BEIJING (AP) β French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who previously fell out of favor with Chinese authorities after his portrayal of their troops invading Tibet, says he was touched to take on the project of turning a best-selling Chinese book into a movie.
Annaud said he had “incredible freedom” to make “Wolf Totem” as he wanted to in China, where movies need approval from censors.
Set in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution, “Wolf Totem” tells the story of a student sent from the city to Inner Mongolia for re-education. He lives with nomads, develops a respect for freedom and nature and becomes fascinated with the wolves. But then a government official orders all the wolves in the area to be killed.
The crew spent three years training wolves for the movie.
