Review of Wolves at Our Door (1997) by Kevin R — 11 Jun 2017

So basically to cut things short (spoiler alert) this film is about wolves if you hadn't noticed from the title of the documentary already. That being said the film revolves around a particular set of wolves, one single pack of them who are raised and observed by Jim and Jamie Dutcher who are a couple which dedicate themselves to raising the Sawtooth pack and then introducing them to new regions where they may repopulate.

Overall the film provided great insight on what it's like to live among wolves and gives off a sense of what it would be like to live among a pack, almost as if you are a wolf yourself. We witness the struggles, challenges, and accomplishments a pack faces in everyday life as well as the mechanics on how it operates. It truly is as though you are running with the wolves because you observe how they work as a family and which individuals play which roles because each does something to support the pack. I highly recommend the film because it accomplished what its intent, as a documentary is which is basically to educate the viewers on a specific topic. With that being I had no single complaint due to the reason that it serves a purpose as a film and executes the lessons very thoroughly by showing what exactly they are explaining. Much knowledge is passed down educating the viewers into pack life. This ranges from seeing how an alpha is chosen to how a pack welcomes new born wolves to even demonstrating how they come to accept unknown territory as their own.

Of course you may have been able to find a few faults with the film here and there but no denying that it succeeds its purpose as a documentary. The visuals that are many such as the wolves howling in the moonlight, playing through the cold winter snow, baby wolves meeting the pack etc. as well as the sounds of the film that could be the wolves howls at night, growls to show dominance, or even the music behind the scenes are all magnificent and set the right tones/moods for the film. These tones/moods are all diverse throughout the documentary and each visual along with the sounds either could make you feel a certain way such as anxiety when the baby wolves are meeting the pack for fear that they might not be excepted into the pack. California is an example of what would happen to our furry companions if we misunderstand them, by the way California wolves went extinct a long time ago just throwing that out there. So it is important to educate the viewers on this amazing canine and the way they react to the environment because many parts of the world no longer have wolves such as California for example where wolves from another region have been needed to be brought in order to start reproduction. Major information on how to coexist with wolves was provided as the lovely couple in the film has demonstrated to us that these wolves are not just savages but share compassion just as humans do. It was interesting to see things from a different perspective because the documentary does not only teach you about wolves but shows you delicate sides to them such as when the female wolf fives birth to new members of the pack.

Now to dive into what exactly made this film great is the patience it took to record the right scenes at the right time as well as taking into account that these wolves are living in captivity but are released and followed around. The moment when they explain how the alpha wolf chooses his female partner the film shows the relationship the wolves have as lovers for numerous months leading to the female giving birth. The documentary as a whole is a work of art providing even the chilling howling of the pack under the full moon on a cold winter night. For a few minutes within the film an emphasis is placed on this scene where the rangers are attempting to decode the significance of the pack's howls.

If you haven't noticed these are pretty much the reasons why I gave the film so many stars. In all honesty I just could not find anything wrong with it, as it is a great educational experience for everyone. No scenes are inappropriate and all of them are enjoyable. Everything that occurs is explained and nothing is left to interpretation. The way of life of these wolves is beautiful and the film taught me personally a lot about them as a animal. If I had a complaint then it would have to be the length of the documentary and only because I wish it were longer so that they could cover even more. On the rate they were going then it would be amazing to continue perceiving these wolves and the way they interact with this couple.

This film strikes the right emotions as explained before through the use of it's various sounds and visuals. The whole purpose of the couple containing the wolves was shown in the end and it was to release them back into a region where they could repopulate. The ending was very emotional and by this point in the film you have seen how much these people care for these animals so much that it even pains you to see both groups say goodbye. It was very well executed and the intentions of the research group were clear and they learned as much about the wolves as possible and reintroduce them to a land where they could now live out their own lives and leave the rest to survival of the fittest having no more human intervention. To see such a powerful animal in such delicate situations within the film was unbelievable and puts into perspective for the viewers that they are just trying to survive as well as every other being on this planet.