Hour of the Wolf - Bergman (1968)

Plenty of Ingmar around the Sight & Sound poll, but I'm heading in another direction now. Into the horror...

This was the originally scheduled date and movie, but I almost didn't pull it off. Wasn't streaming when I made plans, I never ordered it, and never did find a dvd locally. But over the weekend, I learned about the "Can I Stream.It?" app [free for both Apple & Android]. Gave it a whirl - and sure enough, film's now on Netflix streaming!



Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen)
dir. Ingmar Bergman. 1968, Sweden.
Sight & Sound 2012: Critics' #447 / Directors' #44
Roger Ebert's movie review
DVD from Amazon
Streamed via Netflix!



Hour of the Wolf trailer (1968)
[just noticed that video is ***Not Safe For Work***]

Lindhorst: I examine souls and turn them inside out.

I thought I was being sooo clever... picking his only 'horror' movie for Ingmar Bergman. Maybe I'm stretching the meaning of words, it's more of a David Lynch-type psychological Gothic fantasia - right around the time of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) too. Also, I later found that maybe not even his 'only' horror, depending on The Serpent's Egg (1977). Anyway, that's what I thought: so clever. Even made a point of it in the intro up there (prepped in late August). Then after watching the movie, I checked BFI again last night because I'd learned how to identify sub-#250/#100 rankings and votes. But wait! This was actually the S&S Directors' #44 film. #44!!

And not expecting an '80s slasher movie, it was everything I wanted. I haven't seen many, but this is definitely a Bergman film - Liv Ullmann! Max von Sydow! The existential abyss, and lotsa philosophical soliloquies while staring offscreen!! The creepy sound design and von Sydow's intensity (along with Ullman's pregnant vulnerability) set you on edge right away. The artist dreams of malignant creatures, then the other islanders start appearing. Bergman horror Tarot: the Old Crone, the Elegant Baron, the Foul Temptress, the Soul Curator, the Puppet Master, The Diary, The Island.



Early on, Liv says that Max doesn't enjoy making friends and likes her because she doesn't talk much. (The characters have names, but they'll always be Ullmann and von Sydow to me.) So of course they're soon invited to an insane party of freaks who push too close and chatter incessantly. It all keeps ratcheting up - the oddball puppetry, the liquor, the scandalous secrets, the social anxiety, the mystery painting... Eventually they're back home, and von Sydow's throwing lit matches around on the floor. Like being cooped up in a hotel room with a raving tweaker, and the paranoia is contagious.

Everything doesn't get better. Startling revelations are greeted with a Breathless-level of detachment. Accusations fly, the gift of a pistol doesn't help so much. I think time broke down, with people climbing the walls, people tearing at their own faces, La Veronica is laid out like Jesse James on ice, von Sydow may or may not have worn a kimono. I'm not sure what happened myself - I think there was a man in the woods, with the head of a bird, or maybe it was a mask...

I'm fairly certain that his only film I'd seen before was The Seventh Seal (1957, S&S #93). Although this is obviously 'minor' Bergman (or maybe not), it has inspired me to make a push into his more serious canon in the near future. So good job, Vargtimmen!

Austin Power Plant

The Golden Dawn were 1960s International Artists labelmates and fellow Austinites with The 13th Floor Elevators - in the original Psychedelic Era.



"My Time" from Power Plant (1968)

The lead singer came by his 13th-reverberating vocals as honestly as you can. He was apparently high school friends with Roky.



"Every Day" from Power Plant (1968)

They will be playing their 1968 record at Austin Psych Fest at the end of this month. Here's a British I.A. revival website's album page.



"Evolution" from Power Plant (1968)

Whoa... Those chimes!!



"This Way Please" from Power Plant (1968)

George Kinney and the New Riders of The Golden Dawn have a follow-up album over on Bandcamp: Texas Medicine (2006).

You can also stream Power Plant, which obviously features one of the most fried-out album covers in an era particularly known for them...



Yup!!



"Starvation" from Power Plant (1968)

I'm pretty sure that was their main regional hit - to such an extent that any of them were.

Byrdsian Psych Country

What did I ever know about The Byrds? "Eight Miles High," "Mr. Tambourine Man," the major players and overall history - but that's about it. And the first mostly from the Hüsker Dü cover probably...


More recently, there was Grails' cover of "Space Odyssey" on their great EP Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs from Around the World (2005). They also played Flower Travellin' Band's "Satori" (Japan) and Gong's "Master Builder" (France) on that one.

Anyway, a couple of weeks back I had the chance to pick up two Byrds cd's used, including the one with "Space Odyssey" on it, The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968). And also the next one: Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), much considered a classic.



"Draft Morning" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)

So, wow. The Notorious is amazing, especially considering it's non-reputation (for me at least). And contains some unexpected surprises, like opening with the West Coast-style psych-garage-pop (but with horns) of "Artificial Energy." Paranoid speed-freak melodrama?! Followed closely by its opposite, "Natural Harmony," with phased-out Moodiness and jazzy breaks. "Draft Morning" is a true gem, but really the whole album is just groovy as hell.


"Wasn't Born to Follow" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)

I thought I recognized "Wasn't Born to Follow," but didn't remember where from. Obviously, choosing video-links sorted it out for me. And more and more... The country jaunt of "Old John Robertson" versus the pure '60s of "Tribal Gathering" and "Dolphin's Smile." Could those song names be any more perfect? Plus, the bonus tracks include "Moog Raga," which is exactly as un-Byrdsian as it sounds.



"You Ain't Going Nowhere" from Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
(live on Playboy after Dark, with The Band's "This Wheel's on Fire")

So, I knew a couple of things about Sweetheart: that it was primordial "country rock," and that it brought Gram Parsons temporarily into the band. Well, I had no idea how country it really was, nor that it's almost entirely covers. That first one's Dylan, also from the Easy Rider soundtrack. (Obviously, not the Hef-tv version specifically ...) The Band cover isn't on this album, but that's pretty awesome!

They do traditionals, Louvin Brothers, Woody Guthrie, even Merle Haggard! Now that's country, and more of it... Pretty convincing.


"Hickory Wind" from Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

Then you get the originals snuck in towards the end, just two by Gram Parsons (not counting cd bonus tracks). "Hickory Wind" followed immediately by "One Hundred Years from Now." Nice stuff, to be sure. I'll definitely tend more towards The Notorious Byrd Brothers, but still glad I could pick up both on the cheap. Especially the expanded editions with outtakes and rehearsals.