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5/31/2022

Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003) - Apocalyptic meanderings by Haneke

 

+ Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.04

 

The contour of what appears to be a naked boy is set against a fire on a railroad track on this ominous poster for Michael Haneke's Time of the Wolf

A small family suddenly lose the husband and father, so that the two children are forced to seek survival with their nervous mother in an apocalyptic future, in which food, water and electricity are luxuries.

 

Time of the Wolf is written and directed by Great German filmmaker Michael Haneke (The Seventh Continent/Der Siebente Kontinent (1989)). The English title is a literal translation of the original French title, which is taken from the ancient Norse Völuspá poem.

The visuals and acting performances are impressively consistent in a greyish blue, desaturated, despairing tone. But since no cause is ever presented behind the gloomy scenario, - and the film moreover is entirely without humor and is inhabited by a long row of screaming, deeply unsympathetic people and grim scenes, - the result is a very small audience investment in the characters and the film overall. Its effect is thereby negligible.

Time of the Wolf is a cruel and insufferable film. - But what's the point?

 

Related posts:

Michael Haneke2012 in films - according to Film Excess

Amour (2012) - Tender love, unseizing death in Haneke's pictures
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience 

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Hidden/Caché (2005) - Haneke's slick, cold surveillance drama-thriller   

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 



Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 8.82 mil. €, approximately 10 mil. $

Box office: 499k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.04 times its cost)

[Time of the Wolf premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in Austria, including in Vienna. The film was screened out of competition in Cannes, because a member of the year's jury acted in it. It opened #83 to a 7k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #53 but never in more than 2 theaters, grossing 61k $ (12.2 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest and 2nd biggest were France with 106k $ (21.2 %) and Austria with 78k $ (15.6 %). Haneke returned with Hidden/Caché (2005). Isabelle Huppert (My Worst Nightmare/Mon Pire Cauchemar (2011)) returned in Ma Mère (2004). Time of the Wolf is fresh at 67 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

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