Film Review: The Wolfpack (U.S.A. 2015) (Director: Crystal Moselle), Filmhouse, Screen One, Edinburgh, Friday 26.06.2015, 20:30 (Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015) 

This is another film in the film festival, where I know I have read about it, though don't know where. This documentary focuses upon six brothers within the Angulo family who live in an expansive apartment in the Lower-East-Side of Manhattan. The apartment reminded me breadline-bohemian residences I have been in in the past. The family's mother and father met when she was hiking in South America, and he was a local guide she met in this time. He holds a kind-of reverence for Krishna, who is said to have had ten children with each of his wives. Mr. Angulo intended having ten children with his wife, though after the six sons and a daughter (who they say is stuck in her own world), she could not have any more. 

Mr. Angulo comes across as a very fearful and insecure man, who is also a heavy drinker. He is also a feckless urban-hippy who excuses his inactivity by uttering quasi-spiritual guff. The essence of controlling passivity. He would at times restrict the movements of all of his family members. For years the members of the family were only allowed out for short times, a few (or less) times each year. Mr. Angulo would encourage his family not to look or engage with others. 

Mr. Angulo is the one who would go to get groceries each day, and also is responsible for encouraging the sons all-encompassing devotion to film. This isolated family have amassed a collection of thousands of films and the sons faithfully recreate and capture favoured scenes, having firstly spent the time required to painstakingly go through the film writing down the script, and typing up copies for each participant. All of this in modern times when I'm sure these scripts would be freely available on line.

In the beginning of the film, it feels like the documenting of a case of abuse, where the family have essentially been kept prisoner within this metropolis which they can see from their windows. This nature of the situation does not escape the sons. One of the sons ways of communicating with the camera in this early section is not 'normal' and he does appear sadly affected by his circumstance. The first part of the film causes a lot of questions as to how is this possible, for a family to be so isolated in such an environment and why had authorities not intervened. The sons mother did have a licence to home-school, though still there appears to have been no consideration in terms of normal socialisation. 

The film all begins to change and be a lot less troubling once it becomes clear that one of the sons had started to challenge the constraints placed upon them (which had lead to involvement of authorities and all of the sons being in counselling - and is clearly what lead to the contacts that lead to the film being made). The audience is then shown how the sons gradually began to push at the boundaries of their world and how this has further affect to the mother and father. The sons breaking free has a very real affect upon the mother who we see out running and speaking with her mother on the phone for what appeared to be the first time in many years. The grandmother did not appear to know of the existence of any of her grandchildren. 

I found the film very engaging and the people within it very interesting; the sons having the good fortune of being friendly and charming. I did feel the film let itself down by not addressing why authorities had not intervened earlier. I had a sense that the film should have ended with text saying something along the lines of 'the New York child welfare authorities are conducting an investigation into...', though no. I feel the films focus was too narrow. I feel it did not need to say much in regard to the negligence of authorities, though to not address this feels negligent of the film-maker. 

An interesting, but by no means perfect film.

Rating:08/10.  

Before the film started, the audience was informed that this had been awarded the 'Best Documentary prize for the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015. Neither screening had happened yet, though it is still being declared the best? It has been awarded as the best documentary, though is not being included in the 'Best of the Fest' this coming Sunday? Best of the Fest features 17 films of varying form. Best of the Fest features the documentary 'Amy' which I would say is better than 'The Wolfpack'. Why then did 'Amy' not win the prize for best documentary? Or why did 'Chuck Norris Vs.Communism' not win, as is better than 'Amy' or 'The Wolfpack'? All of this contributes to my not trusting Film Festivals.