Among the Wolves

Directors: Tanguy Dumortier, Olivier Larrey

17 June 2024

See

Two artists, photographer Olivier and painter Yves as well as the documentary filmmaker observe a pack of wolves on the Finnish-Russian border, showing the patience and persistence required to capture the spirit of the elusive animals. 

Think

Like many quality films on animals, this one is meditative, with long languid stretches of not much, weeks in real time without the wolf pack making an appearance. Yet when they do there’s a flurry of activity and creation. 

Feel

Having recently re-listened to The New York Times podcast Animals by NYT Magazine feature writer Sam Anderson, there’s so much of human life we project on these and other creatures. They are the essence of life. And yet is that anthropomorphism a stretch? Their lives are much simpler and more visceral. It’s calming when the artists are in the hide-out cabin observing. But out in the woods with the wolves the fear would make it hard to create art. Yet be truer to the primal fear than many people feel, rightly or wrongly about these majestic creatures. Does that say more about us, or them?