Hagazussa came to my attention from, I believe, the New York Times. In the autumn normally staid news sources start suggesting horror films to watch. Subtitled A Heathen’s Curse, this new Euro-horror (filmed in German) immediately reminded me of Robert Egger’s The Witch, but with a lot less plot. It’s a moody and disturbing story of the life of an outcast young woman in the sixteenth century. Raised by a poor, goat-herding mother, Albrun watches her mother die of the Black Death, when Albrun’s a tween. She continues living in her childhood home, with a daughter whose origin, like that of Albrun, is never explained. The locals shun her as a witch but a seemingly friendly villager befriends her before turning against her and betraying her. After this neighbor, and then others, die, Albrun drowns her infant daughter after eating a toadstool in the woods. She then bursts into flames atop a hill in the Alps.
As folk horror, the movie is more about the haunted landscape than about an intricately plotted story. There’s nevertheless a great deal of symbolism used, including much regarding Eve—apples, serpents, and goddesses all play a part. Locals fear pagans, and the church interior lined with bones reminded me strongly of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, where plague victims’ bones fill the underground vaults. Seeing such a place reminds you forcefully of your insignificance. Hagazussa is an art film as well as folk horror, and it appeals to gothic sensibilities. There’s very little dialog. Indeed, the loneliness of Albrun is a major aspect of this moody, atmospheric work. Such stories always remind me of how difficult life was for those who had to try to scratch a living from the land. Existence was tenuous at best. Especially for women alone, as determined by Christian society.
The movie left me reflective. It also underscored how religion and horror tread the same paths repeatedly. The village priest tells Albrun that sacrilege must be cleansed, even as he hands her her mother’s skull, polished and decorated. He wearily admits that he struggles to led the community. Indeed, Albrun’s new “friend” castigates Jews and heathens, even as she takes part in the robbing of Albrun’s livelihood. Witches, as “monsters” were invented by the church as fears reached out to point to new sources. Even if they had to be fabricated at the expense of innocent people. Fear operates that way still, as anyone who watches political ads knows. It’s easier to persecute than to educate, it seems. In the end, Albrun burns up and we realize we’ve just watched a parable.