Lukas Feigelfeld’s “Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse”
Hagazussa: A Heathern’s Curse (2017)
Earthy and sensual horror debut of quiet potency and staggering beauty
Sometimes a film comes along which I’ve missed that absolutely staggers me and Luke Feigelfeld’s debut is one such case. It has a lot in common with Robert Egger’s “The Witch”, David Lowery’s “The Green Knight”, and Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist”(perhaps a bit of “Dogville”) with an immersive quality that’s akin to the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. In many ways, it’s even better than some of those films. The title itself stirs up echoes of Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 classic Häxan; Hagazussa is an Old High German word for "Witch".
Set in a remote part of the Alps in the 15th century, it tells the story of Albrun(Aleksandra Cwen) in four acts beginning with “Shadow” where we see young Albrun(Celina Peter) living with her mother(Claudia Martini), they endure the harsh winter. The camera lingers on the landscape and details of the forest. Cinematographer, Mariel Baqueiro does a terrific job of capturing the details as we pass through the seasons; you can almost smell it. And despite the dark places this film goes, it’s perpetually beautiful.
One facet to winning me over in a film is to provide that sense of immersion where I feel like I’ve been somewhere else after the credits roll and this certainly achieves that. I’ve also mentioned before the importance of grit in these types of stories, but this also provides a earthiness that connects with me.
Aleksandra Cwen’s lead performance as adult Albrun is incredibly powerful. In addition to looking out for future work from Feigelfield, I’ll be doing the same for Cwen. In what is almost entirely a silent part, Cwen goes through such a spectrum of emotion over the course of the film and does so in a convincing and natural performance.
In terms of the pacing, it might not be to everyone’s liking. The few critics who disliked the film cited that it as slow and boring, but the story clicked along at a good pace and the film flew by for me. Whenever this comes up, it always reminds me of a quote from Andrei Tarkovsky on transcending boredom: “If the regular length of a shot is increased, one becomes bored, but if you keep on making it longer, it piques your interest, and if you make it even longer, a new quality emerges, a special intensity of attention.” To be clear, that doesn’t really happen in “Hagazussa” to the extent that Tarkovsky employs in his films or even Weerasethakul. I found myself still thinking about the last thing when something else happened.
The score from MMMD(described as a “Greek drone/ritual ambient band”) is suitably basic but effective in augmenting the visuals while not being overly intrusive. It also casts an ominous shadow over the film that adds to the tension.
Recommending this film is a tricky business; the key issues for most will be the pacing and some of the dark places it takes you. As a reviewer, I’m always happy when I can connect with people who share a common understanding. I’ve provided everything above that you need to know to decide for yourself. The trailer is below and though I always recommend going in blind, it might be useful for people on the fence. I myself feel it’s a modern classic.
