THE SORCERESS (1956)
aka La Sorciere, Blonde Witch
Article 2863 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-20-2009
Posting Date: 6-15-2009
Directed by Andre Michel
Featuring Marina Vlady, Nicole Courcel, Maurice Ronet
Country: France / Italy / Sweden

A French engineer comes to a remote village in Northern Sweden to help build a road. He encounters and falls in love with a local girl believed to be a witch by the villagers, and this creates a rift between him and the villagers and places the girl’s life in danger.

The witch in question does appear to have magical powers; she is able to magically heal wounds, cause people to trip, and, at one point, fixes a car by magic. However, the magic seems almost beside the point, and the movie could well exist without these touches. It’s essentially a tragedy, one that is brought about by the engineer’s selfishness and his inability to respect the superstitions and beliefs of the people with whom he must interact. In some ways, it’s the psychological equivalent of many a horror movie in which a man defies the superstitions of the natives only to fall victim to it; many a mummy movie is of this variety. The primary difference is that in this one, it’s not the reality of the superstition that defeats him; it’s the fact that the psychological need for people to believe in their superstitions is not something that can be callously dismissed, especially when they are willing to act on them. It’s a good movie, if a little slow to get started and a bit predictable at times, but I suspect that those drawn to it primarily for its fantastic content will be disappointed.

THE SIEGE OF SYRACUSE (1960)
aka L’Assedio di Siracusa
Article 2861 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-8-2009
Posting Date: 6-13-2009
Directed by Pietro Francisci
Featuring Rossano Brazzi, Tina Louise, Sylva Koscina
Country: Italy / France

Syracuse lies between the warring nations of Rome and Carthage; as long as the balance of power between the nations remains intact, both nations are willing to preserve the neutrality of Syracuse. However, Rome has now gotten the upper hand in its struggle for power. The fate of Syracuse lies in the hands of its leader, the famed inventor and scientist Archimedes.

My print runs some eight minutes short of the original running time. I wouldn’t bother to report this detail usually; after all, most sword-and-sandal movies have been so damaged by bad dubbing and ill treatment by the time they hit our shores that I’d be more surprised if the running time did match. However, this isn’t your ordinary sword-and-sandal movie, at least for this series of reviews I’m writing. For one thing, it’s letterboxed and subtitled, which leaves its dignity intact, though, unfortunately, it also makes the abrupt jump cuts especially noticeable, hence my comment about the running length. It’s also different in that the central character isn’t the muscleman variety; as a king and a scientist, it’s more involved in politics and science and less with action. The first half of the movie is, unfortunately, a bloody bore; it’s mostly obsessed with the love life of Archimedes. It’s not until his love life becomes ensnarled with his politics and the impending war with Rome that the movie becomes interesting. From this point on, the movie is rather engaging, if far-fetched; it relies on certain plot devices (can you say “amnesia”?) that seem very contrived. However, given the dearth of superstrong musclemen, the movie can’t rely on the usual elements that qualify a movie as belonging to the fantastic genres. This one gets in as science fiction, as I suspect that the the mirror reflecting device that is used to set fire to the Roman fleet during the battle scenes (the world’s first death-ray?) never existed in real life. All in all, it’s uneven, but it has its moments.

THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957)
aka Det Sjunde inseglet
Article 2859 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-6-2009
Posting Date: 6-11-2009
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Featuring Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Country: Sweden

A knight returns from the crusades to find his land beset by the black plague. He also finds Death personified waiting for him, and he challenges him to a game of chess in the hope that, in the interim, he can find the proof he craves of the existence of God.

I’d heard about this movie for years, and I’ve been eagerly waiting to see it. I’ve actually had a copy now for a few years, but I knew it was destined to come up in my hunt list, so I was holding off until then. I fully expected to be fascinated by the film (as I was by the other Bergman movies I’ve seen), but I did’t expect to be quite so moved as I was.

The Knight is played by Max von Sydow, who is only fourth-billed in the credits (hence his omission in the cast list above, as I only include the three top-billed performers). It is his conflict that gives the movie its emotional center, and, in von Sydow’s hands, the inner conflict that drives his search is so real that its palpability makes the movie extraordinarily powerful. The movie uses him a bit sparingly, but gives us a plethora of other characters who play into the conflict; his squire feels at peace with his disbelief and has found a way to live life that gives it a meaning for him. Other characters play symbolic roles in the conflict; there’s a group of actors, two of which are married, named Joseph and Mary, and have a young child (how’s that for symbolism?), a butcher and his flirty wife, and a witch who, having had commerce with the devil, is of special interest to the knight. The direction is moody and powerful; Bergman was (among other things) a skillful fantasist, and could have made great horror movies. I’ve heard that Bergman’s work is so somber as to be humorless, but I find him to have just the right touch with humor; there were several times in this movie where I laughed out loud at the observations and he situations of the various characters. This is one revered classic that didn’t disappoint me in the least, and I fully believe it is worthy of its status as one of the greatest motion pictures of all time.