The Witch A New England Folk Tale Analysis
The Witch: A New-England Folktale is written and directed by Rober Eggers. After battling several problems regarding the film’s eerie theme, historical context and shooting location, Eggers finally finished his directorial debut, of course about some witches, which is his favorite topic since childhood, and the horror they bestow upon a family. It is premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 then distributed by the indie darling A24 in February 2016.
The movie brings us to a circa-1600s era in a town of New England, where a man named William (Ralph Ineson) is exiled from the Puritan plantation by the church due to a vaguely explained reason concerning contradiction in act of faith. The poor family includes his wife Katherine (Kate …show more content…
Robert Eggers has succeeded in translating his script to the big screen by masterful storytelling, such as the long takes to build up tension or even regular scenes like the dinner with impressive lighting and blocking. We can spot Eggers’ intentional references to archetypes from fairy tales like the twins crossing path with a witch (Hansel and Gretel) or the young damsel in a red cowl (Red Riding Hood). The feel of sinister writhes throughout the film as we, as observers, are forced to imagine what happen off-screen during Samuel’s gory death or Caleb’s ordeal while in the hands of the witch. All are intensified to a point where Thomasin feels so exhausted from all the sufferings that she decides to speak with a goat. After the scene goes black for a brief moment, she is shown to be corrupted and has accepted her impending fate hinted from the beginning. The ending is perfectly executed with Thomasin expresses her signs of relieved satisfaction and calm bliss as the family who treated her with hypocrisy has now gone. Embracing Satan is the only way out. ‘Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?’, whispers the mysterious figure transcending from Black
The movie brings us to a circa-1600s era in a town of New England, where a man named William (Ralph Ineson) is exiled from the Puritan plantation by the church due to a vaguely explained reason concerning contradiction in act of faith. The poor family includes his wife Katherine (Kate …show more content…
Robert Eggers has succeeded in translating his script to the big screen by masterful storytelling, such as the long takes to build up tension or even regular scenes like the dinner with impressive lighting and blocking. We can spot Eggers’ intentional references to archetypes from fairy tales like the twins crossing path with a witch (Hansel and Gretel) or the young damsel in a red cowl (Red Riding Hood). The feel of sinister writhes throughout the film as we, as observers, are forced to imagine what happen off-screen during Samuel’s gory death or Caleb’s ordeal while in the hands of the witch. All are intensified to a point where Thomasin feels so exhausted from all the sufferings that she decides to speak with a goat. After the scene goes black for a brief moment, she is shown to be corrupted and has accepted her impending fate hinted from the beginning. The ending is perfectly executed with Thomasin expresses her signs of relieved satisfaction and calm bliss as the family who treated her with hypocrisy has now gone. Embracing Satan is the only way out. ‘Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?’, whispers the mysterious figure transcending from Black