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Hour of the Wolf (1968) N
An artist and his pregnant wife are spending a summer on an island. Man is suffering from insomnia and fear of the dark and strange visions that may be dreams, memories or just twisted reality. On the other side of the island lives a baron with his cohort and the couple is invited into their lives.
At least after a single viewing Hour of the Wolf is a disappointment after a brilliant The Seventh Seal. There's no coherent storyline and it's very hard to get a hold of von Sydow's dreamy decent into madness. It works as a depiction of insanity though and it's possible that at least part of my negativity comes from false expectations (yeah, for some reason I though this had something to do with werewolf mythology).
Bergman manages to build very tense atmosphere and there's sort of threat in its unpredictability (the fishing scene is a good example). Acting is superb and I like the black-and-white visuals of the film. Monologues at the start and end felt somehow unnecessary just like the written introduction.
Little odd film that lacks the stuff I usually seek from movies (story and characters) but still there's something strangely fascinating in it.
An artist and his pregnant wife are spending a summer on an island. Man is suffering from insomnia and fear of the dark and strange visions that may be dreams, memories or just twisted reality. On the other side of the island lives a baron with his cohort and the couple is invited into their lives.
At least after a single viewing Hour of the Wolf is a disappointment after a brilliant The Seventh Seal. There's no coherent storyline and it's very hard to get a hold of von Sydow's dreamy decent into madness. It works as a depiction of insanity though and it's possible that at least part of my negativity comes from false expectations (yeah, for some reason I though this had something to do with werewolf mythology).
Bergman manages to build very tense atmosphere and there's sort of threat in its unpredictability (the fishing scene is a good example). Acting is superb and I like the black-and-white visuals of the film. Monologues at the start and end felt somehow unnecessary just like the written introduction.
Little odd film that lacks the stuff I usually seek from movies (story and characters) but still there's something strangely fascinating in it.