After tonight's screening of HOUR OF THE WOLF, V.G. and I began discussing the film. I allowed as how, if the film were critically approached consistently with the critiques of previous Bergman films, the symbolism would have to take into account the fragmentation of the Von Sydow character and its merging with Liv Ullman's character and blah blah blah....

V.G. interrupted me to say, roughly paraphrased, "Those weren't symbols. It was a horror film. They were real monsters. Vampires or something."

The moment he said it, I knew he was right. I'd been wrestling with the fact that I didn't much like the movie, particularly because it seemed so laden with strained symbolic posturing. I loved the images, the faces, the mood. But I was stuck in that trap Bergman's films often draw one into, which makes it seem necessary to "interpret" them somehow. I normally resist considering "symbolism," but Bergman drags me in that direction. V.G.'s observation snapped me right out of it, and I plan to rescreen the film soon to watch it in that spirit.

In some ways HOUR OF THE WOLF reminded me of Mario Bava's LISA AND THE DEVIL. I'm almost tempted to think of it as an Old Dark House film, of which I've watched a few lately.