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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Hour of the Wolf


I just finished watching Ingmar Bergman's only horror film, Hour of the Wolf (1968). It's one of the strangest films that I have ever seen. It was a bit confusing about what was real and what wasn't at some points. The film is about an artist, Johan Borg, (Max von Sydow) who has been having nightmares about his past. He's chemically imbalanced and sees very odd visions involving a strange group of people that live in a castle. One night, during the 'hour of the wolf,' or the time between midnight and dawn, he decides to tell his wife, Alma, (Liv Ullmann) about his worst and most painful recollections of his life.

I loved this film because of how interesting, strange, and unnerving it was. I'll have to watch it again sometime to clear up some stuff that I'm a bit confused about. I can't decide if the wife was sane and then went insane by the end of the film. I liked the use of light and shadows in this film. It helped illuminate and emphasize the emotions being felt by the characters. The performances given by the entire cast make the film worth seeing. I'm always impressed by Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann.

4 comments:

Kyle said...

This is probably next up on my Bergman "to see" list, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Glad to see it recommended though!

Kalli said...

I hope you like this one! I've seen three Bergman films and I've enjoyed them all. Which one has been your favorite so far?

Valerie Troutman said...

This is one of only a few Bergman films that just didn't do it for me. I don't know why.

Kalli said...

Probably because it's all over the place. It's a weird movie, but I enjoyed it. Wild Strawberries is still my favorite from Bergman.

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