Hour Of The Wolf is a surrealist horror that gets under the skin.
And it’s not alone…
There are some terrible images that have been placed in my head over the years by films.
They come back to haunt me, and are unforgettable.
Im talking about Ingmar Bergmans 1968 film, the disturbing and weirdHour Of The Wolf.
He takes Alma (Liv Ullmann), his pregnant partner, with him.
It is the hour when the demons are most powerful.
The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most children are born.
Corruption and revulsion lurk in the castle, pushing Johan further towards insanity.
He sees, and takes part in, inexplicable acts.
Johans muse appears at the castle a woman with whom he had a long affair.
Yes, its deeply disturbing but what does it all mean?
Well, perhaps questions like this arent meant to be answered.
Surrealism needs no explanation.
In fact, British fantasy author Graham Joyce claimed it needed the exact opposite to be effective upon us.
He wrote: The over-intellectualization of Surrealism can be a bromide.
A dream interpreted is a deflated dream.
Roger Ebert reviewedHour Of The Wolf, and related how the audience snickered and whispered through it.
I think thats absolutely true.
But if were enjoying the experience well let many such holes go by without comment.
Why does the Princes kiss save Snow White, and why is there a lady in the radiator?
Why does Johan see these strange apparitions?
But when I close my eyes, sometimes, late at night, I can still see them too.
Perhaps thats as much of an explanation as Im ever going to get.
