Hour of the Wolf [Vargtimmen] **** (1968, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin) – Classic Movie Review 9922

Director Ingmar Bergman draws on his own recurring nightmares for his troubling 1968 Swedish psychological horror film Hour of the Wolf [Vargtimmen], which stars Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann in a story about the disappearance of fictional painter Johan Borg (von Sydow), who lived on a remote Scandinavian island with his younger pregnant wife Alma (Ullmann) while fighting visions, repressed desires and insomnia.

The cast include Max von Sydow as Johan Borg, Liv Ullmann as Alma Borg, Gertrud Fridh as Corinne von Merkens, Georg Rydeberg as Lindhorst, Erland Josephson as Baron von Merkens, Naima Wifstrand as Old Lady with Hat, Ulf Johansson as Heerbrand, Gudrun Brost as Gamla Fru von Merkens and Ingrid Thulin as Veronica Vogler.

It was shot from 23 May to 23 November 1966 at Hovs Hallar and Råsunda Studios in Stockholm, and on the island of Fårö.

The story was part of an unproduced screenplay called The Cannibals, which Bergman had abandoned to make his 1966 film Persona. He also took inspiration from Mozart’s 1791 opera The Magic Flute and E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 1814 novella The Golden Pot.

The disturbing, hard-to-grasp film was met with some bewilderment and antagonism in 1968 but has been now generally rehabilitated as a respected work of Bergman. There is no doubt of the quality of the performances of Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann.

Ullmann said during filming she had little understanding of the subject matter, but she was troubled in recognising Bergman’s traits in von Sydow’s character Johan Borg. Thus Johan has been widely interpreted as Bergman’s alter ego. Bergman provided no rehearsals or discussion of the film’s meaning.

Ullmann had become Bergman’s lover and became pregnant with their daughter Linn. She returned to Fårö from Norway for the film. Ullmann left for Norway during filming to give birth, and returned to shoot her last scenes wearing a pillow under her clothes.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9922

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