The Time of the Wolf Movie Review:


Austrian filmmaker Haneke (The Piano Teacher) is back with another relentlessly bleak drama, this time taking the end of the world as his theme. The title refers to an ancient German poem about the apocalypse, which is what Anna (Huppert) and her family wander into when they enter their holiday home in the French countryside.

Yes, the tragedy is deeply personal, but it also engulfs the world around them as Anna and her two children (Demoustier and Biscombe) wander the countryside in search of help. They end up in an abandoned farm, where the assembling wanderers form a makeshift society now that all systems seem to have failed around them.

What ensues is intensely involving and almost unbearably abrasive as Haneke tells the story without frills--no background music, frequent long takes, naturalistic lighting and performances. This is stark, creepy filmmaking with moments of sheer terror that violate all the rules of horror or sci-fi filmmaking, two genres Haneke seems intent to reinvent.

Huppert gives another staggering central performance--strong and brittle at the same time--while the young Demoustier and Biscombe are superb, especially as both take seriously interesting journeys all their own. Surrounding them is a strong ensemble of desperation, greed and surprising flashes of kindness.

As an examination of the depth of our "civilisation", this is brilliant filmmaking. So it's a shame that Haneke seems unsure where he's going with it; the story starts to meander, gets repetitive and concludes on a note that's both a stroke of genius and a wasted opportunity.

Haneke's films may be very difficult to watch, but they're also impossible to turn away from.

Or to forget.

Rich Cline

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