The Miracle of the Wolves (French: Le Miracle des loups) is a 1961 French historical adventure / swashbuckler film directed by André Hunebelle and based off the eponymous novel by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel.
In France, in the second half of the 15th century, Louis XI (Jean-Louis Barrault), King of France, and his cousin Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (Roger Hanin), are in a nigh-conflictual situation. In order to ensure peace, the King wants to marry his goddaughter Jeanne de Beauvais (Rosanna Schiaffino) to Charles, who desires her. Trouble is, Jeanne is in love with a knight in loyal service of Louis, Robert de Neuville (Jean Marais)...
The Miracle of the Wolves provides examples of the following tropes:
- Altar Diplomacy: Louis wants Jeanne to marry Charles and refuses her marriage project to Robert de Neuville, telling her that, in public affairs, she's "not a person", and that she must do it for the unity of his kingdom. Jeanne prefers to Take a Third Option, telling the king she'd rather end up at the convent.
- BFS: The final weapons to use in the Trial by Combat between Robert and Jean de Sénac are two-handed longswords.
- Big Bad: Charles the Bold is the main antagonist.
- Divine Right of Kings: About the King's will and God's will, Louis says they are the same.
- Doves Mean Peace: After The Tourney, Louis offers a bunch of white doves in a cage as a sign of peace.
- The Dragon: Jean de Sénac (Guy Delorme) is the right-hand man of Charles the Bold and he's in charge of carrying out Charles' schemes against Louis XI.
- Epic Flail: Robert's first weapon option in the Trial by Combat against Jean de Sénac at the end. The latter uses a morning star meanwhile.
- Fancy Dinner: Charles throws a big feast at his castle in honor of Jeanne. Robert and his Men of Sherwood use the occasion to infiltrate the castle and rescue Jeanne.
- Frame-Up: Jeanne gets kidnapped by Charles, and Robert gets accused of doing it by Charles' vassal Jean de Sénac.
- Happy Ending: Robert kills Jean de Sénac in a Trial by Combat, and Louis consents to him marrying Jeanne.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In order to throw Sénac off Jeanne's trail when they are chased, the Count of Hesselin has Jeanne run in the snowy woods while he stays in his coach to lure Sénac. The Count pays it with his life when Sénac catches up to him.
- Historical Beauty Update: Jean-Louis Barrault was much easier on the eyes than Louis XI was.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Charles the Bold is treated as the Big Bad painted in a negative light compared to Louis. Suffice to say, Real Life was way more nuanced.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: While she's the prisoner of Charles, Jeanne sends a message using one of the doves Louis offered to Charles. Catherine du Tillais receives it and a recovered Robert promptly leaves to rescue her.
- Jousting Lance: Plenty are used during Charles' tourney at the beginning.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Robert de Neuville is honorable and brave and, in his words, fights injustice.
- The Late Middle Ages: The film takes place in France in this era (during the Third Liège war in 1468), under the reign of Louis XI a few decades before The Renaissance reached the country.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: During Robert's Duel to the Death against Jean de Sénac, Jean tries to throw an axe in Robert's back while he isn't looking. The axe misses Robert, who then threatens a disarmed Jean with a Coup de Grâce of his longsword, only to order to bring a longsword to Jean so the fight will continue on equal footing and be more honorable.
- Love Interest: Jeanne de Beauvais to Robert. Their love is complicated by the Altar Diplomacy plans of Louis XI and Charles the Bold desiring Jeanne for himself.
- Master Forger: Sénac goes to see a scribe who imitates the king's writing to write a fake letter in order to accuse the king of triggering the Liège insurrection.
- Master Swordsman: Robert is a great fencer, even against multiple adversaries.
- Men of Sherwood: Robert assembles a team of villagers to help them take revenge on the troops of Charles after said troops committed Rape, Pillage, and Burn on their village. They're pretty good shots with bows and arrows, and later they help him rescue Jeanne.
- My Greatest Failure: Robert loses the tourney at the beginning, and he's haunted by this afterwards, at least until he has the proof that his saddle was sabotaged.
- Not Bad: After Robert kills Jean de Sénac in their Trial by Combat, Charles admits that it's a pity that Robert isn't one of his knights.
- Race Lift: The white European Charles the Bold was played by Roger Hanin, who was a native Jewish Algerian.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Upon his capture by Jean de Sénac, the coachman of the Count of Hesselin reveals that Jeanne fled in the woods with the king's message in exchange for his life being spared (and Sénac gives his word). Sénac then doesn't even wait till he's finished talking and stabs him in the gut with a dagger.
- Savage Wolves: Plays straight and subverted. The eponymous "Miracle of the Wolves" happens when Jeanne is chased by Sénac and his men in a snowy glade: a pack of wild wolves runs in the direction of Jeanne, she kneels to pray... and the pack passes by her and the wolves directly attack Sénac and his men instead. The pack of wolves somehow stays around Jeanne to protect her afterwards.
- Saved by Canon: The entirety of the film happens in 1468, so Charles the Bold (the film's Big Bad) cannot be killed off, since he would die nine years later at the siege of Nancy. He simply gracefully loses the Trial by Combat and it's Jean de Sénac who bites it because of said trial instead, and he even has a Not Bad reaction to Robert's victory.
- Sore Loser: Louis XI doesn't take losing at chess very well.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Robert de Neuville and Jeanne de Beauvais can't love each other happily because of Louis XI's Altar Diplomacy plans.
- Super Window Jump: Robert escapes Charles' castle through a window using a garland as rope to swing towards it and jump through it.
- Tap on the Head:
- While Robert is ambushed on a road and bridge and defends himself very well against multiple opponents, one of them knocks him out In the Back with a wooden club, then they throw him over the bridge.
- The villagers who help Robert infiltrating the castle of Charles knock servants out to steal their clothes and neutralize a few soldiers of Charles this way as well (two of them end up thrown over the ramparts unconscious).
- The Tourney: Charles organizes a joust tourney at the beginning, with his knights competing against those of Louis.
- Trial by Combat: Towards the end, Jean de Sénac accuses Jeanne of witchcraft because of the "miracle of the wolves", and because it would weaken Louis. Robert invokes "God's judgment" to solve the matter instead of submitting Jeanne to the Question (i.e. torture), which means a Duel to the Death between Robert and Sénac.
- Undying Loyalty: Despite his love for Jeanne de Beauvais being complicated by the Altar Diplomacy plans of Louis, Robert de Neuville remains a loyal knight to his king. Jeanne even says Louis doesn't have a more loyal servant than him.
- Vehicular Sabotage: A horse equivalent. Someone sabotaged the saddle of Robert de Neuville prior to his turn in the joust at the beginning, by cutting the ropes maintaining it, and it causes him to fall during the charge.
- Wrecked Weapon: The blade of Robert's longsword gets broken by that of Jean de Sénac during their Trial by Combat, but Robert still manages to stab Jean's stomach with what's left of his sword.
- Wrestler in All of Us: To rescue Jeanne, Robert infiltrates the castle and feast of Charles as a masked and mute wrestler to entertain Charles and the guests. One of the nobles of Charles' court volunteers to fight him, and Robert beats him, then Charles wants in and, despite a Killer Bear Hug on Robert at one point, also gets his ass kicked before Robert reveals himself. Robert uses some moves that would belong in a modern wrestling lexicon rather than a medieval one.
