Le temps du loup (2003)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

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)

Exceptionally directed

If there's one subgenre that particularly appeals to me, it is the post-apocalyptic movie, or any movie dealing with the end of civilization. I don't know why the subject fascinates me so, but it does. Haneke's The Time of the Wolf is one of the best of its type ever made. Some sort of cataclysm has occurred – all we really know is that most water supplies are tainted – and we follow a mother and her two children (the father is with them when the film opens) as they vie for survival. Life now is all about the few material possessions you have preserved. You try to hold onto a semblance of your values, but they seem mostly vestigial. Isabelle Huppert returns as Haneke's star. She and her children are the point around which everything happens, but they are just three people amongst many. The young girl who plays her daughter, Anaïs Demoustier, gives a particularly amazing performance. We talked (ed: on the Classic Film forum of IMDb) last week (or perhaps the week before) about the directors influenced by Hitchcock and those influenced by Bresson, and Huppert in an interview explains how both directors have influenced Haneke. It's definitely true. Haneke uses suspense in a much different manner than Hitchcock, but the devices are surprisingly similar.