Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
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Maren Pedersen | Heksen (The Witch) |
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Clara Pontoppidan | Nonne (Nun) |
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Elith Pio | Heksedommer (Witch Judge - The Young Monk) |
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Oscar Stribolt | Graabroder (Gray Monk) |
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Tora Teje | En hysterisk kvinde (Hysterical Woman) |
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John Andersen | Chief Inquisitor |
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Benjamin Christensen | Djævlen (The Devil) |
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Poul Reumert | Juveler (Jeweler) |
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Karen Winther | Anna's Sister |
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Kate Fabian | Gammel jomfru (Old Maid) |
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Else Vermehren | Nonne (Nun) |
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Astrid Holm | Anna |
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Johannes Andersen | Heksedommer (Witch Judge) |
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Gerda Madsen | Nonne |
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Aage Hertel | Heksedommer (Witch Judge) |
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Ib Schønberg | Heksedommer (Witch Judge) |
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Emmy Schønfeld | Marie - The Seamstress |
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Frederik Christensen | Borger (Citizen) |
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Ella La Cour | Troldkvinde (Magician) |
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Elisabeth Christensen | En ældre bondekone (Older Farm Lady) |
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Henry Seemann | Borger (Citizen) |
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Alice O'Fredericks | Nonne (Nun) |
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Knud Rassow | Anatomen |
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Ellen Rassow | En tjenestepige (Maid) |
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Holst Jørgensen | Ole Kighul |
| Director | Benjamin Christensen |
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| Writer | Benjamin Christensen | |
| Musician | Matti Bye, Launy Grøndahl, Daniel Humair, Barði Jóhannsson, Emil Reesen, Ludwig van Beethoven, Art Zoyd | |
| Photography | Johan Ankerstjerne | |
| Edition | Special Edition |
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| Packaging | Keep Case |
| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Screen Ratios | Fullscreen (4:3) |
| Audio Tracks | Dolby Digital 5.0 [English] Dolby Digital 5.1 [English] Dolby Digital Stereo [English] |
| Subtitles | English | Swedish |
| Distributor | The Criterion Collection |
| Layers | Single side, Single layer |
| Edition Release Date | Oct 16, 2001 |
| Regions | Region 1 |
| Index | 2569 |
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| Added Date | Sep 23, 2022 21:16:59 |
| Modified Date | Sep 23, 2022 21:25:08 |
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary silent film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages and early modern era suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film's own time. Far from a dry dissertation on the topic, the film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.
SPECIAL FEATURES
On the DVD: Digital transfer
Music from the 1922 Danish premiere, arranged by film-music specialist Gillian B. Anderson and performed by the Czech Film Orchestra in 2001, presented in 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray and in Dolby Digital 5.0 on the DVD
Audio commentary from 2001 featuring film scholar Casper Tybjerg
Witchcraft Through the Ages (1968), a seventy-six-minute version of Häxan narrated by author William S. Burroughs, with a soundtrack featuring violinist Jean-Luc Ponty
Director Benjamin Christensen’s introduction to the 1941 rerelease
Outtakes
Bibliothèque diabolique, a photographic exploration of Christensen’s historical sources, created in 2001
PLUS: An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara, remarks on the score by Anderson, and, for the Blu-ray edition, an essay by scholar Chloé Germaine Buckley
Blu-ray cover by Glyn Smith (pictured); DVD cover by Eva Wah
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