Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Häxan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 20, 2019

Benjamin Christensen's "Haxan" (1922) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include archival audio commentary by film scholar Casper Tybjerg; outtakes; archival introduction to the film by its director; and more. With optional English subtitles for the original intertitles. Region-A "locked".

The witch

What Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen did with Haxan in the early 1920s isn’t any different than what various directors did for The History Channel’s TV series The Universe. Christensen chose a different subject matter but the basic concept behind his film is the same -- an arty blend of fact and fiction, which is every bit as illuminating as it is entertaining and by default deceiving. Christensen even broke his film into multiple parts, so its structure reminds of the popular TV series as well.

Each of the seven parts is dedicated to the evolution of witchcraft through the ages, though what Christensen is focused on is something entirely different. Indeed, it is actually the manner in which people modified the ‘rational’ and then placed it in different myths and theories to explain witchcraft. (This is precisely what the various seasons of The Universe do as well -- they promote a wide range of scientific speculations to explain our history and placement in the universe). So, after each part the ‘rational’ is redefined and used in a new context to illustrate and examine human progress.

Profiling Haxan strictly as a documentary, however, would be wrong. One reason why is the fact that Christensen gives the multiple parts unique identities and then infuses some with light humor that provide his film with an auteurish quality. For example, in the second part a group of cemetery robbers steal some rotting corpses and deliver various body parts to an elderly witch who has to prepare her famous magic love potion, but she complains that the they are too old and then warns her customers that her specialty may not turn out as it should. When the Devil steps in front of the camera Christensen often makes him look as a cheeky countryside bachelor as well.

Plenty of the production values strengthen the film’s auteurish quality as well. For example, many sequences are staged with a great awareness of the effectiveness of light and shadow, plus the positioning of the camera routinely makes it obvious that Christensen was in fact looking to enhance the drama. While certainly not unusual for a silent film, this particular type of craftsmanship was most certainly not common in early silent films that are considered documentaries.

The valuable technical material that could appear in a legit documentary about witchcraft comes towards the end, after the Church has started identifying the witches and performing various rituals to make them renounce the Devil. Christensen shows numerous torture devices that were used to produce the confessions that proved the existence of the Devil – and by default justified the existence of the Church -- and in the process highlights the erosion of the ‘rational’ during the period. Virtually all of the footage that various international distributors censored before they began screening the film in their local markets came from this material.

The new 2K restoration that was used to source this release presents the film fully uncut. Also, the film can be viewed with an orchestral score by film music specialist Gillian Anderson, who apparently attempted to recreated the music that was played during its Danish premiere at the Palads Teatret theater on November 7, 1922. Anderson conducted and recorded her score with the Czech Film Orchestra in Prague in June 2001.

Häxan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Haxan arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital 2K restoration was undertaken by the Swedish Film Institute from a 35mm duplicate negative. Images including the intertitles were tinted according to notes left by director Benjamin Christensen.".

The film looks remarkable in high-definition. I projected it and to me the technical presentation is on par with what Alpha-Omega Digital delivered for Ernst Lubitsch's The Loves of Pharaoh, which was also released in 1922. The density and depth that the visuals convey is often breathtaking, plus the tinting is very nicely done. Also, you should be able to see from our screencaptures that there are numerous ranges of fine nuances that emerge in the darker footage, which is something that I always find rather remarkable to see on a silent film. There are no digital anomalies. Image stability is excellent as well. Fantastic restoration and a very solid upgrade. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Häxan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Music DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the intertitles.

The film can be viewed with an original orchestral score by film music specialist Gillian Anderson, which was recorded in a studio. Naturally, the lossless track replicates the native qualities of the studio recording. Dynamic intensity is modest, but this should be expected from a chamber score. There are no encoding anomalies to report.

Häxan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - director Benjamin Christensen filmed this short introduction to Haxan in 1941. In Danish, with optional English subtitles. (9 min, 1080i).

• The Score - information about the recent score that film music specialist Gillian Anderson recorded with the Czech Film Orchestra in Prague in June 2001. Text format.

• Witchcraft Through the Ages - an alternate version of Haxan which was released in 1968. It represents one of several cinematic collaborations between Antony Balch, Brion Gysin, and William S. Burroughs, who performed the voiceover narration of the film. Daniel Humair composed the jazz score, which features, among others, Jean-Luc Ponty on violin. English Dolby Digital 1.0. Not subtitled. (77 min, 1080p).

• Bibilioteque diabolique - in this program, film scholar Casper Tybjerg focuses on some of the historical sourced that Benjamin Christensen used while preparing Haxan. The program was produced for Criterion in 2011. With text description in English. (15 min, 1080p).

• Outtakes - presented here is footage that comes from a reel of test shots for various Benjamin Christensen films which was collected by cinematographer Johan Ankerstjerne. (5 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - film scholar Casper Tybjerg recorded this audio commentary for Criterion's DVD release of Haxan in 2001. In English.
  
  1. An introduction to Benjamin Christensen
  2. Earlier films
  3. Blind Justice and Sing Sing
  4. A fictional documentary?
  5. An artistic argument
  6. Historical sources
  7. The witch trials
  8. The Hammer of Witches
  9. Special effects
  10. Seventy-five broomsticks
  11. The cast
  12. "Much nakedness"
  13. International reaction
  14. The 1941 rerelease
  15. Surreal episodes
  16. No "plot"
  17. An early auteur
  18. Later films
  19. Later films continued
  20. Jean-Martin Charcot
  21. "Just once in a lifetime"

• Booklet - 34-illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Chris Fujiwara, remarks on the score by Gillian Anderson, an essay by scholar Chloé Germaine Buckley, and technical credits.

Häxan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Here are a two facts that you won't see mentioned in mainstream reviews of Haxan: First, it is the spiritual father of entire ranges of scandalous exploitation films that emerged during the 1970s and 1980s. Second, the Scandinavian black metal scene that flourished during the late 1980s and early 1990s was greatly influenced by it as well. I think that it is a pretty amusing film, but I also think that its historical significance is greatly exaggerated. It is basically a big-budget silent exploitation project that was promoted as a pseudo-documentary and eventually legitimized because of its auteurish qualities. Criterion's release is sourced from an outstanding new 2K restoration, so if you like Haxan order a copy for your library. RECOMMENDED.