Le marteau des sorcières

The persecution of witches is a rather popular cinematic topic; the best film on the topic undoubtedly being 1968's Witchfinder General. This Czech effort follows a similar plot line to the earlier film, though the result is much artier and less graphic and while I preferred the older film - this one has its merits and will be of interest to people who find this topic interesting or who enjoy arty foreign films. The style of the movie rather reminded me of Ingmar Bergman's work (though less 'deep') and fans of his (a group of people that doesn't include me) will probably like this film too. The film begins with a sequence that sees an old woman take something from a church in order to help a cow give birth. Naturally, the powers that be aren't amused and after being caught, she is put before them to explain her actions. The council agree that she is involved in witchcraft, but other people are also implicated during the trial; and after she is put to death, the 'town cleanser' goes on a crusade to rid the town of all "witchcraft".

The film features very stark black and white cinematography and this helps the film in terms of atmosphere as it feels very dark and unpleasant, which bodes well with the plot. The film is not very graphic - especially not compared to other films on this topic and not in its own right either; only a scene that sees three people burned alive could really be considered graphic. Most of the plot line is made up of debate between the lead characters and while it's fairly interesting, the film did start to grate on me after a while and I would have preferred it to be a bit more visceral. Witches' Hammer is very well acted and the ensemble cast all fit into their roles well. This is the first (and probably last) film I've seen from director Otakar Vávra but clearly he's a director that pays attention to detail as every frame of the film feels carefully crafted. Overall, I won't say that this is a favourite of mine and if you're looking for a film about the witch trials, I would recommend Witchfinder General first; but Witches' Hammer is an interesting film and may be of interest to some people.

WITCHHAMMER is a Czech horror film, based on the actual inquisition notes from the 17th Century, a time when superstition was rampant, The Church was ultra-powerful, and Christianity was seen as the only true religion.

When an old woman absconds with a single communion wafer, she is used as proof that The Devil is on the loose, creating his coven of witches. When the Inquisitor is brought in to investigate the situation, he soon finds just what he needs to get his convictions.

As others have pointed out, this movie is an excellent allegory for what was taking place in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s, under the boot of communism. Such "interrogations" were used, as in most cases, not to get to "the truth", but to break the will and destroy the mind.

One thing is made crystal clear in this film: If you hurt someone, anyone, enough, they will say whatever you want them to say, regardless of how absurd or untrue it may be. This has been common knowledge for thousands of years, and persists all over the world, even in this "enlightened" age.

WITCHHAMMER gets the point across like no other example of its subgenre: These women are in a no-win situation, and the men standing in judgement over them are sadists, interested only in confessions, no matter what agony must be inflicted to extract them. Anyone who seeks to help the condemned, no matter what position they hold, will face the same, grim fate.

A disturbing, brutal movie for its time, you won't soon forget it...

Whether we are talking about the real "witch trials" of the past, or alluding to more recent government (or other) uses of torture to advance or "prove" their causes, we quickly drift into very murky territory, IMHO. Even when used by a "good guy" such as Jack Bauer (in "24") to expedite things there's an inherent concern that, if people will say anything to escape the pain, then what's the point, and what is "proved"?

As this film well illustrates - whether it's about Communism or Witches - the wider issues of power, greed and societal control can provide ample cause for those willing to go down that path. Personally, I found it a tough (and somewhat depressing) watch, even though there is sparing use of graphic violence - but enough to get the point and add to the escalating mood of oppression.

Not for children, but otherwise recommended.

This is a recreation of a series of witch trials that occurred around 1600. Since it's a Czechoslovakian film, I assume it is set somewhere around there. The film begins with an odd occurrence--an old lady pretends to eat a communion wafer at church but instead shoves it into a handkerchief. When confronted about this weird behavior, folks immediately assume it's because she's involved with witches and that these devil worshipers plan on using the host for some unholy ceremony. THe woman really is just very superstitious and she's really taking the wafer to trade someone--as they want to use the wafer to supposedly cure a sick animal. This is goofy--but the priest certainly does not think it constitutes witchcraft and admonishes everyone to forget about it. However, the elders insist on bringing in a witch-finder and determining if it's all part of a demonic ceremony. From there, everything gets way out of hand and they start burning practically anyone--all due to an overzealous and evil man bent on abusing the gullibility of others.

The film gets very high marks for realism. The torture and subsequent confessions seem very well done--though are a bit difficult to watch. And, the entire abuse of the silly system and complicity of the Church is quite interesting--as well as the lone priest who fights this evil tribunal. My only complaint is the opening scene. It's jam-packed full of very gratuitous nudity. Later, there is some explicit nudity but it is necessary for the film and should have been used (such as when they stripped the lady to look for 'the Devil's mark' on her as well as to humiliate her). So, the violence and nudity make it a film I would NOT recommend to your kids or mother-in-law! Otherwise, extremely well done but possibly not the sort of thing you'd want to watch (it can be a bit hard to take).

After the book Malleus Maleficarum that was publish on late 15th century in the Germany, all Europe afterwards suffering the evil power that start on Spain as the Spanish Inquisition spreading as fire, this picture was made under the old and authentic transcriptions between 1678 to 1695, describing the modus operandi over the citizen, starts to the poor's people, the next they were under torture nominate some wealthy mid class, until to reach in members of the clergy, that supposedly were against those inquires, no one dared faces such power, their properties and money was used to pay the high costs of those trial process, a fabulous picture from Czechoslovakia, a true piece of cinema, according some sources in a priceless documentary which l'd watched recently, something near of the sixty thousands people were killed in those darkest era, mostly by mental disorders, weird behaviors, hunchbacks, facial asymmetry among others abnormalities, indeed a black page of the mankind!!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9