The Witch Flashcards
What is the subtitle of the film?
The Witch
The film is subtitled “A New England Folktale.”
What is the setting of the story?
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The story takes place in 17th-century New England, where a puritanical English family endures an American nightmare.
What European folk tales influenced the film?
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The film is influenced by the European folk tales of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, featuring elements from Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty.
What is the name of the demonic goat in the film?
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The demonic goat’s name is Black Phillip, who whispers to the children and plays a significant role in the family’s descent into damnation.
Whose coming-of-age transformation is central? Played by?
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Thomasin, the family’s eldest child, undergoes a coming-of-age transformation that is central to the narrative. Anya Taylor-Joy
What historical sources did the director use for authenticity?
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Robert Eggers researched history extensively, using contemporaneous diaries, letters, and religious documents to add authenticity to the film’s dialogue and setting.
How does the film use the setting and design to convey a sense of horror?
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“The Witch” uses the location and sets to create a sense of horror. The remote, desolate location and the practical effects contribute to the film’s gloomy atmosphere. The authenticity of the location and the attention to historical detail immerse the audience in the harshness of seventeenth-century life in America. The cramped cabin and isolation add to the characters’ struggles and fears, enhancing the overall unsettling experience.
How is the complex relationship between the settlers and nature shown?
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It’s incredible to read these sermons, and to hear these two conflicting ideas of how they’ve come to a new Canaan or they’ve come to a new Jerusalem, but then they’ve stayed within the hedge. They had this really complicated, dissonant relationship with nature. We had to increase the design of the windows in our film by 33 per cent to get more light in – the real windows were so tiny, because they wanted to keep nature out.
Who were the cast?
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What happens to the characters?
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The movie starts with the sacrifice of Samuel, the family’s youngest member. Caleb, the oldest son, is the next family member to succumb to the witch. Ultimately, the father, William, is killed by Black Phillip and buried under a pile of chopped firewood (the fruit of his masculine labor). The murder of her mother seals the deal and permanently sets Thomasin on her path. She joins a coven and flies into the air.
