Hour of the Wolf main backdrop
Hour of the Wolf main poster

Hour of the Wolf

Visit website

7.4/10 • 501

1968-02-191h 28m

DramaHorror

The hour of the wolf is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die, when sleep is the deepest, when nightmares feel most real.

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

Directors
Ingmar Bergman
Writters
Ingmar Bergman
Editors
Ingmar Bergman, Ulla Ryghe

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Max von Sydow

    Max von Sydow

    Johan Borg

  2. Liv Ullmann

    Liv Ullmann

    Alma Borg

  3. Gertrud Fridh

    Gertrud Fridh

    Corinne von Merkens

  4. Georg Rydeberg

    Georg Rydeberg

    Lindhorst

  5. Erland Josephson

    Erland Josephson

    Baron von Merkens

  6. Naima Wifstrand

    Naima Wifstrand

    Old Lady with Hat

  7. Ulf Johansson

    Ulf Johansson

    Heerbrand

  8. Gudrun Brost

    Gudrun Brost

    Gamla Fru von Merkens

  9. Bertil Anderberg

    Bertil Anderberg

    Ernst von Merkens

Reviews1

View Reviews
John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Apr 5, 2020

8/10

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

Media

  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster
  • Hour of the Wolf poster

Recommendations

  • Cries and Whispers main backdrop

    Cries and Whispers

    7.9

  • Oblomov main backdrop

    Oblomov

    6.3

  • Splatter University main backdrop

    Splatter University

    4.3

  • Second Chorus main backdrop

    Second Chorus

    5.8

  • Nightmares main backdrop

    Nightmares

    5.7

  • Nitaboh main backdrop

    Nitaboh

    8.3

  • Césarée main backdrop

    Césarée

    5.9

  • It's a Great Feeling main backdrop

    It's a Great Feeling

    5.9

  • Central Bazaar main backdrop

    Central Bazaar

    8.0

  • No Backdrop

    New Moon

    4.0

  • The Younger Generation main backdrop

    The Younger Generation

    6.6

  • Varan the Unbelievable main backdrop

    Varan the Unbelievable

    4.2

  • The Passion of Anna main backdrop

    The Passion of Anna

    7.5

  • Shame main backdrop

    Shame

    7.5

  • The Green Room main backdrop

    The Green Room

    6.5

  • Da zero a dieci main backdrop

    Da zero a dieci

    6.1

  • Almost Human main backdrop

    Almost Human

    7.1

  • Blind Beast main backdrop

    Blind Beast

    6.5

  • The Silence main backdrop

    The Silence

    7.5

  • Signori si nasce main backdrop

    Signori si nasce

    7.1

Status
Released
Original Language
Swedish
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
islandnightmareisolationinsanityartistdiarycastleinsomniasurrealismgothicpregnant wifevoyeurismbreakdown