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BROTHERHOOD OF
THE WOLF [LE PACTE DES LOUPS]
The
Collector’s Edition boasts
two discs containing bonus materials:
DISC
TWO
-
A behind-the-scenes documentary Les
Entrailles de la Bête
[The
Guts of the Beast]
(78 minutes), which is broken down into seven sections (Genesis, Casting,
Artistic Direction, The Fight Scenes, The Beast, Digital
Effects and Epilogue). About thirty-five minutes of deleted
scenes are offered (with introductions by Gans), as is a tantalising
montage of other deleted material and alternate footage, running about 5
minutes.
-
La
Legend [The Legend], an interesting eighteen-minute interview with naturalist
Michel Louis about the true story behind the film -
the
only extra featured on the UK rental and single-disc retail versions,
incidentally
– outstays its welcome because the presentation is so mundane.
-
Filmographies.
-
A theatrical trailer (1’43”, in English).
-
DVD Rom material: a link to the official website, and
interviews and filmographies, in English or French. (This is in addition
to the terrific 16-page booklet that comes with the set).
DISC
THREE
-
Another behind-the-scenes documentary, Les
Coulisses du Tournage
[The Making of…]
(also 78 minutes). The section titles on this documentary are more
oblique, so aren’t worth reporting. It offers a similar blend of
interviews, on-set footage to Les
Entrailles…,
but this time it’s presented more like a production diary, and focuses
on the filming about ten key scenes (including the spectacular fight scene
at the beginning of the film), devoting about ten minutes to each.
-
Storyboards for twelve sequences, shown
in slideshow format.
-
A gallery of a couple of dozen sketches, photo’s and
poster designs. The DVD Rom section offers an annotated version of the
screenplay (apparently in French only).
Combined,
this impressive array of material forms a comprehensive examination of how
the film was created. It’s far more than someone who’s not starting to
become obsessive about the movie will need, and more than its dedicated
fans could have hoped for.
 There are two versions available in the
UK: a simple one-disc version with minimal bonus materials, and a two-disc
version exclusively available through HMV. Both discs are fundamentally
flawed, however, because the original French audio is presented in Dolby
Digital 2.0 format only. (To add insult to injury, there's a 5.1 English
track, for the yahoos). The HMV version contains a subset of the Canadian
disc's extras: the deleted scenes, Les
Entrailles de la Bête
[The
Guts of the Beast], La Legende, the trailer, six of
the storyboard sequences and the filmographies. This version also has one
exclusive feature: interviews with the cast and crew (48 minutes). The
single-disc UK version only has La Legende.
Obviously,
only dedicated fans of the film (or DTS purists) will need to get the
Canadian Collector’s
Edition
release.
Less devoted viewers should be content with the American Region 1 disc, or
(if they don’t mind having the French mix in 2.0) either of the UK
versions.
A
four-disc set Ultimate
Edition is scheduled for release in France, containing an additional feature:
the obscure 1967 TV movie that inspired Gans, Tribunal de
l'impossible: La bête du Gévaudan. Once again, though, this set
won’t offer English subtitles.
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