Hour of the Wolf

[ravenus]

HOUR OF THE WOLF – Ingmar Bergman

I’ve seen the first Bergman film that didn’t entirely amaze me…which isn’t to say that it’s in any way a bad film but I just couldn’t get as involved in it.

Hour of the Wolf may be seen as Bergman’s take on the horror genre, specifically psychological horror. Johan (Max Von Sydow) a reclusive painter and his longtime wife Alma (Liv Ullman) are living on a remote island where Johan does his work. He and Alma suffered to stay awake through the nights because of the disturbing dreams he has in that period. He transcribes his dreams into sketches of the bizarre denizens he meets therein. The film takes us through various unsettling episodes, many of which are shown us either as entries from Johan’s diary (which Alma surreptitiously reads) or as orally narrated by the painter. This brings in the dilemma as to whether they may be actual events or hallucinations on Johan’s part. Alma too is privy to some of these episodes but we are hinted that this may be so because of her emotional closeness to Johan to the extent where she may be picking up his thoughts. The last third of the movie kicks in the final act of Johan’s descent into insanity and the most openly horror-tinged segment.

My main problem was that a large portion of the film is played out in a detached fashion that diminishes its effectiveness. My view is that the psychological horror film works best when you are able to get a ‘first-person perspective’, when you empathize with the character to feel the fear and unease. But Bergman’s treatment always keeps Johan at a distance from the viewer – diary entries, narrations – the spectator POV doesn’t really work for me in this kind of film. The film plays out in a very measured fashion, sometimes obviously enough for me to look at the running time, not a good sign for a Bergman product. Some episodes, like one where Johan kills a boy/apparition of a boy are too ungrounded to make a good impact. The last part is IMO where the film in Chinese puzzle fashion finally breaks out its punches and grips sufficiently well.

Those gripes aside, the film boasts the aesthetic polish of the typical Bergman product. Max Von Sydow essays a credible image of Johan’s insanity although in my view the main star is Liv Ullman’s brilliant portrayal of the brittle and passionate Alma. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist gives us his trademark genius compositions and we have in Wolf, another gritty B&W visual feast.

I daresay there will be disagreement with this opinion and that’s perfectly acceptable since the film’s worth has a lot to do with how you perceive it.