Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

lastliberal I would have to say that you either like Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, Funny Games, Cache) or you don't. His films are dark and depressing, raw and emotional, and, many times, they leave you clueless as to what is going on. Yes, they are cerebral, and a welcome change from the mindless movies with frat boys and fart jokes.Any chance to see Isabelle Huppert (8 Women, The Piano Player) is a good thing.It is a post apocalyptic world. We never really know why. Maybe a virus of some sort. It is a chance to think about how people will act when there is not law, and how they will cling to the slightest hope for survival. Again, Haneke provides the framework and lets us make up our own minds about how it ends.

Joseph Sylvers Drab, pointless, humorless, dreary, are some words that come to mind quickly. The first ten minutes are shock cinema at its finest, but after that it's a more realistic-than-thou, account of an end of the world scenario. What conclusions does it come to? People are mean, racist, xenophobic, and greedy, without social structures to guide them, but maybe, just maybe, if they cling to their humanity and mercy, things could get better, the world can be reborn, etc.The little boy character was trite, running away, at just the right moment when the paced lagged, cus thats what traumatized little boys in these kinds of movies do. There's some nice cinematography, of darkness, with some fires burning, not very subtle symbolism, but nothing in this was. It's less pedantic than "Funny Games", but not as clever. It's bleak, and desperate, and dismal. A live horse is killed on screen, for our viewing pleasure! At least John Waters had his animals f*&$ed before he slaughtered them.Does just being the opposite of the way, Hollywood would film something, make it automatically artful and meaningful? Sure it's more realistic than Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but it's themes of desperation, human redemption, and survival, are the same. Just less entertaining. A real life disaster, would indeed probably go down with people crowded in barns, hating each other trying to make due, but so what? That's just a premise, not a story. The final scene of the train in motion, suggests, things get better, but as to why is just as mysterious as what caused the catastrophe in the first place. And ultimately, just as purposeful, to begin and end the movie, that's all.This wasn't very original, provocative, or challenging. It's intense at times but mostly lethargic, and begs by its somberness to be taken seriously, without anything at all serious to contribute.

dbdumonteil This is perhaps Haneke's least accessible work,which is not writing that his other works are entertaining stuff.The star Isabelle Huppert becomes some kind of walk on in the second part which makes me think that the movie would have been better without her (and using non professional actors à la Robert Bresson) This movie shows groups of people,leaving the cities (which we do not see) for... Nobody knows,a train is expected ,but where does it take its passengers?And does this train exist anyway? Several hints at the Bible might suggest another Deluge or another Sodom and and Gomorrah (the just men;a man uses the words :biblical simplicity) ,the station,with all his languages might be another tower of Babel,and the letter the boy writes to his late father has Christian accents (he really thinks his dad reads him from... Heaven?).Like this?Try these......"Black Moon" Louis Malle 1975"Skammen" Ingmar Berman 1968"Les égarés" André Téchiné 2003

Paul Martin Somehow I missed seeing this film made in between my first Haneke experience (The Piano Teacher, 2001) and my second (Hidden, 2005). I think I was put off by a description I heard of it as a horror film. Genre brings expectations, and while the film does not really fit into that genre, it is not altogether inappropriate either (though any horror is not what the title may initially suggest). It is more of a social drama/thriller about an unidentified threat to civilisation as we know it.The film is sparse, austere, and with little dialogue. While the plot is very different to Hidden, it shares that film's style. The plot has more in common with say Children of Men, without the stylistic embellishments (and that's not a criticism). While Cuarón's film describes a world crisis without explanation, Haneke's provides so little information, that we don't even know what the threat is. What we see in abundance is the disturbing social responses from the perspective of a family caught away from home and away from the city. The film also recalls Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002), but without the zombies.Like Ma mère (My Mother) and Nue propriété (Private Property) - both of which starred Isabelle Huppert - the film's opening credits are without any sound, adding to a sobering sense of mystery and foreboding. The whole film is without music other than a character's unenhanced playing of a tape in a cassette recorder.Haneke is a difficult director for some audiences. His films (the ones I've seen) are cold. He uses cold colours. People are emotionally distant, don't communicate effectively, don't relate. While this makes it hard for some to engage with unsympathetic characters, it peels back the medium to reveal a raw core. One doesn't have to like a character to appreciate the nuance depicted and Haneke's work is full of subtle nuance. His depiction of a scenario without explanation is so intelligent and effective. We get to share the experience of the characters, trying to learn facts and make sense of 'reality' as if we were there ourselves.Huppert's character is mother and protector of her two children on holiday in the country when disaster arrives suddenly and shockingly. Think of the abrupt moment in Hidden. There are a couple of moments like this in The Time of the Wolf. While the brilliant Huppert has top billing, her role is subordinate to the enormity of the situation she finds herself in. The portrayal of the situation is itself relegated to the background, with the prime focus being on how people react, individually and collectively.The Time of the Wolf is both very original and very bold in both its conception and execution. It powerfully succeeds in everything it sets out to achieve, ending with ambiguity but (like Children of Men) with some sense of hope. Having now seen three Haneke films, I look forward to seeing anything else by this very talented and challenging director.