Το ανελέητο "κυνήγι των μαγισσών" σε μια αριστουργηματική ταινία του βωβού κυνηματογράφου

 

HÄXAN 

1922

Häxan ([ˈHɛksan] , "Οι  μάγισσες".  Δανέζικα: Heksen ; Αγγλικά: The Witches or Witchcraft Through the Ages ) 

Άκρως ατμοσφαιρική  Δανέζικη βουβή  ταινία  τρόμου, με τη μορφή ντοκιμαντέρ , του 1922.

Σκηνοθέτης: Benjamin Christensen*
Σενάριο: Benjamin Christensen
Ηθοποιοί: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen

Γράφτηκε και σκηνοθετήθηκε από τον Benjamin Christensen . Η ταινία καταγράφει τις ιστορικές ρίζες και τις δεισιδαιμονίες της μαγείας , ξεκινώντας από τον Μεσαίωνα και φθάνοντας έως τον 20ο αιώνα. Βασίζεται εν μέρει στη μελέτη του Christensen για το βιβλίο  Malleus Maleficarum** , τον διαβόητο  γερμανικό οδηγό... κυνηγών μαγισσών ,  του 15ου αιώνα ,  λόγω της χρήσης του κατά τη διάρκεια της υστερίας του κυνηγιού μαγισσών, η οποία έφτασε στο αποκορύφωμά της την περίοδο από τα μέσα του 16ου έως τα μέσα του 17ου αιώνα.

*Benjamin Christensen - Wikipedia

**Malleus Maleficarum - Βικιπαίδεια

PLOT OF THE PARTS OF MOVIE

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