I was surprised very much when I found only one comment five years after release of this movie. It is not too old and therefore forgotten, it is not too young and therefore not recognized. And as I've heard about it many times on different places I wouldn't say it's unknown.
So, maybe it's because it is French, and I've found many French movies that don't have a single comment. Partly because French themselves don't like to write in English, while the rest have prejudices and don't watch French movies (finding them "either porn or perv" as my hollywoodized kids generalize, probably saying what most Americans and their followers have in their minds). And if I write a comment it often gains just few reactions or none at all.
Survivre avec les loups definitely isn't in the top French or Belgian production. It deals with a topic that became so frequent in French cinematography that it looks as if France can't clean its conscience and wash away the shame. I've seen unexpectedly many movies that cope with destiny of Jews, especially children, in WWII. From angle of victims, adults (Un affaire de femmes), kids (Une vie en retour), survived or dead (Le secret), even collaborators and their families whose members realize what some of them did during the occupation (Le piano oublié), during war or after it. So many European nations participated in WWII, so many have their own tragic stories (and skeletons in closets) but France appears as the mutual, collective European conscience, at least when we have movies in mind.
However, Survivre avec les loups doesn't belong to the upper half of these movies. Starting as a kind of Anna Frank story, and developing into an adventure movie it changes rhythm and wanders a lot between styles, not certain should it be a war epic or an educational story for young school-kids. And the part of the story that includes wolves is rather short and not that important as we would expect having some prior information about the movie; but the title might refer not only to real wolves, but wolves among humans as well.
I wasn't surprised that the allegedly true story appeared to be fake. Let's face it, who could believe the second part of the movie? A seven year old girl traveling across Europe, from Belgium to Ukraine, during two years, in wartime, and nothing happened to her except hunger and exhaustion? These two years include two winters, two strong war winters - anybody who's ever watched documentaries about WWII knows how cold those winters were. And maybe people from Australia or South Africa don't realize how distant these countries are, that the girl allegedly walked across Germany and Poland - try to find some detail cards or simply use Google Maps on high proportion how could people living in middle Europe even for a moment accept that the story might be true? Or, maybe they didn't, but were afraid that it wouldn't be politically correct to doubt the story of a holocaust victim? Not only that such a young child manages to go so far, we don't get information how she did it, how did she cross Rhein, Danube if going south or Wisla and Elbe if going north (knowing how strictly bridges have been controlled - if she succeeded to do it, it would be a great story itself!) but we simply suddenly see her hundreds or thousand kilometers from the place she's been in former scene. No explanation. No need for it, obviously. OK for fairy tale, but how could it fit into a story supposed to be true? But now, having in mind that it is just a product of fiction and made without big pretensions, Survivre avec les loups is a watchable and sometimes (but not often) entertaining movie with Guy Bedos in the (beside a girl) only interesting and well played role. A character not original for such a movie, but this movie wasn't planned to be a masterpiece anyway. And compared to (according to story) the most similar movie I Am David, this French one loses in literally everything that can be compared. Still, as I Am David is a great movie, it doesn't mean that I recommend avoiding Survivre avec les loups... but after watching David's adventure first.
So, maybe it's because it is French, and I've found many French movies that don't have a single comment. Partly because French themselves don't like to write in English, while the rest have prejudices and don't watch French movies (finding them "either porn or perv" as my hollywoodized kids generalize, probably saying what most Americans and their followers have in their minds). And if I write a comment it often gains just few reactions or none at all.
Survivre avec les loups definitely isn't in the top French or Belgian production. It deals with a topic that became so frequent in French cinematography that it looks as if France can't clean its conscience and wash away the shame. I've seen unexpectedly many movies that cope with destiny of Jews, especially children, in WWII. From angle of victims, adults (Un affaire de femmes), kids (Une vie en retour), survived or dead (Le secret), even collaborators and their families whose members realize what some of them did during the occupation (Le piano oublié), during war or after it. So many European nations participated in WWII, so many have their own tragic stories (and skeletons in closets) but France appears as the mutual, collective European conscience, at least when we have movies in mind.
However, Survivre avec les loups doesn't belong to the upper half of these movies. Starting as a kind of Anna Frank story, and developing into an adventure movie it changes rhythm and wanders a lot between styles, not certain should it be a war epic or an educational story for young school-kids. And the part of the story that includes wolves is rather short and not that important as we would expect having some prior information about the movie; but the title might refer not only to real wolves, but wolves among humans as well.
I wasn't surprised that the allegedly true story appeared to be fake. Let's face it, who could believe the second part of the movie? A seven year old girl traveling across Europe, from Belgium to Ukraine, during two years, in wartime, and nothing happened to her except hunger and exhaustion? These two years include two winters, two strong war winters - anybody who's ever watched documentaries about WWII knows how cold those winters were. And maybe people from Australia or South Africa don't realize how distant these countries are, that the girl allegedly walked across Germany and Poland - try to find some detail cards or simply use Google Maps on high proportion how could people living in middle Europe even for a moment accept that the story might be true? Or, maybe they didn't, but were afraid that it wouldn't be politically correct to doubt the story of a holocaust victim? Not only that such a young child manages to go so far, we don't get information how she did it, how did she cross Rhein, Danube if going south or Wisla and Elbe if going north (knowing how strictly bridges have been controlled - if she succeeded to do it, it would be a great story itself!) but we simply suddenly see her hundreds or thousand kilometers from the place she's been in former scene. No explanation. No need for it, obviously. OK for fairy tale, but how could it fit into a story supposed to be true? But now, having in mind that it is just a product of fiction and made without big pretensions, Survivre avec les loups is a watchable and sometimes (but not often) entertaining movie with Guy Bedos in the (beside a girl) only interesting and well played role. A character not original for such a movie, but this movie wasn't planned to be a masterpiece anyway. And compared to (according to story) the most similar movie I Am David, this French one loses in literally everything that can be compared. Still, as I Am David is a great movie, it doesn't mean that I recommend avoiding Survivre avec les loups... but after watching David's adventure first.