Häxan: A Centennial Documentary on Witches and Misogyny

It is sometimes difficult to meaningfully process how paradoxically old and new cinema is. Compared to other art forms, cinema is amongst the youngest, with only radio, television, and video games (all of which evolved in some way from cinema) being younger. However, while acknowledging that youth, we forget that we live through several key iconic works enjoying their centennial anniversaries.…

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Benjamin Christensen, Haxan (1922)

Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922).

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

“Poor little hysterical witch! In the middle ages you were in conflict with the church. Now it is with the law.”

Director: Benjamin Christensen

Cinematographer: Johan Ankerstjerne

Häxan (1922)

Häxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages (1929)

Director: Benjamin Christensen / Cinematography: Johan Ankerstjerne

Häxan (1922)

Häxan (1922) - Episode 79 - Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Here, young maiden, take a potion of cat feces and dove hearts, boiled during the full moon. A drop of this in a man's drink will soften his heart at once.” Yummy, yummy, yummy. I’ve got love in my tummy. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew - Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr and special guest host Ralph Miller - as they learn about witchcraft through the ages with Benjamin Christensen’s innovative silent film, Häxan (1922).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 79 – Häxan (1922)

Part history lesson followed by re-enactments with actors, this film depicts the history of witchcraft from its earliest days through to the present day (in this case, 1922 or thereabouts). The result is a documentary-like film that must be among the first to use re-enactments as a visual and narrative tool. From pagan worship to satanic rites to hysteria, the film takes you on a journey through the ages with highly effective visual sequences.

IMDb

  Writer/Director: Benjamin Christensen

Cinematography: Johan Ankerstjerne

Selected Cast:

Benjamin Christensen as the Devil

Ella la Cour as Sorceress Karna

Emmy Schønfeld as Karna's Assistant

Kate Fabian as the Old Maid

Oscar Stribolt as the Fat Monk

Wilhelmine Henriksen as Apelone

Astrid Holm as Anna

Elisabeth Christensen as Anna's Mother

Karen Winther as Anna's Sister

Maren Pedersen as the Witch

Johannes Andersen as Pater Henrik, Witch Judge

Elith Pio as Johannes, Witch Judge

Aage Hertel as Witch Judge

Ib Schønberg as Witch Judge

Holst Jørgensen as Peter Titta (in Denmark called Ole Kighul)

Clara Pontoppidan as Sister Cecilia, Nun

Elsa Vermehren as Flagellating Nun

Alice O'Fredericks as Nun

Gerda Madsen as Nun

Karina Bell as Nun

Tora Teje as the Hysterical Woman

Poul Reumert as the Jeweller

H.C. Nilsen as the Jeweller's Assistant

Albrecht Schmidt as the Psychiatrist

Knud Rassow as the Anatomist

Your Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue-Crew takes a deeper dive than usual into Häxan. As an innovative, seminal film, it demands the added attention. Crewmate Joseph Perry is unable to join the Grue-Crew for this episode but special effects artist Ralph Miller is an eager and more than able guest host. 

Ralph considers Häxan to be quite an ambitious film, especially for the time, with its imagery of witches and the devil. Whitney is stunned by the beautiful yet very strange artistry of Häxan, which is unlike anything she’s ever seen. The images that played out in the film were startling to Chad, but what really grabbed him is how superstition and mental illness led to women experiencing accusations of witchcraft, persecution, suffering, and death. 

If you haven’t seen Häxan, you need to remedy that condition immediately. If you haven’t seen it for a while, it’s time to watch it again. The film is readily available to stream from various sources and on a stunning Criterion Blu-ray.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era puts out a new episode every two weeks. The next episode in their very flexible schedule will be War of the Colossal Beast (1958), chosen by Chad.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at [email protected]

To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”

Check out this episode!

Subtitles: ENG (burned-in), GER re-recorded musical score by The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra (Rats&PeopleMPO) Häxan (Danish title: Heksen; English title: The Witches or Witchcraft Through the Ages) is a 1922 Swedish-Danish documentary-style silent horror 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. The film was made as a documentary but contains dramatised 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 kronor. Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden,[citation needed] 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. It is now considered to be Christensen's finest work. Directed by Benjamin Christensen Screenplay by Benjamin Christensen Starring: Benjamin Christensen Clara Pontoppidan Oscar Stribolt Astrid Holm Maren Pedersen Cinematography: Johan Ankerstjerne Edited by Edia Hansen Production company: Svensk Filmindustri Distributed by Skandias Filmbyrå (Sweden) Release date: 18 September 1922 (Sweden) Running time: 74 minutes (1968 version), 104 minutes (Swedish Film Institute print) Country: Sweden, Denmark Language: Silent film with Swedish intertitles Budget: SEK 2 million PLOT Part 1 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. Part 2 A series of vignettes theatrically demonstrating medieval superstition and beliefs concerning witchcraft, including 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. Part 3 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 one of the clergymen accuses her of bewitching him. Part 4 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 possibly mentally ill, and in modern times, such behavior is interpreted as 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 societies recognize them as psychological ailments. There is heavy irony, however, in the observation that the "temperate shower of the clinic" i.e. the treatment of "hysterical women" in a modern institution, has replaced medieval solutions such as burning at the stake. _____________ Häxan - Witchcraft Through the Ages La Brujería a través de los tiempos La Sorcellerie à travers les âges Hexen (Alternativ: Die Hexe) La stregoneria attraverso i secoli Häxan - A Feitiçaria Através dos Tempos Ведьмы 女巫 HAXAN

Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922).

Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922).

Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922).

Haxan: Witchcraft Throughout the Ages (1922)

“Poor little hysterical witch! In the middle ages you were in conflict with the church. Now it is with the law.”

Director: Benjamin Christensen

Cinematographer: Johan Ankerstjerne