Hour of the Wolf (1968) - Lisa's Review

I've had a couple of attempts to watch this movie.   Viruses in the Davy household has made it difficult as it's not a movie to watch to pass time when you want to relax.  This is a swedish movie directed by infamous Ingmar Bergman.

I have had a great deal of difficulty with the movie, in understanding it, in working out what was going on and why.  In separating dream sequences from reality and in trying to understand what the movie was trying to tell me.

I suppose what i'm trying to say is that this movie is arty farty to the extreme.  If you like surrealist movies and enjoy trying to decipher hidden messages, then this could be the movie for you.  Personally I am not the kind of person who watches movies like this for entertainment purposes.  I don't mind movies that aren't especially straightforward, but I don't like to feel like I'm being 'schooled' when I sit down to relax on an evening.

To give you a basic idea of the premise of the movie, it follows mentally tortured painter Johan and his wife Alma and what seems to be Johans descent into insanity.  We find out about his obsession with an ex partner, his insomnia and the dedication of his wife.   We watch the couple experience a nightmare of a dinner party and we wonder if the experience and the conversations in front of us are actually real.  I found myself wondering if the people were real or were actually visual representations of different aspects of Johans psyche.

There are some scenes which are very intense, claustrophobic and sinister, which I suppose does mean it is doing its job properly, but although it was very good at setting a mood or conveying a physical feeling, it seems this is all at the expense of a storyline or making sense.

The movie culminates in his total breakdown (I think).  I wish I could tell you more, but I honestly found it very difficult to make any real sense of the movie.  I just isn't my cup of tea at all.  This is one I definately would never recommend, as a matter of fact I would probably recommend most people avoid it.  In saying that however, this movie is so odd, there are probably people out there who absolutely love it.  Personally though, I have to attach an 'avoid' to this one.