Empire of the Wolves (2005)

This moving thriller displays drama , action-packed , thrills , and wild fighting images . It is an action-filled and violent film , being utterly filmed in France and Turkey . Set initially in Paris , there appears several stabbed and bruised victims . A tough and young but experienced detective called Paul Nerteaux (Jocelyn Quivrin) carries out the hard investigation . The corpses belong to women illegal Turkish immigrants . Paul then decides to ask for help an old detective , Jean-Louis Schiffer (Jean Reno) , and as he join forces with the retired police inspector with very sharp skills to pursue the serial killer . Both of whom infiltrate in the Turkish immigration mafia attempting to resolve the heinous killings . Meantime , a woman named Anna Heymes (Arly Jovert) undergoing an illness treatment and has confuse vision and rare breakdowns , as well surprising outbreaks . She is helped by an obstinate psychiatrist called Mathilde Urano (Laura Morante) . At the end , Paul discovers the nasty Turkish organization "The Wolves" , led by an ominous mobster called Kudseyi (Vernon Dobtcheff) , is behind the weird crimes and after that , he goes to Turkey .¨L'Empire Des Loups" or "Empire of the Wolves" contains sinister mysteries , emotional thrills , action and suspense . This is a highly mysterious and cerebral thriller , filled with plot twists , including a spectacular denouement in its final part . The main premise is the following : various slashed female corpse of immigrants show up and two detectives to investigate it and to chase a serial murderer . This original as well entertaining premise is overspread across the movie adding some brief conventional pitfalls . Along with the astonishing crimes is developed an intrigue about women exploitation , illegal immigration and drug smuggling . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats , shootouts , and groundbreaking struggles . ¨Seven¨ atmosphere and style psychological mystery , being decently directed , though hard to follow . The only scenes that used CGI are when Jean Reno falls down spiral ladder at the graveyard with CG stairs , bricks , rocks surrounding him . The cast is frankly fine , such as Jean Reno who gives a good acting as a dark retired Police Inspector Jean-Louis Schiffer . This one belongs to the last period in his long career playing strong cops or mobsters as ¨Antigang¨, ¨22 bullets¨, ¨Armored¨, ¨wasabi¨ and especially ¨Crimson Rivers¨ and "Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse" and TV series ¨Jo¨. And nice Jocelyn Quivrin as two-fisted young detective as well as Arly Jover as unsettling girl who suffers severe headaches and glimpses of records . Special mention for Laura Morante as a cunning psychiatrist . The picture is pretty well , though sometimes complex ,and it has a lot of turns . However , being entertaining for its continuous suspense . Dark and rainy cinematography in ¨Seven¨ style by Michel Abramowicz . Strange and moving musical score fitting to action , including oriental sounds from Turkey . Amid the glamour and grandeur of the scenarios , including Paris , Istanbul , Uchisar, and especially Cappadoccia, Turkey . This stirring film was lavishly co-produced by producers Andrew Colton , Patrice Ledoux , Francesco Pamphili and professionally realized by Chris Nahon , though it has some flaws and gaps . Filmmaker Nahon establishes his signature style of kinetically-paced story-telling through sumptuous imagery , leading to international critical acclaim . Chris Nahon was born in France , he is a good director and writer, known for Empire of the wolves (2005) , Blood: the last vampire (2009) and Kiss of the dragon (2001) . Rating : 6/10 , passable and acceptable . Worthwhile watching .

A lot of ''serious'' film critics consider the ''New French Cinema''(with Luc Besson as the biggest exponent)as an artistic prostitution which destroys Godard's,Truffaut's and Rohmer's legacy.I have to say I appreciate a lot that kind of movies because they take the Hollywood's clichés and they give them ''new life''.In other words,films like Dobermann,La Femme Nikita and The Crimson Rivers take the typical clichés but,in the hands of talented directors and screenwriters,they take ''new life'' so the final result is something innovative.L'Empire des Loups is another example of what I just mentioned.This film adapts the North American clichés to the French style and the result is a very entertaining and interesting thriller with a lot of energy.Director Chris Nahon and his screenwriters(Nahon is also one of them)do not stop in giving too much explanations in this movie,so the spectator has to pay a lot of attention.And I really appreciated that as the best element from this movie.I'm tired of the Hollywood movies which explain everything thinking the spectator is stupid.Nahon and his screenwriters trust that the spectator will be enough intelligent for taking out conclusions.This film always keeps the suspense and there are some really unexpected revelations.The fail I found on this movie was that,near the ending of the film,there's an imbalance.I mean,this film has a mysterious noir style and near the ending,the film suddenly becomes in an action film with explosions,chases and shootings.That parts are fun and exciting for themselves but they seem like out of place.In spite of that,L'Empire des Loups is a very entertaining and tense thriller that I totally recommend.

Although this movie is in French and dubbed in English, the most important thing required to enjoy this movie is using the English subtitles even though the speech is in English...the voice over seems to be competing with the background movie sound (rain, music) so it is difficult to make out the conversations without it.The movie is a bit difficult to follow during the first portion of the movie, but that alone is usually a positive for me as this isn't a movie whose plot is known 10 minutes into the movie. The movie takes place predominantly in France, so the scenery is pleasant. Due to the voice over, the dialog is sub par but the pace and mystery of the movie is very good and the story line isn't bad for a thriller type movie.The biggest disappointment for me was not having Jean Reno dub his own voice, but other than that, I did enjoy the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I was slightly worried at first that subtitles were a bit ambitious for hungover Sunday viewing but it was fairly easy to keep up.The two plot lines seem completely separate at first and they are nicely tied together later in the film. This works very well at giving two sides of an event without resorting to flashbacks or spoon-feeding the viewer.You do have to think and pay attention to this film but it is not overly cryptic - I think I understood everything I needed to at the end. Some minor details might be a little blurry but these are not integral to the plot.Some racial stereotypes aside this is a very well thought out and captivating film.