Witchcraft Through the Ages
(Häxän)
Screening on Film
Directed by Benjamin Christensen .
With Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan, Elith Pio.
Demark/Sweden, 1922, 35mm, black & white, silent, 87 min.
With Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan, Elith Pio.
Demark/Sweden, 1922, 35mm, black & white, silent, 87 min.
Swedish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen explores the mysteries of witchcraft in this famed documentary study. Although the film relies on etchings and manuscripts to prove its findings on the subject the film is often wickedly hilarious and thoroughly entertaining in its efforts to capture the hysteria of the Middle Ages. Christensen employs a variety of filmic techniques including bizarre reenactments in which the director himself appears as the Devil.