Wolfen
It's getting close to Halloween, so it's not a surprise that a number of horror films are to be found on late night tv. Tonight I saw one that was made from a novel I'd once read ... The Wolfen.
The novel is by Whitley Strieber, who has written some interesting books, including The Hunger, a vampire story, which was made into a movie starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. Strieber is a Roman Catholic and was a fan of the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and Peter Uspensky, but he's probably more notoriously known for being a self-confessed alien abductee ... his book Communion and the movie made from it (starring Christopher Walken) tell the tale.
But back to the Wolfen movie - made in 1981, it has some really decent actors - ... Albert Finney (Tom Jones, The Dresser, Under the Volcano, Miller's Crossing) .... Broeadway actor and dancer Gregory Hines ... Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Mi Familia, Battlestar Galactica). Below is Roger Ebert's review of the movie ...
An intriguing film named WOLFEN, which is not about werewolves but is about the possibility that Indians and wolves can exchange souls, has crept stealthily into several Chicago theaters ...
The story begins with the mysterious killing of a politician, his wife, and their chauffeur. There are lots of suspects and lots of motives, but the clues are puzzling: the bodies were slashed to ribbons, but apparently not with blades of any known metal. Could the wounds have been caused by teeth?
Albert Finney, a cop with assorted psychological problems, is put on the case, teamed up with another officer (Diane Venora). They begin to gather a fact here, a hunch there. Could wolves have done this damage? Scientists discover wolf hairs on several of the dead bodies that begin to turn up. But wolves are supposed to be extinct in the East, and certainly within New York City.
The movie intercuts the police investigation with imaginative scenes shot from the wolves' point of view. These are fast-moving tracking shots; the camera swoops down streets at the eye-level of a wolf, pausing, taking cover, following one track and then another. Wadleigh suggests a wolf's senses with special optical effects in which objects with a scent also seem to shimmer.
The movie's narrative style is brooding. Finney comes into contact with an assortment of eccentric people (scientists, cops, morgue attendants, pathologists), and the trail eventually leads to a group of American Indians employed as high-steel workers. There is a breathtaking confrontation to top of a bridge. What do the Indians know about wolves? Is it possible that they practice ancient rituals to turn into wolves? Or do they just share spiritual communion with them?
WOLFEN develops a strong, angry theme about ecological and human waste. We learn that the wolves make their headquarters in a ruined section of the South Bronx that resembles a bombed-out wasteland. Their original victim, the politician, had just visited there for a groundbreaking ceremony, vowing to "renew" the area. In killing him, the wolves are merely exercising their territorial imperative.
What is perhaps most interesting about WOLFEN is that the story remains plausible - given its basic assumptions, of course. This is not sci-fi, fantasy or violent escapism. It's a provoking speculation on the terms by which we share this earth with other creatures.
This seriousness reportedly did not impress the releasing studio, United Artists, which would have preferred a sleazy exploitation picture (and is releasing WOLFEN as if it were one). That's a shame. Love, thought, care and craftsmanship have gone into this film, which is now, so to speak, being thrown to the wolves.
I did like the movie, and a thought occurred as I watched it ... wolves, both in the movie and in real life, tend to target as prey those who are marginalized, the ill, disabled, elderly. So do we humans, but we're a lot less honest about it.
- Gregory Hines
The novel is by Whitley Strieber, who has written some interesting books, including The Hunger, a vampire story, which was made into a movie starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. Strieber is a Roman Catholic and was a fan of the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and Peter Uspensky, but he's probably more notoriously known for being a self-confessed alien abductee ... his book Communion and the movie made from it (starring Christopher Walken) tell the tale.
But back to the Wolfen movie - made in 1981, it has some really decent actors - ... Albert Finney (Tom Jones, The Dresser, Under the Volcano, Miller's Crossing) .... Broeadway actor and dancer Gregory Hines ... Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Mi Familia, Battlestar Galactica). Below is Roger Ebert's review of the movie ...
An intriguing film named WOLFEN, which is not about werewolves but is about the possibility that Indians and wolves can exchange souls, has crept stealthily into several Chicago theaters ...
The story begins with the mysterious killing of a politician, his wife, and their chauffeur. There are lots of suspects and lots of motives, but the clues are puzzling: the bodies were slashed to ribbons, but apparently not with blades of any known metal. Could the wounds have been caused by teeth?
Albert Finney, a cop with assorted psychological problems, is put on the case, teamed up with another officer (Diane Venora). They begin to gather a fact here, a hunch there. Could wolves have done this damage? Scientists discover wolf hairs on several of the dead bodies that begin to turn up. But wolves are supposed to be extinct in the East, and certainly within New York City.
The movie intercuts the police investigation with imaginative scenes shot from the wolves' point of view. These are fast-moving tracking shots; the camera swoops down streets at the eye-level of a wolf, pausing, taking cover, following one track and then another. Wadleigh suggests a wolf's senses with special optical effects in which objects with a scent also seem to shimmer.
The movie's narrative style is brooding. Finney comes into contact with an assortment of eccentric people (scientists, cops, morgue attendants, pathologists), and the trail eventually leads to a group of American Indians employed as high-steel workers. There is a breathtaking confrontation to top of a bridge. What do the Indians know about wolves? Is it possible that they practice ancient rituals to turn into wolves? Or do they just share spiritual communion with them?
WOLFEN develops a strong, angry theme about ecological and human waste. We learn that the wolves make their headquarters in a ruined section of the South Bronx that resembles a bombed-out wasteland. Their original victim, the politician, had just visited there for a groundbreaking ceremony, vowing to "renew" the area. In killing him, the wolves are merely exercising their territorial imperative.
What is perhaps most interesting about WOLFEN is that the story remains plausible - given its basic assumptions, of course. This is not sci-fi, fantasy or violent escapism. It's a provoking speculation on the terms by which we share this earth with other creatures.
This seriousness reportedly did not impress the releasing studio, United Artists, which would have preferred a sleazy exploitation picture (and is releasing WOLFEN as if it were one). That's a shame. Love, thought, care and craftsmanship have gone into this film, which is now, so to speak, being thrown to the wolves.
I did like the movie, and a thought occurred as I watched it ... wolves, both in the movie and in real life, tend to target as prey those who are marginalized, the ill, disabled, elderly. So do we humans, but we're a lot less honest about it.
- Gregory Hines
posted by crystal | 7:52 PM
4 Comments:
Crystal, have you read Communion? It frightened me for weeks...months...years. His web site gets a lot of attention, but I won't go near it.
Hi Susan. No, The Wolfen is the only book of his I've read. I'm a fan of science fiction, and I believe it's possible, in theory, that life exists on other planets, but when someone says they're an alien abductee, I feel skeptical. It's a scary idea!
I've never seen 'Wolfen', but I saw 'The Hunger' a long time ago when the Harvard Square Cinema used to show cult film classics. Pretty wild picture. I remember being impressed at how good Catherine Deneuve looked for her age. David Bowie, of course, is always good.
Yes, David Bowie! even my mom liked him :-)
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