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28-02-2009, 05:41 AM
BROCELIANDE (2002, Doug Headline)
Spunky Chloe (Elsa Kikoïne, daughter of erotic filmmaker/editor Gerard Kikoine), a first year student at university studying archaeology (and working as a bartender by night at one of those strobing, throbbing nightclubs that provoke motion-controlled, under-cranked tracking shots in MTV-raised filmmakers), is part of a team of two departments, archaeology and history, that are excavating the Broceliande archaeological site which was uncovered by a storm in 1999. The site is said to be a druid necropolis and also the burial site of the wizard Merlin. Walking back to campus from work after her first day of excavation, Chloe sees an old man holding a weird stone being murdered by what seems to her to be a monstrous man-sized bird with giant claws. The police do not believe her and there is not body to be found. The next day in class, Chloe discovers that the stone – made from petrified snakes – was used in conjunction with sacrifices to summon up Celtic demons.
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9490/broc1.jpg
On site, the next day, while telling handsome history student Erwann (Mathieu Simonet, MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT) about the murder, Chloe discovers a crevice in which two ceremonial billhooks are hidden. That night the billhooks are stolen from the site and Chloe finds a blackbird in her medicine cabinet. Erwann tells her that the druids used to send blackbirds to declare war on enemies. When Chloe discovers that the man she saw murdered was Irish archaeologist Richard Saxon who had discovered the stone in Dublin, she suspects Gilles (Cédric Chevalme) – who had studied in Ireland – and has been looming about on the periphery. She also starts to suspect history professor Brennos (Vernon Dobtcheff, EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES) when he claims not to have known Saxon – though Erwann tells her that Brennos was on Saxon’s team when the stone was discovered – until he is murdered in front of her eyes by the bird-man. Gilles confronts Chloe and tells her that he worked with Saxon and knows that he brought the stone with him to France and mysteriously disappeared and believes someone is trying to recreate an ancient feast to summon Celtic demons. Meanwhile, Brennos’ daughter Iris (Cylia Malki, LA VIE EN ROSE) and archaeology professor Vernet (André Wilms, L’ENFER) discover a hidden map of the necropolis in Brennos’ journal. When archaeology student Thomas (Alexis Loret) tells Chloe and Gilles that his girlfriend Lea (Alice Taglioni, THE PINK PANTHER remake) has disappeared, the whole group rush to the necropolis only to discover the feast already underway with Chloe as the intended final sacrifice.
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4155/broc2.jpg
Co-scripted by France’s late premiere make-up effects artist Benoît Lestang (QUEEN MARGOT) and directed by documentary filmmaker Doug Headline, BROCELIANDE has a derivative yet enticing premise, an attractive, game cast, and top-tier technical attributes but both script and tone are wildly uneven. Headline condescends to quite a few thriller clichés of late (meaningful insert shots unfold in slow motion, the image drifts into slow motion before a fade out, cuts denoting change of location are accompanied by LOUD musical stings, and revealing flashbacks are bookended by flashes and unfold in black and white). Performances are perfectly fine for the two-dimensional characterization; meaning the older, seasoned actors bring gravitas to their roles with probably little effort required while the younger cast gets by on their looks since the script doesn’t demand much of their range. The script is awkwardly structured with the first half unfolding as a stylish somewhat complex thriller in the archways and halls of the university and burnished wood of university libraries and studies (with brief trips to the forest archaeological site) while the second half of the film is a horror movie consisting of stalk-and-chase sequences through the well-lit catacombs of the necropolis culminating in the slow-motion MATRIX/TOMB RAIDER fight scene between girls in torn clothing and a part animatronic/part CGI monster with ALIEN mouth and PREDATOR body. This film might well have been more interesting had it been longer than the standardized 90 minutes and took the time to flesh out some of its ideas and/or perhaps pruned some of the running through catacombs.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1995/broc3.jpg
