In 1967, a young Beijing student, Chen Zhen, is sent to live among the
nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. Caught between the advance of
civilization from the south and the nomads' ... See full summary »
Director:
Jean-Jacques AnnaudWriters:
Jiang Rong (novel), Jean-Jacques Annaud (screenplay), 3 more credits »Stars:
Shaofeng Feng, Shawn Dou, Ankhnyam Ragchaa | See full cast and crew »Storyline
In 1967, a young Beijing student, Chen Zhen, is sent to live among the
nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. Caught between the advance of
civilization from the south and the nomads' traditional enemies - the
marauding wolves - to the north; humans and animals, residents and
invaders alike, struggle to find their true place in the world.
Written by
JC
Wolf Totem User Reviews
Beautiful wolves and landscapes, but rings empty most of the time
I know the name of
Jean-Jacques Annaud from The Bear, a movie that made his name a lot more
memorable to me than The Name of the Rose, another movie I loved and
that he directed. In The Bear, the main character was a little bear cub
and any humans in the film were mere secondary characters. The things
that film did with animals was nothing short of miraculous.
In this Chinese-French coproduction, there are a lot of wolves and talk about wolves and people getting angry about wolves or loving them, but they are not the main characters. Relegated to the subject of a conversation, wolves play a minor part in this film that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It shows a little bit of Chinese Cultural Revolution, but not enough to be of any relevance or warrant the wrath of Chinese authorities. It shows the free way of the Mongols living in the steppes, but it doesn't go in depth. It shows some beautiful wolves, but most of the time they just look pretty and don't do much. It shows men in love with women, but it never goes into romance territory. It shows city boys being schooled in the ways of the steppe, but it doesn't really make anything of it.
The acting was good and so was the direction, I guess. The wide views of the green steppe were beautiful (until the mosquitoes arrived). Yet most of the time is seemed like a fairy tale, lacking a truth that I am not aware of, but that felt like it should be different.
It is not that I didn't like the film, but after two hours of going back and forth between genres, alternating between hating the Communist director who doesn't understand the life of the land and hating just about everybody else for their pretentious stupidity, I was actually bored.
Movie Source: http://www.imdb.com
In this Chinese-French coproduction, there are a lot of wolves and talk about wolves and people getting angry about wolves or loving them, but they are not the main characters. Relegated to the subject of a conversation, wolves play a minor part in this film that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It shows a little bit of Chinese Cultural Revolution, but not enough to be of any relevance or warrant the wrath of Chinese authorities. It shows the free way of the Mongols living in the steppes, but it doesn't go in depth. It shows some beautiful wolves, but most of the time they just look pretty and don't do much. It shows men in love with women, but it never goes into romance territory. It shows city boys being schooled in the ways of the steppe, but it doesn't really make anything of it.
The acting was good and so was the direction, I guess. The wide views of the green steppe were beautiful (until the mosquitoes arrived). Yet most of the time is seemed like a fairy tale, lacking a truth that I am not aware of, but that felt like it should be different.
It is not that I didn't like the film, but after two hours of going back and forth between genres, alternating between hating the Communist director who doesn't understand the life of the land and hating just about everybody else for their pretentious stupidity, I was actually bored.
Movie Source: http://www.imdb.com
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