Time of the Wolf, 2003

So now we know. The apocalypse is going to be... gloomy. Very, very gloomy. But no-one expected a barrel of laughs and a bucket of fluffy kittens, did they? Haneke's end-of-the-world film is extremely dark, both in terms of content and also literally dark, in terms of lighting. There is one scene in particular which is shot entirely in blackness, with only a lighter in the far distance offering a tiny pinprick of illumination. The story in this film is almost irrelevant. There has been an unspecified cataclysmic event that has thrown the world into chaos. We don't know what caused it, only that it contaminated the water supplies. The main characters in this film join a group of refugees in an abandoned railway paddock. They are waiting for a train to take them somewhere - we don't know where they want to go, what they hope to find when they get there, or even if the train is coming at all. What we see instead is Haneke's portrayal of how this micro-society functions in a time of extreme upheaval. How they barter and steal to survive, form cliques and factions within the group, and each develop their own method for coping (or not coping). I found it fascinating and engaging, especially the stories of the young daughter and the outcast young boy. There is no gloss on this film. It is shot on grainy video tape and the night scenes are incredibly dark and hard to make out. The actors, too, look refreshingly authentic, with their greasy hair and grimy faces. It's the end of the world after all - I imagine personal grooming is not high on their agenda. This film won't be for everyone. It's quiet, there is absolutely no musical score, and you aren't offered many solutions to your questions. Haneke leaves many things for the viewer to interpret by themselves. But if you want a thoughtful, unflinching portrayal of what the apocalypse might realistically look like, you should give this a go.

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I really like this director, Haneke. He usually makes visually intriguing, thoughtful films. This time, he didn't. This film looks completely drab and mundane; I suppose this is meant to complement the story, but still. More importantly, it's just boring. Almost nothing happens, and for me, there were too many characters for this to be a movie about character development. I'm sure people will talk about the beautiful symbolism of the ending, etc, but if you ask me, it's not worth the nearly two hours of drudgery and dullness. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

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