Film Essay Element of Witchcraft
THE ELEMENT OF WITCHCRAFT IN MOVIES
Witchcraft has always been a fascinating subject in the literature and movies. Writers and filmmakers alike capitalize on humanity’s seemingly natural curiosity about the unknown and the supernatural. More than its element of the supernatural, however, witchcraft signifies power – the ability to do things that no ordinary mortal can do, the power to do what is not human – and this element is what attracts people the most. However, witchcraft is a multidimensional subject matter, to say the least. For many, witchcraft involves worship of the devil or something that is unnatural and which only brings harm to other people. For some, it is neutral, there are good witches and bad witches – it is the person’s character that determines whether or not practice of witchcraft is good or evil. In this paper, this multidimensionality of witchcraft as a subject matter or theme, particularly in literature and movies, and the people’s attitude towards it will be discussed. The discussion will, therefore, be limited to three literary pieces that have been translated into movies: Sleepy Hollow, The Crucible, and Harry Potter.
First, Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, is a movie adaptation of Washington Irving’s short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In the short story, Irving was able to masterfully paint a picture of a ghost town with a vivid description of the setting of his story. The feel of witchcraft was pervasive in the mood and setting of the story and the people treated witchcraft as a component of the place of Sleepy Hollow itself. In the movie Sleepy Hollow, however, witchcraft took more of an active part than in the short story. Aside from the eerie, gothic setting presented by director Tim Burton, the characters themselves engaged in witchcraft: Katrina Van Tassel, who tries through symbols and incantations to protect the townsfolk and Ichabod Crane from the magic of Lady Van Tassel, who
Witchcraft has always been a fascinating subject in the literature and movies. Writers and filmmakers alike capitalize on humanity’s seemingly natural curiosity about the unknown and the supernatural. More than its element of the supernatural, however, witchcraft signifies power – the ability to do things that no ordinary mortal can do, the power to do what is not human – and this element is what attracts people the most. However, witchcraft is a multidimensional subject matter, to say the least. For many, witchcraft involves worship of the devil or something that is unnatural and which only brings harm to other people. For some, it is neutral, there are good witches and bad witches – it is the person’s character that determines whether or not practice of witchcraft is good or evil. In this paper, this multidimensionality of witchcraft as a subject matter or theme, particularly in literature and movies, and the people’s attitude towards it will be discussed. The discussion will, therefore, be limited to three literary pieces that have been translated into movies: Sleepy Hollow, The Crucible, and Harry Potter.
First, Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, is a movie adaptation of Washington Irving’s short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In the short story, Irving was able to masterfully paint a picture of a ghost town with a vivid description of the setting of his story. The feel of witchcraft was pervasive in the mood and setting of the story and the people treated witchcraft as a component of the place of Sleepy Hollow itself. In the movie Sleepy Hollow, however, witchcraft took more of an active part than in the short story. Aside from the eerie, gothic setting presented by director Tim Burton, the characters themselves engaged in witchcraft: Katrina Van Tassel, who tries through symbols and incantations to protect the townsfolk and Ichabod Crane from the magic of Lady Van Tassel, who
Cited: Irving, Washington. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. 1917. Nezol, Tammy Harry Potter and the Sorcerer 's Stone from About: Literature: Contemporary. December 6, 2006