Violent Kazakh Film ‘Steppenwolf’ Draws Inspiration From Hermann Hesse Novel, John Ford’s ‘The Searchers,’ Samurai Stories
variety.comNick Holdsworth There is a certain inevitability about a film inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel “Steppenwolf,” first published in German in 1927, and two famous Westerns of the 1950s — John Ford’s “The Searchers,” and Howard Hawks’ “Red River.” In acclaimed Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s latest film — also called “Steppenwolf” — two characters who are essentially loners existing outside of the usual moral boundaries of the world come together united in a common task: to save a small boy who has gone missing.
The world premiere of “Steppenwolf” is slated for International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Big Screen Competition. Yerzhanov takes universal themes from Hesse’s novel and the later Hollywood Westerns, to plumb the depths of where man’s spirituality disappears into the depths of his animal origins.
To explore what he calls a story of “two different heroes, two opposing characters, who are living through extreme situations” he uses the Kazakh steppe as the bleak backdrop to a violent tale.
The cultural significance of the male characters who is a lone wolf is also significant: in Turkic culture, the nomadic people of the Kazakh steppe believe their ancestors were raised by wolves.
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