Wolf Totem Accused of Misrepresenting Mongolian Culture

Wolf Totem, the popular film directed by French director Jean Jacques Annaud, has been criticized by Guo Xuebo, a renowned Chinese novelist and member of the China Writers’ Association, for misrepresenting Mongolian culture.

The film depicts a Beijing student, Chen Zhen, being dispatched to Inner Mongolia to work in 1967. During this time, his connection to nature strengthens and he learns more about wolves and their relationship with humans, later deciding to raise a wolf cub.

According to Global Times, Guo claimed that “the history and culture of the ethnic group have been tampered with in both the novel and the movie of Wolf Totem where wolves are labeled as the totem of Mongolians.”

He writes that there is no historical record of wolves being the totem of Mongolians, and that actually, wolves are the natural enemy of Mongolians.  

Other than this criticism, the film has fared well in the box office and Chinese rankings. It is currently rated a 7.3 on Chinese movie review site Douban, over a point above Jackie Chan's latest film Dragon Blade, which is currently ranked a tepid 6.2, despite being one of the most expensive films ever to be produced in China and boasting western stars Adrien Brody and John Cusack.

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Photo: instinctforfilm.com