The Wolves of Kromer

 

Picture: C-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Program: C

 

 

Some programs are so odd-sounding that you know you will have to eventually see them whenever you are ready to take them on.  The Wolves of Kromer (1999) offers an adult fable narrated (once in a while, as it turns out) by Boy George (formerly of Culture Club, give or take reunions), about two wolves who are human sized and speak English… British English at that.  They are also gay.

 

OK.  Now, that should be something that either is some kind of big surprise or something that is an unintentional howler (no pun intended?), but instead turns out to be an attempt at mediating rejection and estrangement form mainstream society, then being scapegoated (or is that scapewolfed) by society if the outsider(s) become too involved.  The actors do a good British TV-level job, while The Charles Lambert/Matthew Reed script (based on Lambert’s play) still looks like a play in the hands of director Will Gould.

 

It looks like this got a theatrical release, but was shot on Digital Beta tape.  This transfer is directly from the tape, though it has been anamorphically enhanced for 16 X 9 (1.78 X 1) TVs.  It looks remarkably soft and poor in a way that Digital Beta should not look.  There are soft images all over the place, though it is still in definition above VHS, or it would be an outright disaster.  Dark images are in even more trouble, while color is not always consistent.  It has a limited budget, but that would not be an excuse for what we see playing back here.

 

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo fares much better, offering acceptable monophonic surrounds, in part because of the original sound source.  For a brief period of time, DTS offered their own equivalent of Dolby Analog sound, which would simply be labeled DTS Stereo.  This would be best compared to Dolby’s SR system, and was cross compatible, as was Ultra Stereo, the awful low-budget ultra-distorted and cheap version of Dolby-A.  DTS has not pushed this for years, with everything going digital and 5.1, but here is a program that offered only analog DTS.  That makes it something of a novelty.

 

Extras include a commentary by Gould and Lambert that is not non-stop as I prefer commentaries, but it is somewhat informative, there is also a brief behind-the-scenes piece, but even after all this, it is still not clear quite what they were trying to do.  It does not feel like it works as a fable, allegory, or complete feature work (which is not even 80 minutes).  The ideas are buried in here somewhere for a better program and more flushed-out story, but this one does not click.

 

As a result, it is not a disaster, but should only be pursued by the most curious.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo