Temps du Loup-Time of the Wolf

• Genre: PostApoc
• Release Year: 2003
• Director: Michael Haneke
• Writer: Michael Haneke
• Running Time: 109min
• Rating: R (Nudity, Violence, the usual
• Reviewed by: harbinger on Wed 21 Nov 07

Official Blurb:
A family adapts to life in post-apocalyptic France in this intense drama, which follows Anne (Isabelle Huppert) and her family as they arrive at their country home to find the world has undergone a catastrophic event, and utter chaos reigns. Fearing for their lives, Anne and her children flee in search of a safe place, eventually taking refuge in a community of stunned survivors. Maurice Benichou, Lucas Biscombe and Patrice Chereau also star.

Review:
This movie starts off well enough.. a typical nuclear family driving to their rural French home in a minivan. A son (Benny), daughter (Eva), husband (Georges), and pet bird (complete with bird cage). They arrive at their wooded cottage to find a family of 4 already there. Each wants the other to leave, they talk supplies, the son and daughter leave so the adults can talk, and blammo, the father is shot by the man that is currently in the home and the man tells the Anne to take her husband and leave. Anne now has two children, no supplies, and just saw her husband shot to death in front of her. That sets the tone for the rest of this movie, and it's wonderful.

The rest of the film follows Anne and her children's search for something, or rather anything, to give them hope as she tries to hold the rest of her family together. Anne is seen both as a strong female figure and as a woman on the verge of cracking, and understandably so.

They eventually find a rural rail yard station and a band of survivors waiting for the next train to stop and take them away to anywhere. They are organized as best they can, and come from an assortment of walks of life. Until one day a large group of survivors from the local town also comes to the station to wait on the train. Then the core agreement between the small band and the newcomers breaks down and some of the cold realities of survivorship rear their ugly heads again.

Michael Haneke purposely doesn't indicate what is going on, only the effects of it. Supplies are scare, people are burning their livestock (as can be see in one scene early on where Anne and the children pass in front of a fire full of cattle), the streams are unsafe to drink, and getting someone to share food and water is difficult at best. A lighter is a good item for trade, as are cigarettes, and women have a biologically component they can trade for almost anything. The old pass on, and the harsh environment causes others to remove themselves.

What I liked:
- A very solid recent-Post-Apoc movie
- Gritty.. damn gritty.
- They never tell you what happens, but it's irrelevant to the actual story
- It's a filmmakers film. there are some long drawn out scenes design to portray what the characters are feeling.. Haneke doesn't beat you over the head with it, but it was enough that reminded me of Stalker (the movie) in parts.


What I didn't like:
- The pacing can be a bit slow in sections.. if you want an action movie, this isn't it.
- They never tell you what happens, yes it's a good and bad.. because the film makes me want to know!
- Being a French film, if you can't stand subtitles or the French language, you won't like this at all.

Rating:

• Genre Feel: 5
• Acting: 5
• Effects: 5
  
• Production Quality: 5

Final Scoring:

Personal Recommendation: Head of the Queue this one on your rental list.

Availablity:
  French audio with English Subtitles
  Netflix     Amazon  

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