It's getting to be a given that if the House misogynist at filmsdefrance trashes a movie it will be well worth seeing - as to why filmsdefrance persist in printing the reviews of someone who clearly despises the medium your guess is as good as mean though it's a safe bet he works cheap. This one is no exception, it's the work of writer-director Giles Legrand who recently gave us the brilliant You Will Be My Son and it's available on DVD as a double disc with Legrand's Malabar Princess, to which is has a strong kinship. Set in the early years of the twentieth century close to the border of France and Italy it's strong on breathtaking countryside and wildlife, in particular wolves, which did in fact disappear from France around that time. Laetitia Casta is particularly strong as Angele who has what was then considered an unfeminine ambition to become the first female vet in France. As a child she and her male friend - also with ideas of becoming a vet until being killed in World War One - befriend a rare black wolf cub which, in the fullness of time, saves Angele's life when, badly injured in a plane crash and left alone in the snow, she is surrounded by a wolf pack which includes the now grown black wolf who recognises her scent. She fetches up in the cabin of the local recluse (Stefano Accorsi) who nurses her back to health during which they bond. There is, of course, a pantomime villain in the piece in the shape of Jean-Paul Rouve, who had designs on Angele before she disappeared and has plans to kill the wolves, force the recluse off his land and develop a large tourist attraction. This is a film with everything necessary for a feel good evening at the movies including the great Patrick Chesnais as Angele's father. Casta and Accorsi give good bonding which is hardly surprising as off-screen they have two children together. Warmly recommended.
Review of The Maiden and the Wolves
