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Transfer from NGA Introduction
Garett 2022-08-16 20:44:03
One of the most fascinating works in the history of cinema is Christensen's visually stunning study of witchcraft, a blend of fictionalized vignettes and nonfiction texts exploring medieval sorcery practice. Frequently evoking paintings by Bosch, Häxan conveys a sense of dark emotion let loose on a naive world. Accompanied by a live performance of the original 1922 musical score under the direction of Gillian B. Anderson. (Benjamin Christensen, 1922, 35 mm, Danish and Swedish with soft-titles, 110 minutes)
Extended Reading
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Chief Inquisitor: Listen, Maria the Weaver, did you also see the devil put his mark on the witches' foreheads?
Marie, the Seamstress: Oh, learned men, I saw the witches kiss the evil one on his behind. And the mother of Anna, the printer's wife, wished me a scalding death - that damned woman, I saw her kissing the evil one so tenderly...
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Narrator (1968 re-release): The "painful interrogation" preferably began with a "lighter" torture: the Thumb-screw, for example. One of my actresses insisted on trying the Thumb-screw when we shot these pictures. I will not reveal the terrible confessions I forced from the young lady in less than a minute.
[see PHOTOS section]