'The Wolfpack' A Review

The Wolfpack is a documentary about six brothers kept in confinement by their domineering father in a lower Manhattan apartment. Through their shared love of cinema the brothers cope with their isolation by reenacting their favorite films complete with props and costumes made of cereal boxes and masking tape. Inspired by The Dark Knight one of the brothers escapes which propels the whole family to begin interacting with the outside world.

The film is a composite of interviews, home movies, and the brothers day-to-day life. At the time the film was shot the brothers are still acclimating to the outside world and are relatively naive. We accompany them on their first visit to Coney Island and a movie theater. They display a wonder and caution bordering on paranoia for the city they have lived in their whole lives. These scenes are juxtaposed with their versions of their favorite films played out in their apartment. What is most astonishing about these homages is not the reverent seriousness in which they go about them but the brothers uncanny abilities of mimicry. The brother portraying Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs does an incredible Steve Buscemi.

The why of the situation is never fully flushed out. Their father is only a specter in the majority of the film, referred to but only seen towards the end where he drunkenly provides a half-hearted justification for his actions. Their mother however is ever-present nurturing and loving, clearly caught in a bad situation, who gains some personal and familial redemption towards the end. The brothers are all articulate and seem relatively at peace with varying degrees of acceptance and adjustment regarding their childhood. All barely speak to their father and refer to past situations and events that cannot be forgiven. Some viewers may want more, want the gory details, but they would not provide a clearer picture of who these brothers are.

What is clear is the brothers deep and prevailing love of cinema. The film clearly conveys not only a deep love of movies but the power film has to bring hope, relief, and inspiration in life's darkest hours.

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