During the year 1969, A young chinese student is sent to live with the Mongolian herders, during the Chinese revolution, where he learns about the shepherds and the bond they share with the wolves, a bond that is threatened by a government apparatchik.
Release Dates: 19 Feb 2015 (China), 03 May 2016 (Singapore)
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Did you know? Shaofeng Feng fell from the horse in the first day of filming Wolf Totem (2015). During the film-making, he was also bitten or scratched by wolf occasionally Read More
The Beijing Forbidden City Film Corporation initially sought to hire a Chinese director, but filming humans with real wolves was considered too difficult
New Zealand director Peter Jackson was approached, but production did not take place
Shaofeng Feng fell from the horse in the first day of filming Wolf Totem (2015). During the film-making, he was also bitten or scratched by wolf occasionally
It is extremely rare that Inner Mongolia did not snow in the winter when Wolf totem was shooting. To complete the snow scene, the film crew had to ship the snow and truck it from the Paektu mountains of more than 1,000 miles away. In the end, about 40 tons of snows were transported
Although wolves are usually aloof and indifferent to humans, the alpha wolf Cloudy is very close to the director Jean-Jacques Annaud
Shaofeng Feng was actually aged 35 when played Chen Zhang, the protagonist who is set to be 21. Feng is ten years older than his counterpart, Shawn Dou
Although the original novel of the same name is controversial for criticizing the Han-Chinese culture and agricultural lifestyle, the production of Wolf Totem (2015) is highly supported and backed by China's state-run film Studio (China Film Group)
It is extremely rare that Inner Mongolia did not snow in the winter when Wolf totem was shooting. To complete the snow scene, the film crew had to ship the snow and truck it from the Paektu mountains of more than 1,000 miles away. In the end, about 40, 000 tons of snows were transported
The director Jean-Jacques Annaud claims that he did the screenplay very freely and owns the final-cut right, which is quite unusual in China under the country's strict censorship
According to the producer Alan Wang, almost all the big-name directors in China refused to direct this film due to the extreme difficulties of training Mongolian wolves
Knowing the film required intensive horse-riding skills, actors Shaofeng Feng and Shawn Dou learned regular British riding for months in advance. However, they realized this preparation was in vain after arriving inner Mongolia because the riding style for Mongolian horses is very different that for the Westerns. After all, they both mastered the Mongolian riding style
According to producer Alan Wang, a guard-dog Rusty became a self-trained actor after constantly listening to commends given by wolf-trainer Andrew Simpson. Rusty did stunt for wolves and is also a good friend with King Cloudy, the alpha-wolf. Both Rusty and Cloudy have retired and emigrated to Canada
16 wolves and a dog stunt-double emigrated to Canada after retiring from film-making. They currently live in the ranch owned by their animal trainer Andrew Simpson
Producer Alan Wang and the film crew spent three years to raise three generations of 35 Mongolian wolves. 16 wolves were trained and starred the film
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