HAXAN/WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES
D: Benjamin Christensen (1922) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Benjamin Christensen (1922) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
Maren Pederson, Elith Pio, Benjamin Christensen
A groundbreaking Swedish documentary (at least it's in the style of a documentary) about witchcraft and devil worship from ancient times to the 20th century. Disturbing, irreverent and technically accomplished, with moments of tongue-in-cheek humor and Christensen himself cast as a tongue-flicking devil. There's a spooky authenticity about some of the subjects - toothless crones who could've stepped straight out of 19th-century photographs - that's as haunting as anything else in the film. Two excellent prints of the movie - one with titles and the other narrated by William S. Burroughs - are available on a DVD from Criterion.
