October 15 - 9:30pm

Witches' Hammer

Otakar Vávra (1969) 103 mins

Mass hysteria takes over a 17th century Czech village in the grip of a witch-hunting inquisition. This anti-Stalinist parable, made just after Russian tanks rolled in & put down the Prague Spring, was banned until after the Velvet Revolution of late 1989. Shot in effectively stark black-&-white, the film’s exploration of torture, avarice & the abuse of power make it comparable with Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc – especially in its use of intense close-ups – & Arthur Miller’s comparable political parable, The Crucible.

Imported 35mm print courtesy of Národní filmový archive.

* Preceded by The Joke at 9.30pm. Preced by a session ofŠvankmajer Shorts at 7.00pm.

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