Häxan (DIE HEXE)

What begins as a sober examination of medieval notions of witchcraft develops into a peculiar blend of documentary and phantasmagoria. Writer/director and devil impersonator Benjamin Christensen spent years conducting groundwork and meticulous research, making his film the most expensive Scandinavian production to date: historical sources are juxtaposed with a series of harrowing images of possession, torture and sinister rituals reminiscent of paintings by Bosch, Bruegel or Goya. These darkly burlesque visions of horror thus reproduce what they actually seek to explore – yet HÄXAN does not aim to shock, but rather highlights the conditions under which the occult arises – and persists over the centuries.
(Florian Widegger)