Time of the Wolf
Time of the Wolf (French: Le temps du loup) is a 2003 French dystopian post-apocalyptic drama film written and directed by Austrian director Michael Haneke. It was released theatrically in 2003. Set in France at an undisclosed time, the film follows the story of a family: Georges, Anne (Isabelle Huppert), and their two children, Eva (Anaïs Demoustier) and Ben (Lucas Biscombe). The film also stars Olivier Gourmet and Serge Riaboukine.
| Le temps du loup | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Haneke |
| Produced by | Michael Katz Veit Heiduschka Margaret Ménégoz |
| Written by | Michael Haneke |
| Starring | Isabelle Huppert Daniel Duval Béatrice Dalle Patrice Chéreau |
| Cinematography | Jürgen Jürges |
| Edited by | Monika Willi |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Les Films du Losange (France) Filmladen (Austria) Ventura Film (Germany) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes[1] |
| Country | France Austria Germany |
| Language | French Romanian |
| Budget | €8.82 million[2] ($10 million) |
| Box office | $0.5 million[2] |
The film takes its title from Völuspá, an ancient Norse poem which describes the time before the Ragnarök.
Plot
A disaster of some type has occurred, of which the audience only knows that uncontaminated water is scarce, and livestock has to be burned. Having fled Paris, the Laurent family arrives at their country home, hoping to find refuge and security, only to discover that it is already occupied by strangers.
The family is assaulted by the strangers and forced to leave, with no supplies or transport. As they seek help from people they have known in the village, they are repeatedly turned away. The family makes its way to a train station where they wait with other survivors, in the hope that a train will stop for them and take them back to the city.
Cast
- Isabelle Huppert as Anne Laurent
- Daniel Duval as Georges Laurent
- Béatrice Dalle as Lise Brandt
- Patrice Chéreau as Thomas Brandt
- Rona Hartner as Arina
- Maurice Bénichou as M. Azoulay
- Olivier Gourmet as Koslowski
- Brigitte Roüan as Béa
- Anaïs Demoustier as Eva
- Serge Riaboukine as The leader
- Lucas Biscombe as Ben
- Marilyne Even as Mme Azoulay
- Florence Loiret Caille as Nathalie Azoulay
- Michaël Abiteboul as The Armed man
Release
Time of the Wolf was screened in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.[3] Patrice Chéreau, a member of that year's jury, stars in the film, which made the film ineligible for any award. The film also screened at the Sitges Film Festival where it won Best Screenplay and was in the running for Best Film.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Time of the Wolf holds an approval rating of 64%, based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10. It's consensus reads, "A lean and unsettlingly thriller."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[5]
References
- "LES TEMPS DU LOUP - TIME OF THE WOLF (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 22 August 2003. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- "Le Temps du loup (Time of the Wolf) (2003)". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- "Festival de Cannes: Time of the Wolf". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- "Time of the Wolf (2004) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Flixter. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Time of the Wolf reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 December 2018.