Time of the Wolf

Michael Haneke's follow up to his masterpiece The Piano Teacher is about a family struggling to survive in an apocalyptic situation where 'the system' has broken down. A family arrives at their vacation home in the country only to find it occupied by strangers. They find a small amount of comfort with a small group of people living in a train station, hoping the train will come take them somewhere. The movie goes on to paint a very realistic portrait of what life would be like if banks and ATMs closed, supplies stopped coming in, and there was no law. It is a grim picture, the evilness of human behavior is on full display here. Animals are slaughtered, women are exploited and raped, and children starve. In contrast to this bleakness, the film is shot beautifully. Haneke uses the dawn and dust hours to great effect. There is an incredible scene in a field in the middle of the night only lit by a lighter. Isabelle Huppert from The Piano Teacher stars again, giving another phenomenal performance as the mother. Time of the Wolf rightfully shows that when people are put in dire circumstances, it will not be "all good." As with any Haneke film, this is not for everyone but if your interested it's on DVD now.