The Maiden and the Wolves (La jeune fille et les loups) Movie Poster

The Maiden and the Wolves (La jeune fille et les loups)

The Maiden and the Wolves (La jeune fille et les loups)

Laetitia Casta stars in director Gilles Legrand's drama concerning an Edwardian-era woman whose fate becomes permanently intertwined with that of the last wolf pack on Mount Blanc. Angele is a young girl who lives in a French Alpine town with her father Leon (Patrick Chesnais), the local taxidermist. Shortly after Leon receives a slaughtered pack of wolves, young Angele notices an orphaned black cub descending from the mountains in search of his family. Angele may be young but she realizes what fate will befall the cub if he is caught, so she quietly releases him back into the wild. Years later, World War I has come and gone, and local foundry owners the Garcins have struck it rich. Albert Garcin (Michel Galabru) is not only the family patriarch, but Angele's godfather as well. A benevolent and generous soul, Albert has given a local gypsy and her developmentally disabled son Guiseppe (Stefano Accorsi) a lifetime lease on a modest mountain shack. Giuseppe guards the surviving wolves with his life, taking a special shine to the black pack leader he names Carbone. Angele is all grown up now, and longs to become a veterinarian who specializes in undomesticated animals. Though the local men scoff at the idea of a female veteran, Angele knows her connection with nature is true. In order to gain some experience Angele recruits circus owner Zhormov (Miglen Mirtchev) to fly her into the mountains that tower above her hometown. During the course of their journey, however, the plan crashes and Angele is forced to wait as Zhormov searches for help. But sometimes help arrives in the most unexpected of forms, such as the black wolf that recognizes Angele's scent from back when he was just a frightened pup.