reviewed by Charity Bishop
         

Good werewolf movies are difficult to come by. In fact, up until this one they were filled with grotesque, inhuman animals without souls. But Blood & Chocolate is about a wolf pack that is much more human than they realize... and their transformations are glorious moments in which the soul is transcended into its true likeness. As a fantasy fan, I loved it.

After the brutal murder of her parents in the Colorado mountains, young Vivian (Agnes Bruckner) is sent to live with her aunt in Bucharest, Romania. The city is heavy with legend and lore of the ancient superstitions that once ruled the region, and a prince rumored to have the blood of werewolves in him. Since their mass slaughter several centuries earlier, the pack has remained as distant from humans as possible, taking care not to harm them unless they are "deserving of punishment." Every first night of the full moon, an unworthy mortal is chosen from among the worst dregs humanity has to offer, and told that if he can cross the wood to the river, he may have his life. None have thus-far been able to preserve their life. Vivian hates this animalistic ritual and longs for a world in which she might be normal.

Then into her life comes Aidan (Hugh Dancy), a struggling graphic novel artist determined to pen a new volume about the wolf history of the city. Fascinated with the girl he encounters one night in the beautiful cathedral of a local church, he makes every attempt to hunt her down, despite the disapproval of Vivian's vengeful and violent cousin Rafe. What Aidan does not know is that every seven years, the leader of the pack chooses a new mate, and this year his eye has fallen on Vivien. What results is a fast-paced and surprisingly beautiful tale about two young people fighting for their independence and the right to love whomever they choose, but with a dark twist. I have not read the entire novel on which the film is based, since I quickly tired of the writing style, but the movie is absolutely fantastic for films of the genre. There are no hideous morphing shots or disfigured, ghoulish werewolves -- they used real wolves and a beautiful twist with CGI to make the transformation from human to animal.

One of the more charming additions was the way the human wolves leap and jump about, revealing their agility and uniqueness. It was a very subtle but atmospheric approach... as are the darkened alleys of the city, and the ruins surrounded in torchlight. The acting was quite good, from many actors I have never before seen, and I like the director's style. Her use of splicing shots kept up a good pace, even though in the beginning it seemed a bit sporadic and the cuts moved too quickly. There are a half dozen mild profanities in all, along with two uses of GD and one muffled abuse of Jesus' name. There's no sexual content, but some nonsexual nudity. Wolves cannot return to their human form wearing clothing; we see Vivian in the fetal position on the ground, her arms and legs positioned in such a way to conceal everything of importance. The shot is extremely brief -- and there is another much like it when, from a distance, we see wolves mourning the loss of two of their fallen pack, who lie naked in a ravine (the shot is so far off, it's hard to make out much detail). Girls in a club dance provocatively, and the camera ogles them from behind. When Rafe touches one on the backside, she retaliates by grabbing his crotch and telling him to get lost. She's clearly not wearing a bra.

The favored drink of the pack is absinthe, and they down it on numerous occasions. Violence is extreme, with wolves hunting a man down in the wood and mauling him to death; they attempt the same thing on another human. It's implied that Rafe murders a woman out of revenge. One wolf attacks another, and they fight. Animals are shot and killed; two men engage in a fistfight and fall from a great height. A wolf perishes when embedded with silver; several more are stabbed. I thought overall the film was quite good, but even so it pained me to see so many wolves perish. That's just a bit saddening for a girl who had photographs of them on her walls growing up.