489. Vargtimmen/Hour of the Wolf (1968)

Running Time: 87 minutes
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
Written By: Ingmar Bergman
Main Cast: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg, Erland Josephson
Click here to view the trailer

BERGMAN WEEK: CHAPTER VIII

Well it's coming down to nut cuttin' time for Ingmar Bergman to really blow me away with one of his ten films from THE BOOK. "Hour of the Wolf" was the eighth Bergman work from THE BOOK and while it didn't fail immensely, it ultimately did fail to really "wow" me.

The plot, like many of Ingmar's films, is kind of hard to describe. Our main characters this go around are Johan (von Sydow) and Alma (Ullmann), a couple living on an island. Johan is a painter who doesn't say much and is often times a bit fussy. He likes Alma because she too is quiet and the two get along well enough. One evening, Johan confesses to Alma that he's been encountering an odd mix of characters, pulling out his sketch book to reveal the drawings he's made of the oddities. He speaks of several characters: an old woman who threatens to remove her hat...and her face, a "bird man" and a homosexual man who is "practically harmless". Alma is concerned for Johan, but doesn't pay him too much mind at first, probably chalking it up to his peculiar nature. Later, however, Alma is also visited by the old woman in the hat, who tells her to read Johan's diary. Johan becomes increasingly fearful of the demonic characters that plague him, so much so that he refuses to go to sleep before dawn. Later, Johan and Alma are approached by Baron von Merkens (Josephson), who invites them to his castle for a dinner party. Alma joins Johan at the castle, but the experience is unpleasant, as Johan is mocked by the other guests. From there the plot kind of starts to become more segmented, as we get various pieces of information that all lead to the finale.

SPOILER ALERT!

Much like "Persona" I just don't think I fully grasped this film. However, unlike "Persona" it really failed to intrigue me in the long run. The notion that this is a horror movie is kind of baffling to me. I've heard other people who have seen this film cite it as one of the scariest movies they've ever seen and I didn't think it was a bit scary, which leads me to believe that maybe I didn't know what I was watching and thus, didn't know what I was supposed to be afraid of. While Bergman films always lose me in the plot, I can always say that almost everything else is magnificent about them. Here, the actors (most notably Ullmann and von Sydow) are magnificent and the dialogue that they're given to work with is equally stellar. At one point, Johan recalls being a boy and getting punished. He goes into this whole story about being locked in the closet and then later being released, only to be whipped by his father. I love how Bergman doesn't show us everything, but rather allows his wonderful actors to use his marvelous dialogue and let us picture the action, rather than see it. I also love Sven Nykvist's cinematography (in not just this, but all of the films he filmed for Ingmar), as he produces a very crisp black & white, using natural lighting and getting the most of the natural landscapes of Bergman's Faro Island.

I guess the whole plot here was about Johan struggling with demons and trying his best to escape them in any way he knew how. I perceived the "ghouls" that Johan saw as the evil side and Alma as the good side and it was up to Johan to choose which path he'd follow. Ultimately Johan was lead into temptation, choosing the dark side and disappearing. Of course, I could be WAY off in my interpretation and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if I am. In the end, Alma implies that had she not loved Johan so much, she may have been able to be more of a help to him. Had she not been able to see the demons, like he did, she may have been able to pull him back to reality. I've also heard theories that each of the demons that Johan encounters represents something from his past. Of course, Veronica Vogler (Ingrid Thulin) represented a past affair and scandal, but apparently everyone represented something that Johan wasn't proud of, from his past. I'm gonna' stop now, because at this point I'm just grasping at an explanation for this film. In my opinion, the film just didn't have a voice (to me) and lacked structure. I really didn't know how to take it or what to make of it and ultimately it just didn't go over well with me. It may take another viewing or even a bit of research to really get it.

RATING: 6/10 I was somewhat intrigued, but not nearly as much as I was with "Persona". The acting, cinematography and dialogue were all marvelous, so it gets points there. Next up: "Cries and Whispers".

MOVIES WATCHED: 413
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 588

March 19, 2012 6:32pm