Häxan

Häxan (1922)

Timing: 1:45 (105 min)

7.602/10
358

All about film

Video 5

Photo 11

Actors and characters

Release date

1922-09-18

Country

Sweden

Production

SF Studios, Aljosha Production Company

Genre

Documentary, Horror, History

Budget

$2 000 000 000

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Benjamin Christensen

Actors

Benjamin Christensen, Ella La Cour, Emmy Schønfeld, Kate Fabian, Oscar Stribolt, Wilhelmine Henriksen, Elisabeth Christensen, Astrid Holm, Karen Winther, Maren Pedersen
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Benjamin Christensen

Producer

Operator

Johan Ankerstjerne

Composer

Launy Grøndahl

Artist

Audition

Editing

Edla Hansen
All team (7)

• The film was banned from screening worldwide for a long time.
• When writing the script for the film, director Benjamin Christensen initially hoped for the help of historians, but abandoned this idea when it turned out that almost all the specialists he wanted to consult were strongly opposed to the idea of such a film.
• Upon its release in 1922, it was the most expensive film in the history of Scandinavian cinema.
• For the most part, the film was shot at night, which was unheard of for that era. And although the film was shot during dark hours, Benjamin Christensen preferred studio shooting, believing that he could better create the desired atmosphere indoors.
• To film the scene in which witches fly over city rooftops, Benjamin Christensen and cinematographer Johan Ankerstjerne photographed a model of the city (the buildings in it were no more than 2 meters high) on a huge rotating table. It took the effort of 20 men to rotate the table. After that, several actors in appropriate costumes riding on brooms were photographed against a black background. To create the effect of clothing flapping in the wind, the director bought an aircraft engine. A total of 75 "witches" were photographed, each separately, after which they were combined into a single frame using a device invented by the cinematographer.
• The gloomy skies against which some characters are shown were filmed in Norway. Benjamin Christensen specifically sent the cinematographer there for this purpose.
• Swedish censorship demanded the removal of many scenes from the film before its release. These included a close-up of a finger being cut off the hand of a hanged man, trampling on a cross during a witches' sabbath, scenes of a baby being held over a cauldron of boiling water, a close-up of the face of a woman crucified on a stake, close-ups of torture instruments being used, and a scene in which a demon embraces a naked woman. All of these scenes were later re-edited back into the film.