I enjoyed this a lot. Not quite what I expected, less English Gothic, more Scandinavian menace. Rather creepy due to the rather unnerving but beguiling performance from Mirja Mane as the 'witch'. Naked or almost naked throughout (and this is 1952!) she completely dominates the screen and is only matched by those big skies above the sinister swamps. At first things seem a little stilted with characters moving almost as if in a silent movie and the dialogue takes some getting used to (although that may be the new translation) but once the naked bundle of Ms Mane is carried from her grave things really bubble. The women hate her and the men are totally beguiled or should I say bewitched! Much reference to the beast in man and all women being witches alluding as much to the then post war state of Finnish sensibilities as to any philosophical insight. Also much reference to dream and nightmare allowing for some measure of interpretation as we witness the men going crazy over the voluptuous seductress who will kiss and bite and disrobe at will and the women who get crazy at their men folk. A delight then, but not without a certain edge.
Review of The Witch
