In acclaimed director Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation of Jiang Rong's best-selling novel, a young Beijing student is sent to live among the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. Caught between the advance of civilization from the south and the nomads’ traditional enemies – the marauding wolves – to the north; humans and animals, residents and invaders alike, struggle to find their true place in the world.

MOVIE REVIEW

Review by Karen Samdahl (B+)

I saw Wolf Totem in an IMAX theater and if for no other reason it is worth seeing for the stunning cinematography.  This is a Chinese production with a notable French director (Jean-Jacques Arnaud), filmed on the immense grasslands of Inner Mongolia.  The year is 1967, during China’s Cultural Revolution.  Besides the photography, there are several aspects of the film that I enjoyed:  the insights into the traditional nomadic lives of the Mongols, the spirit and beauty of the wolves, and the portrayal of the conflicts between an indigenous people who knew how to live wisely in their environment faced with the invasion of an “advanced civilization” who lacked any wisdom whatsoever regarding the natural world—sort of mirrors our own American history and present, doesn’t it?
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