Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen). Ingmar Bergman. 1968. ⭐⭐⭐⭐★★.
After the Tour de France of Persona, Hour of the Wolf is a bit of a let-down. The scenes seem to carry no weight. Instead of the shots being filled to the brim with (possible) meaning, they’re kinda just… there… here.
But it’s a hard act to follow up.
If you just wipe your mind of all expectations, it’s not that bad.
Max von Sydow is great as usual, and so is Liv Ullmann. As a Norwegian, though, it’s a bit weird listening to her lines, since she’s basically speaking Norwegian (a very Oslo intonation and delivery) but substituting Swedish words whenever the Norwegian equivalent is too far away from Swedish. It’s a construct called “Svorsk”, and it’s disturbing. Even if I try my best not to mind, because it’s immaterial and petty.
If you don’t understand these languages, then I think it’s probably easier to get into the performance.
This post is part of the 87 Bergman Things series.
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