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Subject:

Asoka

Author:
John

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Date Posted: 00:58:37 07/07/02 Sun
In reply to: John 's message, "More films" on 22:22:53 07/06/02 Sat

Asoka (7): There should be a horizontal line over the s to make the pronounciation Ashoke. This is an Indian film about the life of King Asoka, the first ruler to adopt Buddhism. If that doesn't sound interesting to you, don't give up yet. You see, this is an Indian film. Although Buddhism originated near India in Nepal and was eventually taken up by King Asoka, over time Hinduism regained dominance again and today India is primarily Hindu. So, the filmmakers, being Hindu, are much more interested in Asoka's bloody and lusty past. In fact, this film ends just as he strides across the last battlefield viewing the senseless carnage and realizing that he will give up his warrior ways and accept Buddhism. So... if you like power struggles to gain the throne, adventures to woo beautiful maidens, swordplay, and battles with war elephants then you've come to the right film.

Another facet of being an Indian film is that there will be a number of song and dance numbers resembling Indian pop MTV. It's pretty strange, but entertaining in a novel kind of way. If you want to see an exotic alternative to the standard Hollywood widget then give this a chance.

The absolute best thing about this film is the actress who plays the king's second wife, the one who is Buddhist. She is one of the most amazingly beautiful women I have seen in my lifetime. A true goddess. I'm not talking about the woman on the video cover who plays his first wife.

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[> Subject: Brotherhood of the Wolf

Author:
John
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Date Posted: 02:04:00 07/07/02 Sun

Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des Loups) (6): A French action/horror/mystery film. The film is inspired by the mysterious deaths attributed to the "Beast of Gevaudan" in France during the 18th century. I wish I could tell you more about the beast, but I never heard about it before this movie came out and I don't know the facts or the legend.

In this film the locals believe their land cursed by a werewolf and the main character is a French naturalist who has come to disprove the monster hypothesis and get to the bottom of the mystery. He is accompanied by his Indian friend from French Canada. I guess his tribe had developed some form of martial arts because he spends most of the movie kicking the shit out of people in kung fu fashion. However, this particular detail doesn't stretch the coveted suspension of disbelief quite as much as the dramatic conclusion does.

I was thoroughly enjoying the first hour of this film and given the strong opening I was hoping it would stay consistant thus earning a spot on my all time favorites list. This film almost got there. Then in an attempt at being clever and unpredictable it went all to hell as the mystery turned out to be... well, some of you may want to see this and so I will not spoil it for you.

The setting is good, the premise is great, the opening attack scenes of the beast are horrifying, the main characters are interesting, and the filmmaking is skillful. If only they could have crafted a better ending to the script. Mon Dieu, they came so tantilizingly close to making a horror masterpiece.

I've heard this film compared to The Ghost and the Darkness about the hunt for two man-eating lions in Africa, but I believe this film is much more like The Hound of the Baskervilles. No, the mystery is no where near as clever as one concocted by Arthur Conan Doyle, but BotW reminded me of all of those poor attempts to film that great Holmes mystery. This film tries trick the viewer with astounding revelations at the end, but the who-dunnit just doesn't prove satisfying, or plausible. Pity.