Review of Hour of the Wolf (1968) by Brandon N — 18 Sep 2010

I must just not get this surrealist/arthouse style of movies because I have yet to find one that I enjoy. Hour of the Wolf is so boring it holds place as one of only a handful of movies that put me to sleep (Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Dr.

Strangelove being a few others I can recall right off the top of my head). Hour of the Wolf makes absolutely no sense nor does it try to explain itself (but then of course why should it, surrealism doesn't need to be explained only accepted).

I would never recommend this to anyone I know as I rather like being the go to guy for a good movie recommendation and would hate to lose it on account of recommending this waste of an hour and a half.

Now even after I have said how boring and pointless this movie is, there is one redeeming quality (but it is nowhere near enough to salvage this flop) and that would be the great camera and editing work.

Some of the shots are rather breathtaking (the shot with everyone watching von Sydow while he is wearing lipstick and a robe and kissing the woman is fantastic, but other than that there is no reason this movie should be viewed, unless of course you are a snobby film critic who prefers boring cinema to an enthralling storyline!