Wolf Totem (2015) Le dernier loup (original title)

Popularity:

Down 28% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Jiang Rong (based on the novel by)
Alain Godard (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 October 2015 (Germany)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

During China's Cultural Revolution, a young urban student is sent to live with Mongolian herders, where he adopts a wolf cub.

Plot Keywords:

China | Inner Mongolia | Wolf Cub | Wolf | Gazelle

Awards:

7 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Shaofeng Feng	...	Chen Zhen
Shawn Dou	...	Yang Ke
Ankhnyam Ragchaa	...	Gasma (as Ankhnyam Rachaa)
Yin Zhusheng	...	Bao Shunghi
Ba Sen Zha Bu	...	Bilig (as Basen Zhabu)
Baoyingexige	...	Batu
Tumenbayaer	...	Shartseren
Xilindule	...	Petit Bayar
Hai-Long Bao	...	Lamjav

Directed by
Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writing credits
Jiang Rong		(based on the novel by)
Alain Godard		(screenplay) &
Jean-Jacques Annaud		(screenplay) &
Lu Wei		(screenplay) &
John Collee		(screenplay)

Produced by
Yin Cao	....	producer
Xavier Castano	....	producer
William Kong	....	producer
La Peikang	....	producer
Alan Wang	....	producer
Jianshai Xu	....	producer
Duojia Zhao	....	producer

Original Music by
James Horner

Cinematography by
Jean-Marie Dreujou

Film Editing by
Reynald Bertrand

Production Management
Yingchun Fang	....	production manager
Yang Lan	....	post production manager
Thomas Saignes	....	executive in charge of business affairs

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matthieu de la Mortière	....	first assistant director
Yang Lan	....	assistant to director annaud

Sound Department
Guillaume Bouchateau	....	sound editor
Carlos Cervera	....	dubbing coordinator
Guillaume Couturier	....	sound mastering engineer
Raphaël Devillers	....	sound mix technician
Aymeric Devoldère	....	sound editor
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tatjana Jakob	....	adr editor (german version)
Damien Lazzerini	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Damien Bera)
Philippe Penot	....	foley artist
Sébastien Pierre	....	foley recordist
Javier Valdés	....	dubbing director: spanish
Gang Wang	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Fabian Barreto	....	vfx coordinator: Pixomondo
Benjamin Brand	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Jo-Wan Chao	....	modeling supervisor
Lele Chen	....	cg modeler
Nadine Chodan	....	division visual effects producer: Pixomondo
Andreas Clemens	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Dayne Cowan	....	vfx supervisor: VHQ
Miguel de los Ríos	....	3d artist: Pixomondo
John Dietz	....	Visual FX Executive Producer
Nadja Ding	....	matchmove artist: Pixomondo
Tobias Dommer	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Adam Figielski	....	division visual effects supervisor: Pixomondo
Hongfei Geng	....	digital compositor
Jianquan Guo	....	visual effects supervisor
Nina Göldner	....	division visual effects producer: Pixomondo
Kathrin Günther	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Felix Haas	....	matte painter: Pixomondo
Fabian Holtz	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Nick Hsieh	....	visual effects supervisor: Base FX
Florian Jackl	....	systems administrator: Pixomondo
Benjamin Jennrich	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Na Jian	....	visual effects production manager: Base FX
Martin Jurado	....	division matchmove supervisor: Pixomondo
Hannes Krieger	....	fx artist: Pixomondo
Thomas Lautenbach	....	compositing supervisor: Pixomondo
Christophe Laya	....	credit sequences
David Lebrun	....	visual effects supervisor
Toby Lee	....	3d artist: Pixomondo
Benoit Luce	....	visual effects supervisor
Philip Lücke	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Christoph Malessa	....	visual effects executive producer: Pixomondo
Sven Mecklenbroich	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Sebastian Meszmann	....	division visual effects associate producer: Pixomondo
Mona Mohr	....	division vfx coordinator: Pixomondo
Benjamin Nowak	....	matte painter: Pixomondo
Philip Nussbaumer	....	compositor: Pixomondo
Berry Olivier	....	visual effects supervisor
Tobias Pfeiffer	....	division visual effects editorial - i/o: Pixomondo
Nelson Quan	....	visual effects editor: Pixomondo
Christian Rajaud	....	visual effects supervisor
Philipp Röger	....	3d artist: Pixomondo
Sabrina Steinert	....	matchmove artist: Pixomondo
Guo-Feng Tang	....	visual effects art director: Pixomondo
Michael Thalmann	....	head of it: Pixomondo
Cuiling Wang	....	matchmove artist: Pixomondo
Sascha Wolf	....	division visual effects editorial - i/o: Pixomondo
Tiffany Wu	....	visual effects producer
Siyun Yi	....	vfx recruiter

Camera and Electrical Department
David Bush	....	native stereographer
Hao Wang	....	cinematographer
Hao Wang	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Géraldine Gues	....	post production supervisor
Mathieu Liron	....	digital lab operator

Music Department
Dick Bernstein	....	music editor
Mark Berrow	....	musician: violin
Thomas Bowes	....	orchestral leader
Fiona Cruickshank	....	score recordist
Simon Franglen	....	arranged by
Simon Franglen	....	score producer
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestral contractor
James Horner	....	musical director
Steve Mair	....	musician: double bass
Dorina Markoff-McNulty	....	musician
J.A.C. Redford	....	orchestrator
Simon Rhodes	....	music arranger
Simon Rhodes	....	score mixer
Robert Ziegler	....	conductor

Other crew
Aurélie Laffite	....	assistant producer
Yang Lan	....	producer assistant
Fernando Lueches	....	marketing: spanish version
Michael W. Miliotti	....	animal trainer: wolves/dogs
Andrew Simpson	....	wolf sequence coordinator
Sally Jo Sousa	....	head wolf trainer

Production Companies

• China Film Co. (co-production)
• Reperage (co-production)
• Beijing Forbidden City Film (co-production)
• Mars Films (co-production)
• China Movie Channel (co-production)
• Beinjing Phoenix Entertainment Co. (co-production)
• Chinavision Media Group (co-production)
• Hérodiade (co-production) (as Groupe Hérodiade)
• Loull Productions (co-production)
• Edko Films (co-production)

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cocinsa (2015) (Nicaragua) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2015) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Edko Films (2015) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Mars Distribution (2015) (France) (theatrical)
• Notorious Pictures (2015) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Outsider Films (2015) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Twin Co. Ltd. (2016) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2015) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Wild Bunch (2015) (Germany) (theatrical)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2015) (Thailand) (all media)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2016) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2016) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Wild Bunch (2014) (France) (all media)

Special Effects

• Base FX
• Lux Populi VFX
• Pixomondo (Beijing China, Stuttgart Germany)

Other Companies

• Ad hoc studios  dubbing facilities provided by
• Codex Digital  digital recording equipment
• Milan Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Le dernier loup" - China (original title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images and violence involving animals, and for brief sexuality

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

China | France

Language:

Mandarin | Mongolian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Chile:TE+7 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG13 | Switzerland:10 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Inner Mongolia, China

Company:

China Film Co.

Trivia:

It is extremely rare that Inner Mongolia did not snow in the winter when Wolf totem was shooting. To complete the snow scene, the film crew had to ship the snow and truck it from the Paektu mountains of more than 1,000 miles away. In the end, about 40, 000 tons of snows were transported.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "At the Movies: Cannes Film Festival 2013 (#10.15)" (2013)

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.