the company of wolves (1985) film review
TRANSCRIPT
Steven Payne
The Company of Wolves (1984) Dir. Neil Jordan
The Company of Wolves is not only a stylized reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, but it alters the way fairytale stories are perceived as a whole. The film takes the fairytale style of masking sincere life lessons and morals in an easy-‐to-‐swallow format and pushes it further. The film opens with Rosaleen asleep in what the audience is led to believe is 1984 England. Rosaleen is depicted early on as a victim, receiving bouts of abuse from her older sister. This segues into where the film really begins, in the supposed dreamworld of Rosaleen. A dreamworld which at first, seems as if it were a safe haven. A place where the thing she hates the most is punished and removed. This of course, being her sister. But it is not long until the true nature of Rosaleen’s dreamworld is shown and it is made apparent that the world she has created in her mind is as bad as the reality she is trying so desperately to escape. Rosaleen learns of these horrors through the
wise words of her own Grandmother, who lends her knowledge throughout the film. The advice given by her grandmother is reminiscent of Aesop’s fables, appearing at first to be a simple tale designed to entertain, but underneath there is always a moral. These morals are typically warning Rosaleen to “beware”. “Never stray from the path, never eat a windfall apple and never trust a man whose eyebrows meet in the middle.” These wise words from Granny have an immediate purpose, but also prepare her for adulthood. When Granny warns Rosaleen never to stray from the path into the forest, the forest is being depicted as adulthood, whilst the path is childhood. You are led along a safe path in childhood and the forest of adulthood is an area of freedom, a place where you can do as you please and all consequences are present. This is shown clearly in the film, as the forest is the location where Rosaleen has various adolescent encounters, such as with the boy from the village and later on, the huntsman. Granny is simply preparing her for the terrors that only appear once you wipe away the sugar-‐coated glaze on the world, seen through the eyes of a child. “I don’t come from Hell, I come from the forest.” The most obvious and notable use of symbolism is the portrayal and representation of men in the film. Men are depicted as wolves, with wolves serving as a metaphor for instinctive, animalistic qualities that supposedly all men possess on the inside. Roger Ebert says, “The key word there is "he." There are no female wolves in this film, or at least not in the leading roles. The wolves are all male, and the males are almost all wolves.”
(Ebert, 1985)
Fig 1. The Company of Wolves Film Poster
Steven Payne
What Ebert is saying here is that the majority of the men in the film are displaying the primal actions of the wolf, i.e. they are lustful, devious and exactly what Granny was warning Rosaleen of all along.
The final act of the film depicts Rosaleen waking up from her dream in modern day England, as the wolves tear their way through her house. As the wolves coming beating around every corner and the familiar scenery from early on in the film is destroyed, the theme is made apparent. This is a metaphor for Rosaleen pushing through adolescence into adulthood, with her past life being destroyed by what is to come and introducing her to the world she is growing into. Bibliography Images Fig. 1. The Company of Wolves Film Poster From: The Company of Wolves Directed by: Neil Jordan. [film poster] United Kingdom. Fig. 2. Rosaleen Strays from the Path and Finds the Huntsman From: The Company of Wolves Directed by: Neil Jordan. [film still] United Kingdom. Quotes Ebert, R.E. (1985) The Company of Wolves In: Rogerebert.suntimes.com 22.05.85 [online] http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19850422/REVIEWS/504220301
Fig 2. Rosaleen Strays from the Path and Finds the Huntsman