Wilczy totem

I somehow thought that this would be even better in the hands of Annaud. Much better, actually. But in the end, it turned out to be just visually stunning with great work with animals, but quite artificial, which bothered me more in this film than in Annaud's other films. However, the environment and the mindset of the local people were well conveyed. (07.09.2017)

A two-hour travel documentary about Inner Mongolia, or the struggle of a wolf pack against the communist regime. I’m giving it two stars for the shots of fauna and flora. Other than that, the film was too long and dull. Two particular scenes made me realize that it was either intended for someone who has no idea what life outside the city looks like or for a person with an intelligence deficiency. Otherwise, I can't explain why the main character teaches the wolf to swim when even a rabbit or a guinea pig can swim without training, and why he believes that a single male wolf will take care of the wolf population in a steppe where there is not a single female left. (10.10.2016)

Seven Years in Tibet combined with The Bear. Simply Annaud’s “grand cinema” – an ambitious concept, a load of pathos, great craftsmanship, alternately touching and predictable in places. But this time in needless 3D. (10.02.2015)

Grimy pathetic boredom driven by Chinese acting, such that even though it takes itself deadly seriously, the protagonists are slapstick. Annaud can compose shots, but he utterly fails in his attempt to piece together a film that works on at least one of the twenty-six levels he's trying to navigate. By the second half, I had the impression that he was arranging scenes in sequence based on a roll of the dice. Moreover, scenes like the young Chinese man unable to take his eyes off the exposed legs of a pretty Mongolian woman pulling the tail of a wolf in a flock of sheep or the hero to whom a Mongolian god sends images from the clouds recall the sweetest period of Sommers' demented creativity. I wished all the wolves would die as soon as possible. (05.07.2016)

This time Annaud does not go in depth, he just circles pleasantly on the surface of a rather unoriginal and simple fairy tale, which, despite great craftsmanship and a good human, heart has nothing to surprise and in fact not even to move. The narrative is as fresh as a spring wind on the majestic Mongolian steppes, and the technically demanding scenes with wild animals are breathtaking, but the script fails somewhat in connecting all the plot motifs in a natural way, and, especially when it comes to the friendship and understanding between two animal species, it does not reach nearly the same intensity as, for example, the now almost forgotten Never Cry Wolf. A disappointment from a filmmaker of Annaud's stature, but a very pleasant and authentic work as a faithful insight into the magic of nature with its specific mythology and order of life. 70% (27.06.2016)