The Wolf Pack (Meteler)
I rarely find myself in a situation where I go to a film with minimal information about the concept, which does not auger well for me. Including this case as this was a wonderful opportunity thanks to The Wolfpack that grabbed my attention from the very first scene.
The Tabernacle is a documentary by the American film director, Crystal Moselle and it focuses on the lives of the Angulo family, especially on the six brothers. Their father, whom they refer to as their god and who thinks that the world is too cruel for his children to go out into, tries to keep them inside their tiny apartment in New York City. Due to his overwhelming dominance, the Angulo children can only learn about the outside ‘world’ through a love of film and rock music; it sounds cliched, but the film shows that this is real life for many young people in America today.
The boys are forced to spend their days captive in their small New York apartment, which provides an eerie insight into their world. It is a challenging context to fully grasp, but with the story being told by the brothers (each one more masculine than the next) practically immerses you into their life.
As New York is captured in the boy’s opening scenes when NY is viewed through their window against the confines of their home, you can tell how much these boys must have longed to be free, moving around in the city. From my perspective, this was a very frightening image that made me crave their narrative even more.
In order to appreciate the telling of the tale, one has to suspend all preconceive notions and actually pay attention to each individual family member’s perspective on the issue at hand, and in this instance I found the mother’s perspective the most interesting. Its best said that you need to witness in order to understand; I was shocked and quite disturbed in the course of it because it’s not a nice tale to stand and to wait for. But this is a story which must be told, and it is a story which must be told well, and one can safely say that The Wolfpack is quite exceptional.
Since I am part of the Glasgow Youth Film Festival’s team, I managed to get a chance to meet 5 out of the Angulo brothers, first during the Q&A along with Crystal Moselle (which was really interesting, especially hearing it from them directly) and then after the movie with the other members of the GYFF team. The brothers were very friendly and talkative, inquiring about film from us and displaying their Scottish approved nails with the flag.
What was really touching was the fact that after having seen what the boys were subjected to, and how this had not driven them insane all three of them grew out to be contextually strong willed, adventurous and inquisitive of the world outside and around them. This film has changed my perspective about the society that we are a part of, and it reinforces the thought that what may seem mundane to someone can be really amazing to another. I would recommend this documentary for everyone, and I appreciate this incredible story being told.
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