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Wolves of Kromer, The
First Run Features // Unrated // May 22, 2001
List Price: $29.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Wolves of Kromer is a decidedly odd little movie, a film that takes a story about werewolves in a storybook English village as a metaphor for the gay experience. Is it a horror movie? (No.) Is it a drama? (Kind of.) Is it a fantasy? (Not really.) Is it a "mix of fairy tale, romance, and gay allegory" as it's billed on the DVD case? Possibly, but that leads us to the most important question, which is "does it work as a film?" (Unfortunately not.)
At the beginning of the movie, The Wolves of Kromer had a fair chance of drawing me into its odd, fairy-tale allegory. It opens with an interesting scene: Two young men in shabby fur coats are sitting in the forest. Their sharp nails and pointed ears suggest something supernatural about them, but other than that, they look perfectly human. An old lady comes strolling down the path, and is horrified by the sight of the young men: she reacts as though they were real wolves and flees in terror. In town, likewise, the people speak of wolves in the surrounding forest. It looks like an interesting setup for a fantasy story: the townspeople see Gabriel and Seth as actual wolves, but to themselves (and to us, the audience) the "wolves" look like pleasant young men, all too human. It's either a clever way of admitting us to the wolves' point of view, or it's an interesting setup of a fantasy where illusion has taken hold of peoples' minds.
Alas, neither of these possibilities turns out to be correct. The key moment of disillusionment is when we see that the "wolves" have fake stuffed tails sewn onto their coats. The fragile suspension of disbelief that would have allowed me to enter into this fantasy world is shattered: clearly the premise is not that these "wolves" are seen differently by themselves and by the townsfolk; instead, the director is pointing at the actors and saying "here are two actors in silly wolf costumes pretending to be wolves."
After that, the film heads downhill at a fast clip, in large part because of the filmmakers' gross mishandling of the delicate technique of allegory. An allegory works, if it works at all, on two levels: there's the basic story itself, and then there's the allegory behind it, which is a separate element that deepens and enhances the first story. The Wolves of Kromer is not an allegory. It's trying to tell a modern-day fairy tale which is also an allegory about being homosexual. That's all well and good, and in fact the choice of the wolf to represent the gay figures is a choice that's rich in connotation. But the film doesn't present the surface story with any seriousness; it's just a throwaway wrapper for the allegory, which in turn is about a subtle as a sledgehammer. So the whole thing tumbles down like a house of cards, because allegory doesn't, and can't stand by itself.
Video
The Wolves of Kromer is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, with anamorphic enhancement. That's really the transfer's only redeeming virtue, because other than that, the image is dreadful. The picture is both noisy and grainy; contrast is terrible, with dark scenes losing out on large amounts of detail; and colors are unnatural and alternately harsh and drab depending on the lighting.
Audio
There's not much to be said for The Wolves of Kromer's audio track, one way or the other. The Dolby 2.0 track is unimpressive, delivering the dialogue adequately, though not with any particular clarity. I'd classify it as slightly below average quality in the audio department.
Extras
Any viewer who so happens to actually like the film will be satisfied with the special features on the disc. There's a brief featurette that takes a look behind the scenes, as well as a full audio commentary track with director Will Gould and writer Charles Lambert.
Final thoughts
I thought that The Wolves of Kromer had an interesting premise, but it's simply lacking the craftsmanship necessary to make it work. It's possible that the gay community would appreciate this film more than I have; the DVD promotional material says that it plays on "gay folklore" which may give it an additional dimension that I missed. In that case, it could have some repeat viewing value for those who actually liked the film... but probably not much. At any rate, my general suggestion would be to skip it entirely; there are much better films out there.
At the beginning of the movie, The Wolves of Kromer had a fair chance of drawing me into its odd, fairy-tale allegory. It opens with an interesting scene: Two young men in shabby fur coats are sitting in the forest. Their sharp nails and pointed ears suggest something supernatural about them, but other than that, they look perfectly human. An old lady comes strolling down the path, and is horrified by the sight of the young men: she reacts as though they were real wolves and flees in terror. In town, likewise, the people speak of wolves in the surrounding forest. It looks like an interesting setup for a fantasy story: the townspeople see Gabriel and Seth as actual wolves, but to themselves (and to us, the audience) the "wolves" look like pleasant young men, all too human. It's either a clever way of admitting us to the wolves' point of view, or it's an interesting setup of a fantasy where illusion has taken hold of peoples' minds.
Alas, neither of these possibilities turns out to be correct. The key moment of disillusionment is when we see that the "wolves" have fake stuffed tails sewn onto their coats. The fragile suspension of disbelief that would have allowed me to enter into this fantasy world is shattered: clearly the premise is not that these "wolves" are seen differently by themselves and by the townsfolk; instead, the director is pointing at the actors and saying "here are two actors in silly wolf costumes pretending to be wolves."
After that, the film heads downhill at a fast clip, in large part because of the filmmakers' gross mishandling of the delicate technique of allegory. An allegory works, if it works at all, on two levels: there's the basic story itself, and then there's the allegory behind it, which is a separate element that deepens and enhances the first story. The Wolves of Kromer is not an allegory. It's trying to tell a modern-day fairy tale which is also an allegory about being homosexual. That's all well and good, and in fact the choice of the wolf to represent the gay figures is a choice that's rich in connotation. But the film doesn't present the surface story with any seriousness; it's just a throwaway wrapper for the allegory, which in turn is about a subtle as a sledgehammer. So the whole thing tumbles down like a house of cards, because allegory doesn't, and can't stand by itself.
Video
The Wolves of Kromer is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, with anamorphic enhancement. That's really the transfer's only redeeming virtue, because other than that, the image is dreadful. The picture is both noisy and grainy; contrast is terrible, with dark scenes losing out on large amounts of detail; and colors are unnatural and alternately harsh and drab depending on the lighting.
Audio
There's not much to be said for The Wolves of Kromer's audio track, one way or the other. The Dolby 2.0 track is unimpressive, delivering the dialogue adequately, though not with any particular clarity. I'd classify it as slightly below average quality in the audio department.
Extras
Any viewer who so happens to actually like the film will be satisfied with the special features on the disc. There's a brief featurette that takes a look behind the scenes, as well as a full audio commentary track with director Will Gould and writer Charles Lambert.
Final thoughts
I thought that The Wolves of Kromer had an interesting premise, but it's simply lacking the craftsmanship necessary to make it work. It's possible that the gay community would appreciate this film more than I have; the DVD promotional material says that it plays on "gay folklore" which may give it an additional dimension that I missed. In that case, it could have some repeat viewing value for those who actually liked the film... but probably not much. At any rate, my general suggestion would be to skip it entirely; there are much better films out there.
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