134 Häxan

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Werdegast
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:36 pm
Location: Finland

#26 Post by Werdegast » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:54 pm

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:
Werdegast wrote:There is a new Swedish box set of Silent movies coming out 28 November wich will include Häxan.

Terje Vigen

Don't know if this has been posted anywhere else,and there will be German, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian subs.
Do you have a link, or do you know if this Terje Vigen is the same with Ketil Bjornstad score as in the Ibsen Box set??
As Ola said, there is some lack of advance information on this one. Though I found a site that had some information about the Sir Arne`s Treasure and the The Phantom Carriage discs(only in Swedish). As bonus material on the "Sir Arne`s Treasure", there are three Mauritz Stiller short movies(are these available on some other DVD?): Hans hustrus förflutna(1916), När kärleken dödar(1913) & PÃ¥ livets ödesvägar(1913)

Bonus materials to "The Phantom Carriage" is:
Interview with Ingmar Bergman about Victor Sjöströms influence as a film-maker on Bergman.
Behind the scenes of Bergman's "Wild strawberry's"
Unique pictures of building the Swedish film industries studio in "RÃ¥sunda" where this film is recorded.
Pictures from the set.

Dont know if i/someone should make a new topic somewhere else about this box as its not about any CC release.....

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klee13
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:33 pm
Location: NYC

#27 Post by klee13 » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:49 am

I know this is an astronomically stupid and pointless post, but my head damn near exploded for a second when I saw this typo. (Scroll down to number 5)[/quote]

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CSM126
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#28 Post by CSM126 » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:52 am

Christensen...Fellini

Very similar. Honest mistake, for sure.

dudlyarse
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Got Haxan a few months ago.....

#29 Post by dudlyarse » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:35 pm

....and I've watched both versions of the movie. And I'm thinking about watching the commentary tonight, because I haven't seen it yet.

I enjoyed both Haxan and Witchcraft Through The Ages. Witchcraft was definitely the more jivey, outlandish viewing experience of the two, but I enjoyed Haxan just as much for its slower, more objective pace with the same material. I'm sure that's how Christensen wanted the movie to be seen originally.

I have one small comment about Haxan, though: I'm not a fan of the tinting. I thought it was distracting and didn't really add much to the quality of the images. Going from an outdoor scene in blue directly to an indoor scene in red, and back again, like in the scene with the grave robbers caught praying over a dead body, felt really disjointing to me.

The black and white of Witchcraft, along with its sped up framerate, gave the images a greater sense of urgency. I'm thinking especially of the scenes with the old hag gulping down the soup with her hands, her and the other mistresses of the house being dragged away in that trolley, and also the scene with the nuns going crazy.

One favor to ask in this post, though. Could anyone help with something that went completely over my head: where was was the supposed blasphemous use of a Judaic liturgical song during Haxan? Could anyone explain where that comes in?

That's all for now. I'm really glad I picked this one up on eBay. Paid $20 shipped for it. =P~

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tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
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Re: Got Haxan a few months ago.....

#30 Post by tryavna » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:30 am

dudlyarse wrote:I have one small comment about Haxan, though: I'm not a fan of the tinting. I thought it was distracting and didn't really add much to the quality of the images. Going from an outdoor scene in blue directly to an indoor scene in red, and back again, like in the scene with the grave robbers caught praying over a dead body, felt really disjointing to me.
Just out of curiosity, have you not seen many silent films? That sort of tinting was quite common throughout much of the silent era. (I assume you know that the tints were used to help indicate time of day, indoor vs. outdoor, etc. for the audience.) At any rate, you get used to it the more silent films you watch.

BTW, you should enjoy the commentary. Caspar Tyburg is one of the few who's always worth going out of one's way to listen to.

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dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: 134 Häxan

#31 Post by dad1153 » Wed May 13, 2009 10:15 pm

Watched "Häxan" twice but haven't yet watched the 'new' version with Burrough's narration because the 1922 version seems perfect to me as is (minus the inappropriate soundtrack that doesn't match the images). Talk about being way ahead of its time! Given today's political climate about the reliability of information obtained from war prisoners through torture this silent movie touches on stuff that we're still talking/debating about today. Are we really that backwards culturally that an 87 year-old flick makes us look like Puritans? Christensen wore many hats while making what could be labeled the intellectual great-great-great-granddaddy of Bill Maher's "Religulous": performer (as both Jesus and the Devil), writer, director, SFX technician, on-camera authority figure, etc. The idea that a staged documentary mixing scholarly thesis and staged re-enactments with a strong POV (Christensen's) about the ignorance of people from the Middle Ages being abused by religious institutions in their quest for control could show such maturity and common sense 87 years ago just blows my mind. Audiencies back then (the few that saw "Häxan" uncensored the way Criterion presents it) must have freaked the hell out but, in the appropriate contemporary frame of mind, "Häxan" is also pretty damn hilarious. How can anyone not laugh at the sight of an older woman birthing several midget-sized devil babies to wacky organ music? Take note ladies: cat feces mixed with dove hearts make for a potent love potion. :shock:

Criterion's bevy of supplements, as usual, enhances an already interesting and downright weird film. An ace commentary from Danish film historian Casper Tybjerg is both informative and entertaining (even though he's clearly reading). Seeing an older Christensen use his own movie to back-up his thesis about religion is both illuminating but also a bit scary.

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Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
Location: Texas

Re: 134 Häxan

#32 Post by Feego » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:05 am

I watched this for the first time last night. Just wonderful! From reading all of the comments here, though, it looks like I may be alone in really loving the musical accompaniment. Perhaps we have been spoiled by the idea of a movie "score," but for me the musical selections on this DVD really evoked the spirit of film screenings during the silent era, when musical accompaniment generally did not mean having a complete score that specifically matched the action but background music that created mood and ambience. I also liked the juxtaposition of frequently upbeat or romantic music over the dark imagery. It emphasized the "documentary" nature of the movie (it's not a true horror film, at least not in the conventional sense) and it also matched the humorous elements of the film, which are sometimes effectively deadpan.

