Häxan

Infobox Film
name = Häxan


caption = Danish film poster for "Häxan"
imdb_rating =
director = Benjamin Christensen
producer =
writers = Benjamin Christensen
starring = Benjamin Christensen
Clara Pontoppidan
Oscar Stribolt
Astrid Holm
Maren Pedersen
music = Launy Grøndahl
Matti Bye
cinematography = Johan Ankerstjerne
editing = Edia Hansen
distributor = Svensk Filmindustri
released = September 18, 1922 Sweden
May 27 1929 USA
runtime = 104 min.
country = Denmark
Sweden
language = Silent film
Danish intertitles
budget =
amg_id = 1:54957
imdb_id = 0013257

"Häxan" (English title: "The Witches" or "Witchcraft Through The Ages") is a 1922 Swedish/Danish silent film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. Based partly on Christensen's study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century German guide for inquisitors, "Häxan" is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts.Pilkington, Mark "Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages"Fortean Times, Dennis Publishing Ltd., October 2007] The film was made as a documentary but contains dramatized sequences that are comparable to horror films. With Christensen's meticulous recreation of medieval scenes and the lengthy production period, the film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made, costing nearly two million Swedish krona. Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden, the film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity and sexual perversion.Tybjerg, Casper, "Et lille lands vagabonder 1920-1929", "100 Års Dansk Film", Rosinante Forslag, 2001, pg. 68. ISBN 87-621-0157-9]

Plot

The first part of the film is a scholarly dissertation on the appearances of demons and witches in primitive and medieval culture. A number of photographs of statuary, paintings, and woodcuts are used as demonstrative pieces. In addition, several large scale models are employed to demonstrate medieval concepts of the structure of the solar system and the commonly accepted depiction of Hell.

The second part of the film is a series of vignettes theatrically demonstrating medieval superstition and beliefs concerning witchcraft. These include Satan (played by Christensen himself) tempting a sleeping woman away from her husband's bed and terrorizing a group of monks. Also shown is a woman purchasing a love potion from a supposed witch, and a sequence showing a supposed witch dreaming of flying through the air and attending a witches' gathering.

The third part of the film is a long narrative broken up into several parts. Set in the Middle Ages, it concerns an old woman accused of witchcraft by a dying man's family. The narrative is used to demonstrate the treatment of suspected witches by the religious authorities of the time. The old woman, after being tortured, admits to heavy involvement in witchcraft, including detailed descriptions of a Witches' Sabbath, even going so far as to "name" other supposed witches, including two of the women in the dying man's household. Eventually, the dying man's wife is arrested as a witch when she admits that she falsely accused the old woman of witchcraft.

The final part of the film seeks to demonstrate how the superstitions of old are better understood now. Christensen seeks to make the claim that most who were accused of witchcraft were mentally ill, and in modern times, we recognize that people are not possessed by the devil but suffering from a disease. His case revolves around vignettes about a somnambulist and a kleptomaniac, the implication being that these behaviors would have been thought of as demonically-influenced in medieval times whereas modern times recognizes them as psychological ailments.

Cast

Production

After finding a copy of the Malleus Maleficarum in a Berlin bookshop, Christensen spent two years from 1919 to 1921 on research for "Häxan" studying manuals, illustrations and treatises on witches and witch-hunting. He included a lengthy bibliography in the original playbill at the film's premiere. It was Christensen's intent to create an entirely new film rather than an adaptation of literary fiction, which was the case for films of that day. "In principal I am against these adaptations... I seek to find the way forward to original films." [Christensen, Benjamin, "from a published letter", Kinobladet 9. No.17, August 5 1921]

Christensen obtained funding from the Svensk Film (Swedish Film), preferring it over the local Danish film studios, so that he could maintain complete artistic freedom. He used the money to buy and refurbish the Astra film studio in Hellerup, Denmark. Filming then ran from February through October of 1921. Christensen and cinematographer Johan Ankerstjerne filmed only at night or in a closed set to maintain the film's dark hue. Post-production required another year before the film premiered in late 1922. Total cost for Svensk Film, including refurbishing the Astra Film Studio, reached between 1.5 and 2 million krona, making Häxan the most expensive Scandinavian silent film in history.

Re-releases

The film was re-released in 1941 in Denmark with an extended introduction by Christensen. The intertitles were also changed in this version.Fact|date=April 2007

In 1968, an abbreviated version of the film (77 minutes as opposed to the original's 104 minutes) was released, entitled "Witchcraft Through The Ages". This version featured an eclectic jazz score by Jean-Luc Ponty and dramatic narration by William S. Burroughs.

On October 16, 2001, "Häxan" was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection. This release features a restored print of the original version of the film, as well as the 1968 "Witchcraft Through The Ages" version. Also featured are extensive production notes, a re-recorded musical score, commentary by Danish film scholar Casper Tybjerg, a gallery featuring the images used in the film's first section, and the introduction Christensen recorded for the 1941 re-release.

oundtracks

Danish composer and conductor Launy Grøndahl composed the film's original score.

In 2007, two new soundtracks for the film were composed. One was by the British composer and performer Geoff Smith, to be performed on the hammered dulcimer. Smith performed the soundtrack throughout the UK in 2007. [http://www.dulcimer.co.uk/biog.htm] The other was by the British group Bronnt Industries Kapital, and was also performed throughout the UK and Europe in 2007. A DVD of the film featuring both soundtracks was released by Tartan Films on September 24, 2007.
Barði Jóhannson of Bang Gang made a symphony over the silent film with the Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra. The Häxan Score was released on CD in 2006.

The French experimental music group Art Zoyd also created a soundtrack that was released on CD in 1997. This work was commissioned by the City of Copenhagen, the European Union designated Cultural Capital of Europe 1996. Art Zoyd members Gérard Hourbette and Thierry Zaboïtzeff composed the soundtrack.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0013257|title=Haxan
* [http://dnfx.dfi.dk/pls/dnf/pwt.page_setup?p_pagename=dnffuldvis&p_parmlist=filmid=10857 Häxan] at Det Danske Filminstitut (in Danish)
* [http://www.archive.org/details/Haxan_tinted_and_subtitled Download Haxan at archive.org]
* [http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/H/Haxan1922.html Häxan at Silent Era]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=134&eid=154&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Chris Fujiwara]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=134&eid=155&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Gillian Anderson]