Where:
Scandinavian Cultural Center
206 Waltham Street
Newton, MA 02465
Admission:
$10
Categories:
Movies
Event website:
https://scandicenter.org/event/screening-haxan-1922/
A special Halloween presentation of this Swedish silent film from 1922.
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.
Music from the 1922 Danish premiere, arranged by film-music specialist Gillian B. Anderson and performed by the Czech Film Orchestra in 2001.
Sunday, October 30th, 2022 | 7pm | $10; $5 for SCC and Library members | tickets here