Men and Wolves (1957) User Reviews

In bocca ai lupo!

[brogmiller · 6/10 · 6 August 2021]

Giuseppe de Santis made a stunning directorial debut with 'Caccia Tragica' in 1947 and went one better two years later with 'Riso Amaro', indisputably a classic of World Cinema. This iconic film would prove a tough act to follow!

The 1950's saw an audience shift away from neo-realism and de Santis was obliged to adapt his style with variable results.

The unevenness of 'Uomini e Lupi' is not altogether de Santis' fault and it is a great pity that he lost control of the editing to the Producer and disowned the whole enterprise. Neither is the film helped by being conceived on too grand a scale. As envisaged by writers Tonino Guerra and Elio Petri this is a simple tale of Man against Nature but its Cinemascope format renders everything and everyone rather remote and robs the piece of the intimacy that is De Santis' forte.

On paper the cast is top notch but somehow fails to gel. Silvana Mangano is the obvious choice to play Teresa and she is as statuesque and enigmatic as ever but here alas she is a little too much of both and although things pick up a bit as her relationship with the Ricuccio of Yves Montand develops there is an absence of 'chemistry' between the two. Monsieur Montand captures the free spirit of the character but seems curiously removed and one cannot help thinking that Raf Vallone would have been more convincing. The role of Teresa's husband Giovanni is pretty dreary and even the excellent Pedro Armandariz cannot rise above it. There is a full-blooded performance by Irene Cafaro as the mayor's daughter who sets her sights on Ricuccio. This actress, like so many of her contemporaries, came to film via beauty pageants but alas gave it all up before realising her true potential.

Granted, there are some splendid images here especially of the heavy snow falls in the Abruzzo region and the final battle with the wolves is impressively handled whilst Mario Nascimbene contributes a marvellous score. One is left however with a feeling of regret at what might have been.

De Santis' last feature of note came in 1964 and it is gratifying to know that his death in Rome in 1997 was marked as a national day of mourning.

Beautiful Recreation Of The Bygone World Of The Lupari

[lchadbou-326-26592 · 8/10 · 26 August 2014]

Uomini E Lupi is not as well known as De Santis' earlier,more political neo-realist work, and he disowned it after the editing was taken away from him, but it is a lovely depiction of the ongoing struggle of small Italian hill towns against marauding wolves. As the population of these wild animals in Italy had dwindled by the time the film was made in the late 1950s, wolves were brought in from Russia, and some of the village of Vischio, where most of the story takes place, was constructed in the studio. De Santis also uses such elements as color, music (by Mario Nascimbene) and melodrama for an overall romantic effect. In a way he has recreated the world of the wolfers, or "lupari," the way Robert Flaherty recreated some of the Eskimo life he was documenting in Nanook Of The North. The drama centers on the rivalry between a serious, stubborn, independent wolfer who doesn't want to work for a boss (played by Mexican star Pedro Armendariz) and a womanizing, more playful vagabond (played by French star Yves Montand) Montand flirts with both Armendariz's wife (played by the sexy Silvana Mangano) and the daughter of the town's bigwig. In a key scene early on, Armendariz has tried to prove himself by single-handedly fighting a growling, restlessly pacing wolf that has fallen into a forest trap he had made; when a pack of other wolves come to its rescue, Armendariz is killed. Montand will later prove himself after two captures that were somewhat tarnished: one in which he tried to pass off a dead dog as a wolf, another in which the kill was done by a whole group of countrymen, strikingly shown in dark cloaks sweeping through the snow on skis.The tradition is then shown where the victorious wolfer goes through the neighboring towns where the local sheperds have similarly been threatened by the wild animals, and solicits gifts from them. (As they reach each village, the call is heard, "E arrivato il luparo"- the wolfer is here.) Mangano and her little boy travel with Montand, and bring with them two captured wolf cubs they were lucky to have found, as their mother wolf follows along and stalks them. One of the towns they find completely deserted, as there has been an earthquake On the festive night of New Year's, Mangano decides to release the cubs. In the climax, when they are back in Vischio, wolves approach the village at night and attack the sheep, cattle, and horses that are penned in. A fight ensues through the winding streets, culminating in Montand's own one to one struggle, in a shed, with a wolf. This time he has truly proved himself. As winter ends and things turn green again, a decision has to be made where he will go- will he run off with the younger woman, or join Mangano and the boy, with whom despite initial distrust there has been bonding? The standout scenes in this fascinating film are the footage of the animals, which deserve comparison with the underrated Hollywood film, Sequoia. I think as well that Jack London would have liked this movie!