Time of the Wolf

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Summary: Raw emotions on an important topic
Review: The Time of the Wolf reunites director Michael Haneke and actress Isabelle Huppert in this movie about what a family must cope with in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event. It begins when a family comes home to find another family has invaded their house. The man of the house is shot to death, and the mother (Isabelle Huppert) and her two children, Eva and Ben are forced to leave. The family must cope alone, homeless, as they have no one who can help them. They end up living with other stranded people in what looks like an old factory building. Tempers flare and personalities collide. There is a touching scene in which Eva, the daughter, writes a letter addressed to her dead father. Things get heated and emotional when Eva and her mother are confronted with the man who killed their father/husband. He denies it, so it's a matter of their word against his. All in all, this isn't the easiest movie in the world to watch. There is a gory scene involving a horse, and the near suicide of the mother's son, Ben. But this movie deals with an important topic: how people might cope when confronted with an apocalyptic event. This obviously isn't a glamour role for Isabelle, but the part of Anne seems to suit her very well. In every movie she gives her best, and that is very very good. The DVD features include an interview with her and the director Michael Haneke.

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Summary: The European apocalypse is a lot like backpacking with...
Review: a Eurail pass. You spend an interminable amount of time sitting around in a train station, unwashed, without enough food or water, while you worry about whether your few crummy possessions are about to be stolen. Occasionally, people show up and try to sell you extremely overpriced goods.

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Summary: A Brilliant, Dark, and Poignant End of the World Tale...
Review: Time of the Wolf (Le Temps du Loup) begins with an opening similar to Funny Games, also by Michael Haneke, where a family arrives to their vacation home where they are brutalized. The story is focused on the distressed Anna (Isabelle Huppert) and her two children, Ben and Eva, in a fallen civilization where they have to survive. However, the naive mother Anna slowly comes to the realization that there is no one willing to help them with their basic needs: water, food, and shelter. Disheartened the family continues to drift as they eventually find shelter in a small barn, but when Ben disappears they accidentally burn it down and they are once again without shelter. These catastrophic events continue with further predicaments as there seems to be no end to the family's suffering. The dark atmosphere grows gloomier as people exhibit xenophobia and extreme cynicism that colors radical religious beliefs in a tribal environment. This tribal environment becomes a foundation where women's rights regress to having minimal meaning such as when they must trade their body for what they need in order to survive. All these miserable events sum up the ending where the disturbing finale functions like a Phoenix raising from ashes.

Time of the Wolf is based on an ancient German poem about the time before the end of the world. This is not an exclusively German myth as folklore from the Vikings and Celts also associated the wolf with destruction and doom. In Time of the Wolf the director Haneke brings his vision of a present day apocalypse where the dark despair is brought to the audience in several ways. The opening credits begin with this darkness displayed on a black background without sound or music. The silence is overwhelming as the entire film has no score or background music that would bring some sort of emotion to the audience. The only time the audience can hear music is when Eva hears and listens to a small tape recorder, but even then it is hushed. The ancient myths of the day of reckoning convey a message of devastating darkness as the sun will end it's shining. Overall, Time of the Wolf is a remarkable cinematic experience as the audience cannot escape Haneke's dark vision where themes such as solidarity, hope, friendship, and much more is questioned. After Time of the Wolf the distributors need to release Benny's Video and The Seventh Continent, which are excellent films as well.