The Witch

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BAD wrote:Sundance Movie Review: THE WITCH Will Make You Love The Devil
This is the breakout horror movie of Sundance. You must see it!

There’s really a witch in The Witch. This isn’t one of those New England witch movies where you spend the whole running time wondering if the Satanic panic is real or a reflection of some issue plaguing our society today; very early in the film Robert Eggers shows us a wrinkled, gross old hag cutting up a baby and using its blood to oil up her broomstick to fly into the night.

That early appearance by the witch is a brilliant move by Eggers, who wrote his own directorial debut. Set in New England in 1630, The Witch is a slow, creepy burn that pays off spectacularly in crazy Satanic awesomeness that’s just understated enough to be elegantly chilling. By showing us up front that there really is a crone in the woods Eggers guarantees we’ll stay with him.

Not that he needs to guarantee that; the film is stylish and odd and gorgeous. Even if the movie didn’t go occult at the end the rich, detailed world that Eggers - who has worked as a production and costume designer in the past - creates is worth your attention. The Witch is tactile, with every bit of texture on the outfits tangible, every detail completely real.

William (Ralph Ineson, Harry Potter’s Amycus Carrow) is a guy too religious even for the Puritans, and he and his family are driven out of town. They set up a farm on the edge of the woods and begin a pious life. But when the witch of the woods takes their newborn things begin to unravel - the crops fail, the goats give blood instead of milk and the twins begin having long conversations with the he-goat, Black Phillip.

Black Phillip, for the record, rules.

There’s a lot about The Witch that rules. Eggers and his cinematographer Jarin Blaschke frame every foggy, damp shot with exquisite precision. He builds tension and fear throughout, aided by an unsettling score by Mark Korven. His actors are excellent, all required to deliver old English dialogue (much of it gathered from journals and court transcripts of the time for authenticity) and never miss a beat. That’s especially impressive when you realize that the cast is, numbers-wise, primarily child and young actors. They’re all incredible as they descend into madness, darkness and the icy grip of The Adversary himself.

While The Witch makes no bones about the existence of the supernatural it spends a lot of time putting us inside the minds of people with with hysteria. As calamities befall the family they start to accuse one another of dancing with the devil, and we get to understand their tortured wrestling with the intrusion of evil into what should be their God-fearing homestead.

The Witch is like someone adapted a 16th century woodcut of a witches’ sabbath; it is intoxicatingly detailed and deeply unsettling. It brings to the screen Satanic imagery that has fascinated occultists and weirdos for centuries, and it makes it all come completely alive. I have not seen a movie so real in a long time, and that realness is what makes all of the genre elements - all the genre elements that are so uniquely stirring - work so well.

It’s day one of the Sundance Film Festival, and I have many, many more movies to see, but it’s hard for me to imagine seeing another movie that gets me quite as excited, that is so special and works so spectacularly as art film and horror film. I love The Witch, and I want you to see it as soon as you can.
sounds great.

Re: The Witch

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I liked it very much. It's stuck in mind longer than anything else I've seen this year (which hasn't been much).
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: The Witch

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"Witchcraft" was simply an excuse to murder women and lending credence to the myth in a film is like making a misogynistic variation on Jud Suss. For a sensible approach to this topic see The Crucible.

Re: The Witch

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klimov wrote:"Witchcraft" was simply an excuse to murder women and lending credence to the myth in a film is like making a misogynistic variation on Jud Suss. For a sensible approach to this topic see The Crucible.
what? i mean, no shit. since everyone knows the dead don't rise up and attack people, we really should stop making zombie movies.

and no, i still haven't seen this yet. it's on my list.

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TC wrote:
klimov wrote:"Witchcraft" was simply an excuse to murder women and lending credence to the myth in a film is like making a misogynistic variation on Jud Suss. For a sensible approach to this topic see The Crucible.
what? i mean, no shit. since everyone knows the dead don't rise up and attack people, we really should stop making zombie movies.

and no, i still haven't seen this yet. it's on my list.
Yeah, what are you getting at? It's not like the film glorifies witch hunts or anything.

Also
there are some subtle hints that suggests that what the characters experience aren't actually real. See the close-ups of the corn, etc.
Still, a strange critique.

