Hour of the Wolf

1968

1h 28m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

521

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

69 Images

Drama

Horror

While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.

Directors

Ingmar Bergman

Writers

Ingmar Bergman(writer by)

Stars

Max von Sydow

Liv Ullmann

Gertrud Fridh

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch "Hour of the Wolf" Trailer

Top cast

Johan Borg

Alma Borg

Corinne von Merkens

Lindhorst

Baron von Merkens

Old Lady with Hat

Heerbrand

Gamla Fru von Merkens

Bertil Anderberg

Ernst von Merkens

Ingrid Thulin

Veronica Vogler

Agda Helin

Von Merken's Maid (uncredited)

Lenn Hjortzberg

Kreisler (uncredited)

Mikael Rundquist

Boy in Dream (uncredited)

Mona Seilitz

Corpse in Mortuary (uncredited)

Folke Sundquist

Tamino (uncredited)

Directors

Ingmar Bergman

Writers

Ingmar Bergman(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Now is when most nightmares come to us... Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen) is written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It stars Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg and Ingrid Thulin. Music is by Lars Johan Werle and cinematography by Sven Nyquist. While vacationing on a remote Scandanavian island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires. Is this really Ingmar Bergman's only genuine horror movie? I would argue that pretty much most of his movies have horrific elements. That said, this one is haunting in its dissection of a fragmented mind, to see the unravelling of an artistic persona tortured by repression, doubt and a nightmarish world that he, or us, are not sure exists or not. When Bergman was at his pomp, he had this knack of drawing in his audience to be part of his plays, so it be here. Sydow yet again gives his all for his director, absolutely sinking into the role of troubled artist Johan Borg. Ullman (playing pregnant and genuinely pregnant with Bergman's child), yet again hits all the emotive discordant notes of a woman in love but fearful of where both her sanity - and that of her husband - is heading. As Johan's drawings start to take on disturbing overtones (we don't see them, he narrates to his wife but we get the picture), we then get pulled into Bergman's world of flashbacks and the question of reality or nightmares?. Here the director unleashes his weapons of choice, human demons - grotesques, all cloaked magnificently by cinematographer Nyquist who once again follows his leader down the road of chilly expressionism. Alma (Ullman) quite early on announces that couples who are together for so long start to resemble each other, so is it any coincidence that as things reach fever pitch Johan is wearing lipstick? Are we to buy into the notion that Sydow's character's under Bergman are in fact his alter egos? Does it matter? No it doesn't, for Bergman is a fascinating director (I personally don't like all his films), what you do come away with is a feeling of being invaded mentally - and joyously so. 8/10

John Chard05 Apr, 2020