Based on the popular semi-autobiographical 2004 novel by Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem is yet another beautiful film from director Jean-Jacques Annaud, but unlike his previous efforts such as Quest for Fire, Two Brothers and The Bear, Wolf Totem aims for style over substance.

In the late 1960’s during the Chinese cultural revolution, Beijing student Chen Zhen (Shaofeng Feng) is sent to Mongolia to teach the people Mandarin and Chinese customs as part as of an ongoing effort to bring China into the 21st century. While there, Chen learns the shepherds have a healthy respect for nature, particularly the beautiful but brutal Mongolian Wolf, a species that had until recently coexisted peacefully with the locals. While the shepherds accept that the wolves that often attack their herds of sheep, many outside the community are starving. As a result, when the wolves’ food supply of frozen gazelles is raided, they turn on the humans, resulting in the local leaders to declare an extermination of the wolves.

From there, things shift a bit as Chen Zhen takes it upon himself to raise a wolf cub under the pretense of education, even as other wolves are being hunted down and killed. This might sound like a set-up for a cute ‘man-befriends-animal’ narrative’ but the relationship between Chen Zhen and the wolf remains largely unsentimental. It’s almost scientific. If anything else. But because I didn’t really have an emotional connection to the relationship, I was left feeling rather indifferent about the entire outcome of things.

Jean-Jacques Annaud has a lot of experience with animals and he spent three years training wolves for this film and nearly a year shooting on location in Mongolia. The result is a visually stunning movie full of striking landscapes and beautiful imagery. Unfortunately, the narrative (Annaud co-wrote the script) is underdeveloped as is the character of Chen Zhen and the lack of any real emotion connection to the wolf club he’s raising leaves Wolf Totem without a true emotional center.

Framed in 2.40:1 and natively shot in 3D this presentation boasts excellent depth and an abundance of high level detail. The colors are brilliant throughout with deep primaries and splendid secondary hues. Contrast is spot on, while whites preserve the detail. Blacks are nicely delineated and deep throughout. Depth of field is excellent, as is separation. I didn’t notice any ghosting or 3D related anomalies.

The lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio doesn’t provide a full surround experience at all times, but it occasionally reproduces all the elements with noticeable oomph. Dialogue is clear and easily understandable throughout, while dynamic range is solid. Music and atmospherics are delivered with little fanfare, but are acceptable. While this soundtrack won’t blow anyone away, it’s certainly entertaining and suits the film well.

English, English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles are included.

The following extras are available:

  • The Director’s Adventure (HD, 5:26) An overview of Annaud’s nature films.
  • A Look at the Cast (HD, 3:19) Brief interviews with the cast, mostly in Mandarin with English subtitles.
  • Saving the Environment (HD, 5:28) A look at the environmental issues raised in the film.
  • The Nature of the Wolf (HD, 11:27) A look at how the animals used in the film were trained.