kosmasp I have to admit, when I saw the cover I thought this was going to be a documentary. But it's a feature length film and it is a very well shot one. It's about nature, it's about humans and it's about wild life. Especially in the region depicted as someone else already stated well in their commentary to the film here on IMDb.This will not be everyones cup of tea, but if you like nature movies with a dramatic twist, you probably will like this too. You can't compare it to Revenant, which is something I kind of expected to find here, but fortunately that wasn't the case. The movie really brings the animals to life, framing them in a way and shooting them to make them not only characters but someone to root for and feel for too. If you are an animal friend, I don't even need to be telling you this. If not, you might not be as moved as others ...

martys-7 Moving and visually stunning autobiographical film involving Mongolians shepherds and wolves, both groups affected by encroaching settlements and bureaucratic regulations enforced by the Communist Party overseers, during the Cultural Revolution in China in the late 1960s. A Beijing university student is sent to live with nomadic shepherds and learns their ways, including their interaction which wolves, which has a spiritual significance to them. When the ecological balance is altered by human greed, there are fatal consequences for both humans and animals.While the photography captures the rugged majesty of the steppes in all its beauty and the action sequences are thrilling, this man versus nature drama portraits its characters with veracity never resorting to superhuman heroics or histrionics. Life is frail for both humans and wolves in their struggle for survival, wolves are not anthropomorphized, the Mongolian lifestyle is not romanticized, there are no easy solutions.Perfectly acted with flawless cinematography, this a must-see films for nature lovers and those who are concerned about the environment. The rest of the viewers should also be rewarded by this poignant and compelling real life story.

AkelaLoneWolf This movie was essentially on ecology, environmental protection and on the dignity of nature and all creation - here exemplified by the Mongolian wolf. The tradition and culture of Mongolian tribes unfolded before the eyes of the chief protagonist, a city boy from Beijing sent to these realms by waves of the Cultural Revolution. The audience followed his adventures and drank in the beauty of the awe-inspiring grasslands, learnt about the (sometimes cruel) facts of life and were drawn into the joys and woes of the Mongolian herding tribe. Fascinated by the wolves, the Han student rashly tried raising a wolf cub. His actions led to unimaginable consequences and irreparable damage as he found himself accomplice to ruining the Mongolian people and the grasslands he grew to love. In the end with a heavy heart we witnessed the darkening destiny of the "great life" of the grassland, ever intertwined with that of the "little lives" of all life forms dependent on it. The movie tried to portray that there was a faint speck of light and hope with the return of the captive wolf, though it was not really comforting. Fabulous acting on the part of the wolves; with discernible laudable effort and bonding between trainers and the animals. Worth watching despite the unflattering take on humanity and greed, if only for the noble creatures of its namesake.

ifree Cineplex It was unprecedented that the film market in China was so prosperous during Spring Festival. Seven blockbusters of different styles were released on the first day of Chinese New Year that created more than 170 million earnings in this 7-day vocation.The box office earnings of whole year in China was only about 200 billion, dating back to last decade when the market was just awake, which was difficult to compare with the data today. In that period, nevertheless, Dadi cinemas picked the digital screening strategy, even though it was much higher cost than film screening, to make the second- tier and third-tier cities that with larger population enjoy fair treatment on watching new movies, and therefore promote the development of Chinese film market. This investment mode of Dadi Media was used to be bantered as "Quixotic Courage", what meant the commercial mode was lightly regarded. However, it was dumbfounded that Dadi insisted on breaking high-price barriers and making ticket prices more reasonable for audiences.All decisions Dadi made were depended on the inherent attribution of films that they would be led back to the source -- the public. Keeping the original intention that "Make movies ubiquitous, make good movies ubiquitous" in mind, Dadi Cinemas sacrificed immediate interest and contributed to prosperous film markets in the second-tier and third-tier cities, aiming at spreading culture, mind and art of movies, keeping infusing blood with dream into Chinese films. The desire for "good" movies in Chinese market was increasingly intense after explosive growth these years. It was comforting that movies during this Spring Festival satisfied audiences' needs for fierce actions, extremely cute and all-age theme. In addition, movies achieve our dreams on showing feelings, conveying the belief and transferring power -- in case of watching the movie Wolf Totem. New perceptions on savagery, humanity, survival, freedom, dignity and faith, will all be found after watching this movie.Indeed, Dadi Cinemas are looking forward a new start from The Wolf Totem, a new start of film art that need to be put thought into it. As a consequence of this expectation, Wolf Totem was released averagely 2 percents more than it occupied the box-office proportion in Dadi Cinemas. During the 7-day vocation of this Spring Festival, more than 460 thousand audiences have watched this movie in Dadi Cinemas in more than 130 cities around China. The germination of Chinese film market has come to this era while audiences discussing ardently about the movies they just watched in Dadi Cinemas near their home, such as Wolf Totem, Dragon Blade, The Man From Macao 2, and so forth.It is reasonable to believe that when more practitioners make sacrifice for the art of film, such as Wolf Totem and movies in the future that belong to film culture, art, this era, and all audiences who love movies, the development of the film market in our country will be inevitable healthy and permanent.Even though the strength of Dadi is possibly not strong enough right now, movies that obey the heart and keep unique style are definitely respected. It is a new step of Dadi, from loving the "Wolf" in the Year of the Goat.