Re: The Witch

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Pretty reductive take on the material, but as you've stated before you're not really a horror guy so I see how it might take flight on a broomstick and soar over your head a bit. I think you can probably take a variety of reads on this film, including some pretty heavy anti-religion and pro feminist ones.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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Film wants to have its cake and eat it: showing a witch killing a baby to blow off horror fans whilst simultaneously throwing a few hints out there that it could all be imaginary, although those hints don't really gel with the wider plot.

This aside, my point seems to have flown over your heads also. The fact is that the witch in 17th century puritan America was a myth used to carry out crimes against humanity. A misogynistic variation on the Jewish blood libel myth also in circulation at the time and later exploited by the Nazis. Many women were burned to death, tortured and drowned for so-called 'witchcraft'. To give credence to this myth on any level, but most especially within its original historical context, is deeply offensive, not to mention stupid.

Nb. Witchfinder General managed to make a perfectly effective horror film out of the subject without promoting mass murder and misogyny.

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Ha! Well aren't you the little offended college campus millenial. Clearly the symbolic self fulfilling prophecy of demonizing femininity and following extreme religiosity that the movie's actually about was lost on you. Oh well.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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You're completely off the rails with these bizarre analogies and angles you're coming at this film with, think we're done here kiddo.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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finally saw this over the weekend. a very disturbing movie.
probably the only movie i've seen in a while that might even be more disturbing if the titular character is removed entirely. i kept thinking that if they drop the shadowy running with the baby, the caleb make-out scene, and end the film where thomasin has her head down on the table, the film is about the horror a family so brainwashed by religion experiences when they suspect their daughter/children may be witches, let alone the guilt caleb must feel as he starts feeling urges and the only female around to look at is his sister. even so, while i think it would be an interesting thing to experience that edit, the film is plenty disturbing as-is. it took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of the dialog/dialect. at the beginning, i was probably only understanding 50% of what was being said. by the end, i was probably 90%. need to watch it again for sure. just a fantastic film. not what i was expecting, pleasantly. putting this all in spoiler tags as i was happy i didn't know anything about it going in. i think it would be ruined if you did. but, still bears multiple viewings. loved it.

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Alexhead, your capacity to fail to think for yourself never ceases to surprise. Let me spell it out even more clearly.

The blood libel against the Jews - ie. the myth that they use the blood of children in rituals - was employed throughout the middle ages to justify atrocities against Jews, long before it was exploited by Hitler. See here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3420595.stm . At the same time, the myth that wayward, unruly or spinster women used the blood of children in rituals was also being used to justify atrocities against women. The very same accusation, for the very same purpose, part of the very same ugly world of medieval superstition.

Now I assume that you would not approve of a film which represents the blood libel as fact. For example, a film set in 1144 depicting local Jews murdering William of Norwich in a blood ritual. Such a film would be rightly condemned, and undistributable. Why then is it acceptable to represent 17th century witch mythology in the same way? In both instances, the film is lending credibility to the hollow justifications of murderers.

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klimov wrote:In both instances, the film is lending credibility to the hollow justifications of murderers.
i don't understand this part of what you say. i was with you up until then. it actually happened in history. so because it was bad, no one can make a film where it is part of/the story? boy, someone better tell hollywood to ixnay on all the hitler films. also, any horror films "based on a true story". also, 90% of other films in hollywood.

what am i missing? how does a film's existence mean said film/filmmakers support/are in favor of the material they present? sometimes shining a light on the dark is the only way to eradicate it, yes? by your logic, you fully support rape.

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It didn't happen though, that's the point. These myths were lies created by the equivalent of the fascist right of the time to justify the murder of minorities. Yet, in The Witch, we actually see a 17th century "witch" killing a baby for ritual purposes. IMHO if you're going to make a historical drama it's not necessary to tell a true story, but you do have a creative and moral responsibility to stay true to the spirit and essence of the history behind the story. This is not achieved by lending credence to the blood libel. As I mentioned before, The Crucible and Witchfinder General are works which approach this topic in a responsible manner.

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well yeah,
as i said, the film would be equally if not more disturbing if "the witch" were removed. now the rest absolutely did happen to families. so if they had done that, how would you feel about the film?