Wolf Totem (Le Dernier Loup)
Columbia Pictures
Reviewed by Tami Smith, Guest Reviewer for Shockya.
Grade: B+
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud,
Screenwriters: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, John Collee, Lu Wei
Based on: Wolf Totem by Lu Jiamin (pseudonym: Jiang Rong)
Cast: Feng Shaofeng, Ankhnyam Ragchaa, Basen Zhabu, Shawn Dou Yin Zhusheng, Yin Zhusheng
Release date: September 11, 2015
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Wolf Totem is a Chinese/French action-adventure film that takes viewers into the remote land of Inner Mongolia, during the Cultural Revolution of 1967. Based on a novel by the same name Wolf Totem shows a clash of cultures between the ethnic Mongolian nomads and the Han Chinese farmers in the area. It follows the story of two university students from Beijing who volunteered to go to Inner Mongolia for two years, and teach the locals Mandarin. One of them Chen Zhen (Feng Shaofeng) has an independent spirit, disregards official orders and adopts a small wolf pup, with hopes of domesticating him. While the book condemns collectivization that was imposed on the nomads, the film focuses on the life of wolves and the delicate natural balance they provide to the Mongolian ecosystem. We witness the wolves killing gazelles, burying them in the snow, only to have the locals confiscate the frozen animals. We also witness the killing wolf pups, as ordered by the Chinese government, and the Mongolian burial customs of leaving human corpses exposed to the elements, while letting forces of nature finish them off.
The animals used in Wolf Totem are Eurasian wolves, taken from zoos in China and then raised and trained by Andrew Simpson for four years. He taught them to sit, snarl, and fight on cue. Their hunting methods are photographed in detail with all the animal tactics involved.
Feng Shaofeng provides a heartfelt performance as a city boy, Chen Zhen, who falls in love with the Mongolian culture. Ankhnyam Ragchaa plays Gasma, his love interest, with great sensitivity and Joie de vivre. The principal star of Wolf Totem is the open country of Inner Mangolia, photographed expertly by Jean-Marie Dreujou, showing us this vast land, unpolluted by modern civilization, in danger of collective farming.
Wolf Totem is going to generate large audience viewing by adventure travelers and the National Geographic crowds.
Unrated. 118 minutes. In Mandarin, Mongolian © Tami Smith, Guest Reviewer
Story: B
Acting: B+
Technical: B+
Overall: B+
