Quando Éramos Bruxas

Heavily experimental, with borderline confusing dialogue and narrative, the movie stands out for its exquisite imagery. The music is so calming, and the overall mood was pretty isolatingly chipper. One could say the movie tells a story about abandonment and selfishness in a trauma inducing reality, while I interpreted it as some quasi-spiritual drama about the place of women, and hope and reincarnation in times of pathlessness. The film feels pretty insubstantial for the most part and a lot of the runtime feels like it's stretched out to the max, with decorative and repetitive imagery and no meaningful moments of revelation that move you-except that one moment of death halfway through the film, that's just as it is. Even though the movie was a pretty feel good one with solid imagery and music, all of it felt like a huge excercise in ambiguous storytelling, with little substance that deserves your investment and that which has little rewards-except that soothing music during the end credits.

Overall, I liked it, but I doubt people looking for any real substance will find any here.

Katla and her little sister Margit must flee their hometown after their mother is stoned to death for witchcraft. Katla's spell to find a husband nets them a new place to live, but comes with the emnity of the new husband's son. An independent American film shot in Iceland, the Juniper Tree is a beautiful interpretation of the brothers Grimm story of the same name. Fine performances, good costumes, and stunning landscapes bring this tale to life.

Filmed in Iceland and undoubtedly an Art film I expected it to have long lingering shots and be heavier on atmosphere than plot, but at the end of the day there was so little story that it basically kept repeating itself. Nice landscape not particularly captured well. Bjork was awesome but the other sister was wooden and unimpressive. The little boy was good, the father kind of tolerable. For a Grimm's fairy tale about witches it had the feel of neither type of film. I stuck it out but it shouldn't have been an effort, and it was. Needed a better script, something fleshed out.

I find it sad that the only recognition this movie gets is Bjork's

involvement in it. While I do admit that she's an asset to it (she

looks peculiar and is talented), I also think that the movie has

qualities of its own.

The eerie mood of the film is heightened by a lot of silence and a

slow pace. Put that against a rocky landscape in black and white,

and add a beautiful raw score, and you get a nice result. I wish it

were a little longer. The setting (architecture) and costumes really

take the viewer to another time and place.

I definitely recommend this movie, keeping in mind that it's not an

action movie, nor a horror movie. It's full of earth and soul.

Margit (Björk) and older sister Katla leave their home after their mother is stoned to death for witchcraft. Katla casts a love spell on farmer Jóhann. Jóhann is helplessly spellbound but his son Jónas refuses to accept her.

It's black and white. It's Icelandic. It's brooding. There is no pale-faced death playing chess but there is some weirder stuff. I don't know what the black hole is meant to be. The movie misses an opportunity to start with a more visceral intensity by showing the stoning and the sisters being chased by the angry villagers. Of course, I stuck with this mostly for Björk. She has an intriguing charisma although her acting has limitations. This is what one can expect from an Icelandic black and white movie about death and witchcraft.