Le temps du loup (2003)

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 2003 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

When Anna and her family arrive at their holiday home, they find it occupied by strangers. This confrontation is just the beginning of a painful learning process.

Plot Keywords:

Stranger | Death Of Pet | Letter | Razor Blade | Sacrifice

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Anne Laurent
Béatrice Dalle	...	Lise Brandt
Patrice Chéreau	...	Thomas Brandt
Rona Hartner	...	Arina
Maurice Bénichou	...	M. Azoulay
Olivier Gourmet	...	Koslowski
Brigitte Roüan	...	Béa
Lucas Biscombe	...	Ben
Hakim Taleb	...	Young runaway
Anaïs Demoustier	...	Eva
Serge Riaboukine	...	The leader
Marilyne Even	...	Mme Azoulay
Florence Loiret	...	Nathalie Azoulay (as Florence Loiret-Caille)
Branko Samarovski	...	Policeman
Daniel Duval	...	Georges Laurent

Also Known As:

The Time of the Wolf (UK)
Wolfzeit (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, language and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

France:113 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Hong Kong:113 min (Hong Kong International Film Festival) | Argentina:114 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | USA:114 min

Country:

France | Austria | Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby SR

Certification:

New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Großmittel, Ebenfurth, Lower Austria, Austria

Company:

Bavaria Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in Inthierryview (2008)

Essentially essential.

I cannot help but think that Time of the Wolf is some kind of vindication for horror movie enthusiasts. Not because it is a horror movie itself, but because if you threw in some zombies you might have Day of the Dead, or one of the characters from this movie might have gotten lost and ended up in Last House on the Left. Time of the Wolf is a raw encounter with human nature.

It is not overly dramatic nor does it attempt to downplay what is going on, it plays out quite literal, the characters seem fully human and fully diverse. It is bleak but it has reason to be, and it never borders on dull or indulgent, every minute of the movie is focused and tight. It does not come off self-conscious, yet it does not unravel like a typical movie. It makes no mention of its origins, how the people got there or why, but it does not need to, because the story is not at all about the disaster, but about the people after the disaster. In other words, it is as far away from Armageddon as a movie could hope to be.

What was most interesting to me was the playing field. Since there is such hopelessness in every frame, such a sense of loss for every character, there is never anyone to root against. I felt as if even the worst of them might it out alive it would be an accomplishment, a cause for victory. Since everyone is on the same level, each character can be approached with an attempt to understand his/her motives, making each character not only tolerable, but likable. That is not to say there are not "bad" characters, as there are, but the good and bad becomes very muddled in a time in which everyone is losing everything. It is a very amoral situation the characters are in.

I highly recommend the film for all types of film lovers. It is a trip everyone should go on at least once.