Altdorf Truth 807

What do people in Altdorf talk about? Just about anything. And very often they talk about what’s being peddled as information, sold or given away by eager news sheet vendors, or posters glued to walls. The Altdorf Truth is one such news sheet, posted on the walls of buildings and sometimes even animals all over the capital. No one knows who is behind the rag’s eclectic mixture of pro-Imperial and anti-authoritarian reporting. Part news, part opinion piece, part gossip, and all this with a second helping of hysteria, The Altdorf Truth has a curios finger on the very pulse of what people deem important in the largest city of the Empire. It is evident that the writer or writers are singularily well connected among the merchant class and the aristocracy, and it has laid bare many a scandal since it started circulation in 2501. Authorities have tried in vain to track down the elusive publisher and their failure has suggested that the culprit might even be of higher rank than any can imagine, maybe even sanctioned by one of the electors. I believe the truth to be more mundane than that, but will devote no further energy into finding out the truth behind the distribution of said news sheet.

Aldophus Altdorfer
Aubentag, Pflugzeit 31, 2523 IC

The Altdorf Truth 807

The Altdorf Truth is a tool I use to keep the players thinking about and taking note of the big and small things that goes on in the campaign world. It provides a nice counterpoint to their own little universe, where their PCs are always the most important people. Some events are major and will change the campaign for the PCs, and some are minor things they will never have to bother about. And some are secrets that will play out later on in the campaign. I hand out one new issue of The Altdorf Truth at the end of each session, and have one player read that issue at the beginning of the next session. Works very well to keep the players anchored in the setting.

Magnus