Review of The Company of Wolves (1984) by Steve H — 11 May 2008

Those seeking a "traditional" horror yarn may well be dissapointed by Neil Jordans freudian fairytail inspired by the short wolf stories of Angela Carter, who also contributed to the screenplay. Although knowledge of the source material is not essential it most certainly provides an extra level of understanding to the procedings. The movie is a complex blend of symbols and folklore with an unusual (for the time) dream within a dream, story within a story style narrative which may suprise some. Jordan manages to to translate the highly descriptive and dense writings of Carter perfectly with gloriously constructed mis en scene filled with metaphore. The films main focus seems to be the absolute corruption of adulthood, a double edged sword which both tempts and terrifies our protaganist Rosaline.

To safeguard against the onslought of womanhood we have the character of the grandmother who's purpose is to protect Rosalines innocence, the cloak she makes for her grandaughter for instance is there to preserve her purity and to hide her rapidly developing female form. Later the huntsman states "you won't be needing this anymore" thus showing Rosalines readyness to become an adult.

As a final point it is interesting to note that the wolves represented in the film are not there to harm Rsaline, they are merely devices used to destroy Rosalines childhood. Notice in the last scene in Rosalines bedroom (a stereotypical little girls room) when the wolves smash through the window the first thing they do is tear apart this room, dolls and all and the scream we hear from Rosaline is not necessarily a one of fear caused by these wild things but is infact a scream dedicated to what she must lose to become a woman.

Ultimatley this is a film which gives back what you put in, the audience must work for explanation and satisfaction it is not spoon fed to them, and it benifits greatly from repeat viewings and an analytical eye.