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The hour that spans from deep night to dawn.
The hour of the wolf is the hour that spans from deep night to dawn. It’s the hour also mentioned by Nanni Moretti in his film Dear Diary. Only children, out of fear, seek refuge in their parents' beds. It would be something attributable to the ancestral fear of the dark. The genesis is in the manuscript The Cannibals. From which a script called The Man-Eaters was derived. The story of a man haunted by nightmares animated by demons. I. Bergman filled it with injections of autobiographical elements, seasoned with images from Witchcraft Through the Ages by Benjamin Christensen and The Phantom Carriage by Viktor Sjostrom. But the genesis must be sought... “In an etching by Axel Fridell, where you see a group of grotesque cannibals about to pounce on a young girl. All are waiting for the candle in the room, which is gradually darkening, to go out. A feeble old man protects her. An authentic Cannibal in clown costume waits in the shadows for the candle to burn out. Everywhere in the dark, terrifying figures can be glimpsed.” To all this, the autobiographical side should be added, represented by the severe nervous exhaustion resulting from the overwork load of Persona. But also the effect of the mother's death, the problematic relationship between the mother and father, his problematic relationship with his father, the fear of death, and the related existential anxiety. His first encounters with death date back to his visits to the park of the Sophiahemmet Hospital, where he accompanied his father called to celebrate mass in the chapel. There, one day, he stumbled upon the mortuary chapel in the heart of the park. Another traumatic experience was the deep marital crisis of his parents. The experience that left an indelible mark on the psyche of young I. Bergman was when he was accidentally locked for a few hours in the morgue. As must have influenced the stories told by his grandmother. The hour of the wolf is one of Ingmar Bergman's films richest in autobiographical references but is also rich in references drawn from his extensive filmography: the protagonist Johan's last name is Borg, like Isak Borg. Johan’s lover, Veronica, has the last name Vogler, like Elisabeth Vogler in Persona, and like the hypnotist in The Face. Jonathan Vogler was a virtuoso violinist who attended the Academy, the husband of a friend of Kabi Laretei, musician, whom Ingmar Bergman married in September 1959. There is also a spider in this film, albeit with a different function, but like the one mentioned by Karin in the other film Through a Glass Darkly. The wife of the painter Johan is named Alma, like the nurse in Persona and the wife of the white clown Frost in Sawdust and Tinsel. Finally, Johan, made up by Lindhorst for the encounter with his old mistress, evokes the character of Frost, the white clown, husband of Alma, in Sawdust and Tinsel. The hour of the wolf is a gothic tale. The image of the Märchen is evoked in the film by the scenes in darkness, the castle, the demons that materialize, the demon itself taking the form of the raven, the flocks of ravens and other birds fluttering over the baron’s castle, the baron von Merckens who levitates gracefully in the air while Johan meets his Veronica Vogler, the demon walking on walls like a gecko, challenging the law of gravity as well, and the other surreal episode of an old woman who, when removing her hat, also takes off her face and places one of her eyeballs in the sherry glass.
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