THE VVITCH: A NEW ENGLAND FOLKTALE

US, 2015, 93 minutes, Colour.
Anya Taylor- Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson.
Directed by Robert Eggers.

The title and its tone seems to indicate one of those horror/history tales of witchfinders and persecutions as well as dire presentations of witches and their sinister behaviour.

Not the case.

The helpful clue is given in the subtitle of the film, A New England Folktale. At the end of the film, the writer-director, Robert Eggers (his first full-length feature film and winner of the Best Director award at Sundance 2016) informs the audience that his screenplay draws on memoirs, diaries, reports and court proceedings from the period, the time of the witches of Salem, the end of the 17th century in New England.

Most of the cast in the film are British, Ralph Ineson as William, patriarchal figure expelled by the authorities for usurping his role as a Christian preacher and exiled to the forest, along with his wife, Kate Dickie, and his four children. The scene in the tribunal is reminiscent of those scenes in such films and plays as The Crucible.

Life in the countryside of this British colony is harsh indeed, a hut with no comforts, a barn, corn crops, the chopping of wood, two goats for sustenance.

The oldest of the four children is Thomasin (Anya Taylor- Joy), on the verge of adolescence, the good girl, with spirit, but, through circumstances, suspected of being a witch. Her younger brother, Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw) is reliable, working on the farm, his parents devoted to him. On an excursion into the woods, the hunting dog sees a rabbit and pursues it, Caleb following, but experiencing something sinister in the woods, involving a mysterious young woman with a red cape and clawlike arm and hand.

This ferments the religious beliefs and superstitions about witches and about the hand of Satan. It is compounded by the mischievous little twins and their playful attacks on Thomasin, accusing her of being a witch. A test of prayer shows Thomasin able to pray but the twins not being able to remember the words of the Lord’s Prayer. Nevertheless, she is not believed.

The parents try to cope, relying on their straightforward faith, their attempts at prayer, belief in Jesus Christ, belief in Satan, and a belief that evil can infiltrate into the human in the form of a witch.

The film takes its audience right into the life of these impoverished people of the time, the details of life on the farm, the hardships in relationships, the dominant father, patriarchal, yet devoted to his children, the mother, still yearning for England, hardened and wizened by her difficult life.

There is no easy outcome given this religious framework, the entrenched beliefs, the fears and superstitions, the inability to discern where good lies and where evil exists, the tragedy that pervades devout families, but seem especially in this period in New England.

1. An atmospheric film? American history? The 17th century, religion and witchcraft?

2. Re-creation of the period, costumes and decor, the church, the colony, the countryside, remoteness, the village, homes and farm, the woods? The musical score?

3. The title? The 17th century in Massachusetts and belief in witchcraft? The religious grounding? The origins of the film in documents, memoirs, court proceedings?

4. The opening, William and his family, the tribunal, the condemnation, accusations of presumption in preaching the Gospel? His being exiled? Taking his wife and children?

5. The journey into the countryside, the forests, the fields, choosing the site of a home on the farm?

6. The building of the farm, the crops, the hard work? Fields, chopping the wood? The interiors of the house, sparse? Lighting? Food?

7. William, his personality, tall and strong, long hair and beard? His religious beliefs? Work? Catherine, hard life, yearning for England, the relationship with her husband, with her children? The hard work?

8. The children, ages, Thomasin, becoming an adolescent, the family of relying on her, her manner, charm? Caleb, his age, working hard on the farm? His mother devoted to him? The twins, young, playing, mischievous? The goats, work with the goats?

9. Caleb, going with Thomasin on the horse, dog, seeing the rabbit, the chase, Thomasin falling from the horse? Caleb pursuing the dog, finding it dead? Calling out, the hut, the smoke, the young woman emerging, the red hood? Her kissing Caleb and infecting him? The witch’s hand and arm?

10. Disputes between husband and wife concerning searching for Caleb, the lack of a horse, Thomasin’s return, the suspicions of her? Prayer, religious statements? Beliefs?

11. Caleb and his returning, fever, bewitched, lying on the bed, the episode, the apple emerging from his mouth? After almost choking? The mother, her relief, watching him, tending him, his dying? Grief-stricken?

12. The twins, their carry on, accusing Thomasin being the witch, their tantrums, the collapse, been boarded up with Thomasin?

13. Thomasin, accused of being a witch, her father making her pray, her ability to pray, the twins not able to pray? The father, his relentless boarding the children up?

14. The father, his confession to his wife about his shortcomings? Her confession to him about wanting to go back to England and not fulfilling her duties to him?

15. The role of the goats, superstition, satanic, the death of the white goat?

16. The attack on William, the black, Satanic goat goring him? The mother, her attack on Thomasin, Thomasin and the knife, killing her mother?

17. The nature of faith, in this pioneering life, relying on prayer, faith in Jesus, wariness of Satan, the drawing of biblical beliefs, and the devastating consequences, especially with the belief in witchcraft?