Time of the Wolf
Entry updated 29 July 2024. Tagged: Film.
French/German film (2003); original title Le Temps du loup. Arte France Cinéma, Bavaria Film, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie, France 3 Cinéma, Wega Film. Written and directed by Michael Haneke (1942- ) Cast includes Lucas Biscombe, Patrice Chéreau, Béatrice Dalle, Anaïs Demoustier, Daniel Duval, Olivier Gourmet, Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel and Serge Riaboukine. 113 minutes. Colour.
After an unspecified catastrophe (see Disaster) that leaves society on the verge of total collapse, with little uncontaminated water and livestock being burned, Georges (Duval) and Anna Laurent (Huppert) and their two children seek refuge in the country home. They find it already occupied by strangers who kill Georges. Anna and the children are refused shelter by other members of the village, so set off across the countryside looking for a shelter. Eventually they come to a railyard, which is occupied by other refugees, all of whom hope to catch a train to somewhere unaffected by the disaster. The number of refugees soon grows, including Georges' murderers, and the situation escalates to include rape, Suicide and xenophobic violence. The son, Ben (Biscombe) has heard a story of angels who saved society by sacrificing themselves in a fire, and attempts to do the same, but is rescued. The final shots of verdant countryside seen through a moving train window hint of a possible brighter future.
Among the many celebrated entries in the filmography of Austrian director Haneke, his only sf film slipped somewhat under the radar. The vague post-apocalyptic or Post-Holocaust setting of the film frustrated some, and is simply a starting point for another examination of societal breakdown, one of his favourite themes. The title's reference to Ragnarök (from the tenth-century Norse poem Völuspá) and the climactic sequence with the fire, hint at a mysticism which stays short of the level Andrei Tarkovsky brought to his more apocalyptic works. Though there is some predictability in the relentless grimness of the characters' experiences, and perhaps a too obvious parallel with the contemporary migrant crisis, this is nevertheless an affecting and absorbing film with an outstanding cast. [CWa]
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