The suspense initially derived from the identity of the demon’s human acolyte(s) runs out of steam just before the supposedly shocking unmasking (fifty minutes into a ninety minute feature) since most of the red-herrings accompany the heroine to the site en masse half-way through the film and none of the other supporting characters skulk about long enough onscreen to be likely suspects (one would have thought there would be a whole cult just to light the hundreds of torches throughout the catacombs). The injection of humor into the second half also falls flat (when Vernet asks how Iris and Chloe can possibly believe “this monster bullshit” he is met with sheepish “might as well” glances from the two) as do the cliché one-liners (“Hey, dirty bastard,” Chloe calls out to the monster). Despite Lestang’s presence behind the camera (as effects artist, co-writer, and second unit director) there is little onscreen gore (the offscreen murders are accompanied by cliché metallic “swooshing” sounds) and what there is of it is either ruinously CGI-enhanced or obscured – like a severed head held in the background out of focus as the camera focuses instead on the creature’s foreground animatronic mouth uttering a bird cry). On the other hand, the matte paintings that expand upon the necropolis sets are well-realized including the traveling ones used in conjunction with some 360 degree camera pans. Giullaume Schiffman’s (ANATOMY OF HELL) cinematography is fine but undistinguished as is Sarry Long’s (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) orchestral/electronic score.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2661/broc4.jpg
Pathé’s DVD sports an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer that looks great except for line banding in fine detail (although the disc is dual-layered, the film itself would be single-layer-sized if you took away the full-bitrate DTS track; a 5.1 track is also offered but no subtitles sadly). Although the two documentaries sport different titles, the menu identifies them as “Making of Version Longue” (52 minutes) and “Making of Version Corte” (26 minutes). There is a deleted scene which was wisely left out as it is a flashback illustrating the grisly druid rites which actually looks quite cheesy compared to the rest of the film (well, the stylish first-half at least; it would probably fit more stylistically with the second half although there is no context for its placement there).
UPDATE
A more English-friendly alternative can be found in Navarre’s below-the-radar 2008 R1 DVD which retains the French DTS and French 5.1 tracks (with added optional English subtitles) and adds an English 2.0 stereo dub. It is of course a PAL-NTSC standards conversion. The deleted scene has been tacked onto the beginning of the longer documentary and the shorter making of is also featured. The trailer (with subtitles) is the only other retained extra. A trailer for MALEFIQUE rounds out the extras. A DVDBeaver comparison is forthcoming.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7508/broccover.jpghttp://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9494/brocbcicover.jpg
Spunky Chloe (Elsa Kikoïne, daughter of erotic filmmaker/editor Gerard Kikoine), a first year student at university studying archaeology (and working as a bartender by night at one of those strobing, throbbing nightclubs that provoke motion-controlled, under-cranked tracking shots in MTV-raised filmmakers), is part of a team of two departments, archaeology and history, that are excavating the Broceliande archaeological site which was uncovered by a storm in 1999. The site is said to be a druid necropolis and also the burial site of the wizard Merlin. Walking back to campus from work after her first day of excavation, Chloe sees an old man holding a weird stone being murdered by what seems to her to be a monstrous man-sized bird with giant claws. The police do not believe her and there is not body to be found. The next day in class, Chloe discovers that the stone – made from petrified snakes – was used in conjunction with sacrifices to summon up Celtic demons.
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9490/broc1.jpg
On site, the next day, while telling handsome history student Erwann (Mathieu Simonet, MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT) about the murder, Chloe discovers a crevice in which two ceremonial billhooks are hidden. That night the billhooks are stolen from the site and Chloe finds a blackbird in her medicine cabinet. Erwann tells her that the druids used to send blackbirds to declare war on enemies. When Chloe discovers that the man she saw murdered was Irish archaeologist Richard Saxon who had discovered the stone in Dublin, she suspects Gilles (Cédric Chevalme) – who had studied in Ireland – and has been looming about on the periphery. She also starts to suspect history professor Brennos (Vernon Dobtcheff, EMPIRE OF THE WOLVES) when he claims not to have known Saxon – though Erwann tells her that Brennos was on Saxon’s team when the stone was discovered – until he is murdered in front of her eyes by the bird-man. Gilles confronts Chloe and tells her that he worked with Saxon and knows that he brought the stone with him to France and mysteriously disappeared and believes someone is trying to recreate an ancient feast to summon Celtic demons. Meanwhile, Brennos’ daughter Iris (Cylia Malki, LA VIE EN ROSE) and archaeology professor Vernet (André Wilms, L’ENFER) discover a hidden map of the necropolis in Brennos’ journal. When archaeology student Thomas (Alexis Loret) tells Chloe and Gilles that his girlfriend Lea (Alice Taglioni, THE PINK PANTHER remake) has disappeared, the whole group rush to the necropolis only to discover the feast already underway with Chloe as the intended final sacrifice.
