We had a lovely, chilly autumn evening in Sisters, Oregon, last night. A perfect night for my annual rewatch of Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf). Longtime readers know that this weird and wild cinematic take on the legend of the Beast of Gevaudan is one of my favorite tales — a real incident that bears the claw marks of the uncanny.
In 1764-67, in the still-wild province of Gevaudan in south-central France, a beast (or beasts) terrorized the peasantry of the countryside, killing more than 100 people and maiming others. A huntsman named Jean Chastel, wielding a double-barreled flintlock shotgun loaded with (silver!) buck-and-ball ultimately slew what was believed to be the beast, apparently a large wolf — but to this day, the true nature of the Beast remains a matter for debate. And there are some dark theories about Chastel’s true nature and role in the hunt…
Frontier Partisans dug in on this three years ago in a post you can find here.
Since that time, podcasting has boomed, and there have been numerous retellings of the tale of the Beast of Gevaudan in that format. Here’s a good one: The Shocking Details — The Beast of Gevaudan, Part I; Part II; and What Was The Beast of Gevaudan?
Other trails have opened up on the Web, where I stumbled across some really interesting graphic depictions of the hunt for The Beast, which was conducted as a quasi-military operation. They appear to be from a French publication.
Huntsman Jean Chastel is wearing the broad hat with the turned-up brim and bearing the double-barrled shotgun.
Francois Antoine was the official gunbearer to King Louis V, who sent him into Gevaudan to deal with this Beast business that was roiling the country. Antoine killed A beast, but not THE Beast.
The tale of The Beast has caught the public imagination for more than 250 years, and doubtless will continue to do so.
Art by Patrick Berthold.
Matthew says
The Beast of Gevaudan I think will always be a mystery. There are so many theories about it.
I’ve never seen Brotherhood of the Wolf.
lane.batot says
WHAAAAAA? Well, that there is something you really must rectify! Get thee hence to the Amazon, and order you a cheap DVD copy! My well-used copy has great Xtras, about making the film, and a short documentary on speculation of just WHAT the beast really was(I am convinced, myself, that it were wolves, or very possibly wolf-dog crosses, and I do not discount the possibility of wolf dog crosses manipulated by people! But I do not believe for an instant it was a hyena, a lion, or any long extinct Pleistocene carnivore, as some have theorized. In the movie I THINK(hard to say for sure!), it was a lion with weird armor attached….But a splendid, if somewhat odd, beautifully filmed movie!
JimC says
Marilyn came in on the last third (she’s seen it before) and remarked on how beautiful the filming is. There are flaws in the film, even on its own terms — but the aesthetic and the cinematography are really sublime.
JimC says
Get the French-language version and watch with subtitles. Accept no substitutes.
Paul McNamee says
I really need to grab the blu ray and rewatch (now that it is finally available!)
Quixotic Mainer says
One of history’s most intriguing tales to me. I scoffed hard at first, but I am coming around to the escaped juvenile zoo lion theory. It explains the size, tail, stripe up the back and that it wounded with it’s claws.
Love the artwork!
JimC says
Ain’t it cool?
Paul McNamee says
Speaking of Frenchmen and beasts; I can’t find any reference online, but I once had a tiny press pamphlet/book of Vermont folk tales. One I distinctly remember is Samuel de Champlain, encountering a werewolf on the shores of the lake of his namesake. He dispatched the beast by loading a blunderbuss with rosary beads.
(Can’t recall if the book is buried in my bookcases or if I let it go.)
A good quick tale for the season.
BERTHELOT Patrick says
There is a big mistake ! ! ! Rober-François-Marc Antoine de Beauterne, light horseman of the guard, is the young 16-year-old son of the royal arquebus-bearer François Antoine (aged 70) who is HIM the envoy of the king hunter of the Beast ! No Rober-François-Marc Antoine de Beauterne !