A company of wolves: Notes

Questions on The Company of Wolves


1. Once again Fairy tales loom large in this film but how different and what are the differences between the way the fairy tales are used in Red Shoes and The Company of Wolves? How do you account for the differences? How many different fairy tales can you identify in this film? What do you think are the most significant tales and the most significant differences between the film? What do you think is the premise and concepts which the company of Wolves explores visually?


2. The use of things and objects are also important to this film, look for them and then decide how they are used. Are they visual metaphors or symbols? Try and unpack the full significance of them and how they are used to reinforce or subvert ideas being explored by the film? How do they impact on the narrative and/or the character?


3. The landscape scenery is also a significant aspect of this film which slides between a real forest and a more stylised background. Again how do you account for this and what ideas do you think are being explored?


4. The Forest is a key component in this film again what is its significance and how does it work in relation to the themes and concepts being explored?


5. Domesticity and the domestic interior is also an important ground for this film again why? What is suggesting about the characters and why focus on the domestic?


6. Where does power lie in the different narratives and settings? Do you notice any significant changes and how might you account for these?


7. Choose a particuar sequence/incident and analyse it in detail focusing on what is actually in the scene(s) and why might they be there? How do they reinformce particular themes, concepts or characteristics of the protagnonists?


8. Both films focus on the colour red? Why? What connotations do they share and where do they differ in their use of this colour? Equally the general overall tone and colouring is different with various scenes in The Company of Wolves offering a more monochrome tone? How would you account for this and what ideas associated with colour are they exploring?