Описание
Немое документальное (чёрно-белое (сепия)) кино
Жанр: ужасы
Режиссёр: Benjamin Christensen
В ролях: Benjamin Christensen, Clara Pontoppidan, Oscar Stribolt, Astrid Holm, Maren Pedersen, Tora Teje, Elith Pio, ...
Дата: 18/9(сентябрь)/1922
Страна: Швеция / Дания
Язык: Датский
Длительность: 104 минуты (01:44:00)
Музыка: Gillian Anderson Знаменитый фильм об истории охоты на ведьм в средние века. Одержимые монашки, осквернение могил, ведьмовские шабаши, пытки инквизиторов сменяют друг друга на экране, поражая жестокостью, реализмом и изрядной дозой чёрного юмора. «The film is a documentary of witchcraft and a study of how human superstition, coupled with a lack of understanding of the causes of things such as mental illness and disease, may have led to the witchcraft hysteria of the early modern period. The first part of the film is 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. The second part of the film is a series of vignettes theatrically demonstrating medieval superstition and beliefs concerning witchcraft. These include 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. The third part of the film is 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 she admits that she falsely accused the old woman of witchcraft. 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 mentally ill, and in modern times, we recognize that people are not possessed by the devil but suffering from 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 times recognizes them as psychological ailments.»
