Hagazussa

Hagazussa

Starring Aleksandra Cwen, Claudia Martini, Celina Peter, Tanja Petrovsky

Directed by Lukas Feigelfeld

The Story:
Young Albrun (Celina Peter) lives with her mother Mutter (Claudia Martini) in the Alps mountains in the 15th century, and they live in total isolation from the rest of the town, deemed as witches by society and shunned from civilization.  Mutter eventually contracts a sickness and slowly succumbs to madness and death, all the while tormenting young Albrun.

Fifteen years later, Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) is still living in the one-room shack, and is with child.  She's still seen as a witch, but is befriended by Swinda (Tanja Petrovsky), yet their friendship is short-lived.  Doomed to live alone, Albrun begins to experience her own psychotic break that her mother endured, and threatens to destroy both herself and her baby.

The Synopsis:
In 2016, first-time director Robert Eggers delivered the spellbinding horror film "The Witch," resulting in one of the 2010s best horror films due to its creepy nature, eerie story, and mesmerizing performances.  It's still hailed as a masterpiece today, and the German counterpart comes from fellow first-time director Lukas Feigelgeld in "Hagazussa" (German for "witch").  While it's not as atmospheric and inherently creepy from start to finish, it does provide its own unnerving charm that is aided by a razor-thin script and slow-burn descent into utter madness with truly harrowing final moments.

This film follows the story of Albrun, who was raised by her mother in isolation since the townspeople considered her mother a witch, and as she grows up Albrun begins to embrace her destiny as well as succumb to the same psychological illnesses that drove her mother to madness.  There's not a lot of characters introduced in the film, nor is there a lot of dialogue - the film pretty much solely depends on lead actress Aleksandra Cwen's bodily performance, and she nails it with every scene.

Whether she's staring dead-eye at the camera, or wide-eyed crazy, Cwen tells a story through her eyes alone.  It's enough to send shivers through your spine, but she compliments that with her guttural, almost-inhuman screams that are ear-piercing and deafening.  Again, the film relies on its final moments to provide the truly shocking moments, and Cwen is totally unleashed at the finale to fully encapsulate the insanity her character endures.

Since there's not a lot of dialogue, Feigelgeld relies not just on Cwen, but also on his own unique eye for editing and Mariel Baqueiro's stunning cinematography, showcasing the Alps countryside with both awe-inspiring beauty but also fear and dread, and the musical score that easily can be identified as another character in the film.  The music screeches into your soul and keeps you riveted to what's happening, and offers no sense of relief.  The scenery offers both beautiful views of nature as well as the isolation that comes with it, and there's a particularly beautiful church resting on the mountainside whose insides are lined with hundreds of skulls that make you wonder how they ever decided to decorate in that fashion.

The film throws you into the world of Albrun, and it's not a typical fairy tale.  Witnessing her struggles as a child and then as an adult climaxes with a crescendo, a moment of pure brilliance and utter insanity that sticks with you after the film ends, even if there's moments that the film seemed to drag on a bit.  Overall, it's a fine companion to the likes of "The Witch," and if you can stomach the subtitles (which there are few), you'll definitely come out of this with a strange feeling in your stomach.

The Summary:
Led by a powerhouse performance by Aleksandra Cwen, "Hagazussa" blends isolation with insanity, delivering a surreal experience filled with enthralling music and stunning visuals, but nothing compares to Cwen's own body performance.

The Score: A