Ingmar Bergman’s complete filmography so it’s unlikely that we’ll ever watch everything. This one is an out and out horror film and I have to say that it’s one of rare ones that I found truly scary. Like Bergman’s other films, it’s full of symbolism and I struggled to make sense of everything. The great thing about this one however is that it’s possible to view it simply as a film about literal demons and monsters and it’s still effective. That the main character in it is an alter ego of Bergman himself and that at the time he left his own wife and son for the lead actress here Liv Ullman makes it especially disturbing. I’m not a fan of the tortured artist trope but this is one instance of it that is exceptional.

Alma retrospectively recounts the series events that led to the disappearance of her painter husband Johan Borg while living on the island of Baltrum. From her perspective, they were happy for a while despite the difficult conditions on the island and Johan’s visions of monstrous creatures that he captures in his sketches. Then a mysterious woman tells her to read his diary that he hides under the bed. From it, she discovers a side of Johan she never knew and reads about his strange encounters with people who may or may not be real. The couple are invited to visit the castle of Baron von Merkens. It is a surreal experience culminating in the baron’s wife showing them her bedroom. There hangs a portrait by Johan of Veronica Vogler, his muse and former lover. It seems that his relationship with the married Vogler was a huge scandal and Alma realizes that Johan is still in love with her. Back in their own cottage as Johan is insomniac during the Hour of the Wolf, he recounts stories of horrific childhood abuse and an encounter on the island during which he seemingly murdered a young boy.

The film feels so ordinary at first that Johan’s disappearance could be ascribed to completely mundane causes. The weirdness ramps up over time and while it’s not completely impossible that it’s all in Johan’s head due to some mental illness, it does seem to be a bit too much. The puppet show in the baron’s castle actually features a miniature human in a scene very reminiscent of David Lynch. At one point the baron starts walking on the ceiling which surely is directly inspired by Dracula. Alma witnesses the impossible phenomena as well and wonders if it is because she has lived with him and loves him so much that her mind has become similar to his. Regardless of how one interprets them, the individual elements, Johan’s storytelling, the juxtaposition of the Baron and his guests with animals, the dream-like scenes, all combine to become an effective waking nightmare that has few equals in cinema. This is one seriously scary film.

The sense of artistry is amazing, making this indeed one of the best depictions of the tortured artist. Yet that still doesn’t mean that I’m sympathetic. Bergman is effectively expressing that he is so in love, so obsessed with a particular woman that he is incomplete without her even while acknowledging that being with her is an act of self-destruction. At the same time, his stand-in Johan is callous with his wife Alma. He envies her for being a complete person, meaning that she can exist independently without him, but never once does he express any consideration for her feelings or why she continues to be married to him. Even to the end, Alma remains loyal and sympathetic to him, choosing to remain in their cottage. That this parallels Bergman’s real-life affair with Ullman makes it even more sickening. The intensity of Bergman’s emotions is undeniable and he drew on them to create this incredible work of art. Yet that neither makes him a good person nor the meaning of this film a heroic one.

I’d say this is actually one of the most approachable of Bergman’s films and its message is relatively straightforward. That makes it a decent starting point into the rest of his work but this simplicity also means that it’ll never be considered among his best. I don’t like what Bergman says here but this is indeed a fine film.