The Company of Wolves. Review

8/3/2019 The Company of Wolves. Review

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The Company of Wolves (1984)

Fig. 1 Film poster

The film The Company of Wolves directed by Neil Jordan and starring Sarah Patterson and

Angela Lansbury is a film based around folklore werewolves, with what has to be the

weirdest and strangest of transformations thats ever been seen on screen even for todays

films. The transformations are gruesome and truly intense, as you can see from the film

poster the wolf seems as if to be growing from with the human body and coming from out

of the humans mouth. The film very much symbolises that of little red riding hood but with

its own twists and gruesome tail to it. Little red riding hood was known for its just typical girlgoes to visit granny but instead has been replaced b what seems to be a werewolf and

mentions what big teeth you have wolfs, replies with all the better to eat you with type

thing. This film is much like a child hood story of a film that goes beyond a horror and

gruesome side its like a childhood story gone tragically wrong, especially as a version of

sexual allegory. The films a lot based around Rosalines (Sarah Patterson) dreams and from

time to time having minor flashbacks.

Fig. 2 Flashback


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One of the first scene we see is a close-up of a girl sleeping on her bed, the camera often

returns between scenes also maybe showing it was just a dream the film seems to be very

much based around a subconscious teenage girl who must have something not quite right

but no ordinary person sleep that much. Dreams arent really supposed to make sense

(Ashlin. S) Granny tells her granddaughter Rosaleen of strange disturbing tales of innocentmaidens falling in love with handsome, heavily eye browed strangers, with beautiful eyes

and of sudden disappearances of spouses when the moon in full also as well that there are

howls of wolfs with the forests at night and baby found inside stork eggs high up in a nest in

talk trees. Again making this slightly off-set and all characters very much representing a

Freudian type character within them.

The whole story embarks on things that men whose eyebrows meet in the middle are not to

be trusted yet come across as the most handsome and within the film when exposed to the

full moon transform in savage howling werewolves. Some parts of the film that are slightlydisturbing would be one of the parts Rosalean climbs up a tall tree to hide for someone and

once at the top of the tree sees bird eggs, but these arent your ordinary bird eggs but

much rather instead seem to be having what seems to be actual babies. This is quite of a

scary and strange scene within the film and actually slightly disturbing.

The characters in Jordan's film ofAngela Carter's story inhabit a magical, mysterious world

of cruelty and wonder, rarely seen in cinema. In tales within tales within tales, dream is

reality; wolves are human, and vice-versa. Rarely has this Gothic landscape of the

imagination been so perfectly conveyed by film; there is simply a precise, resonant portrayal

of a young girl's immersion in fantasies where sexuality is both fearful and seductive. (GA)

Throughout the film you can tell that the girl representing little red riding hood is defiantly

the main focus throughout the film and wants the audience to pay as much attention to

her. One disturbing point throughout the film is the transformation of one wolf that granny

explains were he physically rips his skin off, which has to be one of the most graphical

scenes within the film.

The film is very informative when it comes to transformation or metamorphosis and very

much rather showing someone transforming peacefully this film very much represents it asvery much the opposite and showing that if realistically and human could transform then

they would definitely extreme huge amounts of pain and its nice a nice process for a human

being to go through.

''If there's a beast in men, it meets its match in women, too.'' (Canby. V)
http://www.timeout.com/film/people/322863/angela-carter.htmlhttp://www.timeout.com/film/people/322863/angela-carter.htmlhttp://www.timeout.com/film/people/322863/angela-carter.htmlhttp://www.timeout.com/film/people/322863/angela-carter.html


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Fig. 3 Transformation skin ripping

Illustration

Fig. 1 Film poster (1984)http://www.imdb.com/media/rm126655488/tt0087075

Fig. 2 Flashback (1984)http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-

533x300.jpg

Fig. 3 Transformation skin ripping

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-

2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPG

Bibliography

Scott Ashlin (2003-2011)http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-

d/companyofwolves.htm

(GA) (2007)http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/69562/the-company-of-wolves.html

Vincent Canby (April 19th

1985)

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802EFD91138F93AA25757C0A963948260
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm126655488/tt0087075http://www.imdb.com/media/rm126655488/tt0087075http://www.imdb.com/media/rm126655488/tt0087075http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPGhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/69562/the-company-of-wolves.htmlhttp://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/69562/the-company-of-wolves.htmlhttp://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/69562/the-company-of-wolves.htmlhttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802EFD91138F93AA25757C0A963948260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802EFD91138F93AA25757C0A963948260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802EFD91138F93AA25757C0A963948260http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/69562/the-company-of-wolves.htmlhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/companyofwolves.htmhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F1_zuesJ_Bk/SyFUUTRYzeI/AAAAAAAAAQo/kduBaLRKY60/s320/10-12-2009+19%3B02%3B59.JPGhttp://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2010/12/the-company-of-wolves-2-533x300.jpghttp://www.imdb.com/media/rm126655488/tt0087075

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The Company of Wolves. Review