Häxan (1922)

Directed by

Benjamin Christensen

Genre

documentary film, fantasy film, horror film, silent film

Country

Denmark, Sweden

Runtime

1h 47m

Rated

U

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 438 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This silent essay film examines historical beliefs about witchcraft from the Middle Ages into the 1900s. It mixes documentary-style commentary with dramatized scenes to show how superstition and misunderstandings of mental illness led to witch hunts.

academicclinicalatmosphericthoughtfulmacabrestylizeddidacticslow-paced

What happens

Häxan (Swedish: [ˈhɛ̂ksan], The Witch; Heksen Danish: [hɛksən], The Witch; English: The Witches; released in the US in 1968 as Witchcraft Through the Ages) is a 1922 Swedish-Danish silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. Consisting partly of documentary-style storytelling as well as dramatized narrative sequences, the film purports to chart the historical roots and superstitions surrounding witchcraft, beginning in the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Based partly on Christensen's own study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan proposes that such witch-hunts may have stemmed from misunderstandings of mental or neurological disorders, triggering mass hysteria. The movie was produced by Swedish AB Svensk Filmindustri but shot in Denmark in 1920–1921. With Christensen's meticulous recreation of medieval scenes and its lengthy production period, the film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made at the time, costing nearly two million Swedish kronor. Although it received some positive reception in Denmark and Sweden, censors in countries such as Germany, France, and the United States objected to what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion, as well as anti-clericalism. In 1968, Metro Pictures Corporation re-edited and re-released Häxan in the US under the title Witchcraft Through the Ages. This version includes an English-language narration by William S. Burroughs. The original Swedish-language version of Häxan has undergone three restorations by the Swedish Film Institute, carried out in 1976, 2007 and 2016. Since its initial release, Häxan has received praise for its combination of documentary-style and narrative storytelling, as well as its visual imagery, and has been called Christensen's masterpiece. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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