Häxan (Witchcraft through the ages)

This film is a highly personal illustrated history of medieval witchcraft. It begins with an introduction consisting of photographs of medieval drawings, interspersed with explanatory subtitles. This is followed by dramatized reconstructions of typical episodes in the grim story. The explanatory subtitles are written in the first person throughout. They make no pretense of impartiality, presenting Christensen's own opinion that the witches were harmless hysterics monstrously victimized by a superstitious and repressive Church. Released in Sweden in 1922 and elsewhere in Europe the following year, Häxan's scenes of torture and nudity provoked an assortment of censorship problems.