The 1968 version is a fun experiment, but it's not something I see myself returning to frequently. Burroughs' dry commentary and the jazz score are amusing in the beginning, but after about 30 minutes the whole thing goes from novelty to rather dated kitsch.

woahmer
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2007 5:43 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#33 Post by woahmer » Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:59 pm

So i hope you guys wont think this is spam, I make no money off of this and just thought the people on the forum would be interested.

The theater I work at in Duluth,Mn showed Haxan this last weekend with a score written and performed live by local musician Tim Kaiser. For the occasion they made some silk screen prints and there are some left that they are selling online.

Image

They are $25 + 2 s/h and can be ordered here

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#34 Post by zedz » Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:22 pm

Well, if it is spam, it's the best-looking spam I've seen for some time. If MoC ever put out this title, there's the cover.

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Documaniaque
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:06 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#35 Post by Documaniaque » Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:41 pm

So, I have the Criterion already but a French DVD of this has come out, and I'm intrigued by their inclusion of "2 versions of the film: a 'recomposed' one with its original speed of 18 images/second and the 'original' version, as given to us by the rights-holders, with a speed of 24 images/second".

Would anyone with more knowledge than myself of silent film speeds care to weigh in on which speed the Criterion was and whether or not that was the right speed?

Thanks for any insight.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#36 Post by zedz » Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:59 pm

The Criterion website claims its version is "speed-corrected", but its running time is the same as the "uncorrected" Potemkine version: 87 minutes.

Potemkine's claim that the film should be 18 fps rather than 24 fps seems plausible for a 1922 film, as 24 fps tended to be more standard later in the silent era (hence its co-option for sound film) - but it's dangerous to generalize about all of this. Any such call can only be made by close observation of the actual film or, better yet, reference to contemporary sources re. physical length and reported running times.

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MitchPerrywinkle
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:26 am

Re: 134 Häxan

#37 Post by MitchPerrywinkle » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:46 am

woahmer wrote:Image

They are $25 + 2 s/h and can be ordered here
Sweet! Good to see a fellow Minnesotan on this board. And that cover is awesome.

Haven't seen this yet, but sounds like a good Halloween treat.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#38 Post by matrixschmatrix » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:07 am

Oh, damn you, Mitch- I got all excited about that poster and went to try and buy it before realizing that the post you were responding to was a year and a half old.

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Documaniaque
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:06 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#39 Post by Documaniaque » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:44 pm

That's a beautiful poster, but nothing will ever come close to the original:

Image

To return to the Potemkine DVD, I'm a little jealous it has a new music score by Matti Bye. Don't know this one but I was lucky enough to see him perform his Phantom Carriage live and it was most excellent (it's on the Swedish DVD apparently). Count me among those who didn't love the music on the Criterion (which if I remember correctly was actually the original score from 1922 played at the Danish premiere).

Thanks zedz for the insight on the speed question...

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tojoed
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
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Re: 134 Häxan

#40 Post by tojoed » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:32 pm

The poster above is on the SFI DVD in a boxed set with the Sjostroms and Stillers.

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movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: 134 Häxan

#41 Post by movielocke » Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:29 pm

Watched this off TCM this week after being inspired by The Story of Film an Odyssey.

It's an absolutely stunning achievement through and through, I was consistently blown away by the film from segment to segment. Everything comes together to make a really stunning work of art, performances, design, the unique approach to unfolding the non narrative, it's really incredible work.

How many of Christensen's other films have survived? I don't really trust wikipedia or IMDB to correctly inform me as to the state of his filmography.

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Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: 134 Häxan

#42 Post by Drucker » Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:33 pm

movielocke wrote:How many of Christensen's other films have survived? I don't really trust wikipedia or IMDB to correctly inform me as to the state of his filmography.
"have survived" I can't answer, but there are definitely a few available at the DFI film shop. If they are anything like their Dreyer films, they are all region 0, too!

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#43 Post by knives » Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:52 pm

They are indeed Region 0.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: 134 Häxan

#44 Post by Gregory » Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:25 pm

Mockery is available via Warner Archive. Warner has a print of The Devil's Circus as well. Prints also exist of Seven Footprints to Satan and Seine Frau, die Unbekannte / His Wife, the Unknown.

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swo17
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Re: 134 Häxan

#45 Post by swo17 » Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:29 pm

The Mysterious X (aka Sealed Orders) is great, don't miss it!

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 134 Häxan

#46 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:02 pm

Sealed Orders (X) and Blind Justice are frigging unbelievable and milestones in the use of hi contrast cinematography and chiaroscuro in the cinema. Haxan didn't see this director leap out with this level of quality and innovation fully formed. Christensen is an hugely interesting filmmaker and man, and his filmmography is extremely satisfying as a personal project of acquisiton and digestion.

Haxan remains for me one of the most visually daring and unusual--and completely original from conception to execution-- films ever made. He even used stop motion furchrissakes. Not before Starewicz of course, but still . . . .

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: 134 Häxan

#47 Post by whaleallright » Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:59 pm

should also note Christensen's brilliant performance as the quasi-lead of Dreyer's Michael (which is on DVD)

apparently in their later years Dreyer and Christensen lived a few blocks away from each other but never socialized

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domino harvey
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Re: 134 Häxan

#48 Post by domino harvey » Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:50 pm


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swo17
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Re: 134 Häxan

#49 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:03 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: 134 Häxan

#50 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:33 pm

What are the new extras?

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