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4155/broc2.jpg
Co-scripted by France’s late premiere make-up effects artist Benoît Lestang (QUEEN MARGOT) and directed by documentary filmmaker Doug Headline, BROCELIANDE has a derivative yet enticing premise, an attractive, game cast, and top-tier technical attributes but both script and tone are wildly uneven. Headline condescends to quite a few thriller clichés of late (meaningful insert shots unfold in slow motion, the image drifts into slow motion before a fade out, cuts denoting change of location are accompanied by LOUD musical stings, and revealing flashbacks are bookended by flashes and unfold in black and white). Performances are perfectly fine for the two-dimensional characterization; meaning the older, seasoned actors bring gravitas to their roles with probably little effort required while the younger cast gets by on their looks since the script doesn’t demand much of their range. The script is awkwardly structured with the first half unfolding as a stylish somewhat complex thriller in the archways and halls of the university and burnished wood of university libraries and studies (with brief trips to the forest archaeological site) while the second half of the film is a horror movie consisting of stalk-and-chase sequences through the well-lit catacombs of the necropolis culminating in the slow-motion MATRIX/TOMB RAIDER fight scene between girls in torn clothing and a part animatronic/part CGI monster with ALIEN mouth and PREDATOR body. This film might well have been more interesting had it been longer than the standardized 90 minutes and took the time to flesh out some of its ideas and/or perhaps pruned some of the running through catacombs.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1995/broc3.jpg
The suspense initially derived from the identity of the demon’s human acolyte(s) runs out of steam just before the supposedly shocking unmasking (fifty minutes into a ninety minute feature) since most of the red-herrings accompany the heroine to the site en masse half-way through the film and none of the other supporting characters skulk about long enough onscreen to be likely suspects (one would have thought there would be a whole cult just to light the hundreds of torches throughout the catacombs). The injection of humor into the second half also falls flat (when Vernet asks how Iris and Chloe can possibly believe “this monster bullshit” he is met with sheepish “might as well” glances from the two) as do the cliché one-liners (“Hey, dirty bastard,” Chloe calls out to the monster). Despite Lestang’s presence behind the camera (as effects artist, co-writer, and second unit director) there is little onscreen gore (the offscreen murders are accompanied by cliché metallic “swooshing” sounds) and what there is of it is either ruinously CGI-enhanced or obscured – like a severed head held in the background out of focus as the camera focuses instead on the creature’s foreground animatronic mouth uttering a bird cry). On the other hand, the matte paintings that expand upon the necropolis sets are well-realized including the traveling ones used in conjunction with some 360 degree camera pans. Giullaume Schiffman’s (ANATOMY OF HELL) cinematography is fine but undistinguished as is Sarry Long’s (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) orchestral/electronic score.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2661/broc4.jpg
Pathé’s DVD sports an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer that looks great except for line banding in fine detail (although the disc is dual-layered, the film itself would be single-layer-sized if you took away the full-bitrate DTS track; a 5.1 track is also offered but no subtitles sadly). Although the two documentaries sport different titles, the menu identifies them as “Making of Version Longue” (52 minutes) and “Making of Version Corte” (26 minutes). There is a deleted scene which was wisely left out as it is a flashback illustrating the grisly druid rites which actually looks quite cheesy compared to the rest of the film (well, the stylish first-half at least; it would probably fit more stylistically with the second half although there is no context for its placement there).
UPDATE
A more English-friendly alternative can be found in Navarre’s below-the-radar 2008 R1 DVD which retains the French DTS and French 5.1 tracks (with added optional English subtitles) and adds an English 2.0 stereo dub. It is of course a PAL-NTSC standards conversion. The deleted scene has been tacked onto the beginning of the longer documentary and the shorter making of is also featured. The trailer (with subtitles) is the only other retained extra. A trailer for MALEFIQUE rounds out the extras. A DVDBeaver comparison is forthcoming.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7508/broccover.jpghttp://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9494/brocbcicover.jpg