There are many literary and cinematic works about the tragic fate of witches in the Middle Ages. It so happens that the Middle Ages was also the period when Christianity was at its height and the power of the Church could decide almost everything. It was this arbitrary spirit and rule of power that allowed the people to feel comfortable persecuting others in the name of justice, which is very similar to a certain period of a certain dynasty.
In the film, an old woman who is accused of being a witch for helping a sick person is forced to confess to being a witch under torture by the church, and her harsh cries and heartbreaking pain are unbearable. When the church asked her to confess other witches, she concealed the fact that the pastor’s dead mother-in-law was a witch. She did so in the hope that the priest would give her a break and not burn her, because he had known that her mother-in-law was a witch but had spared her. But the priest, who was in a high position, represented “justice” and God. The priest finally sent the old woman to the stake in cold blood. Before being pushed into the flames, the old woman shouted desperately: I don’t care whether I go to heaven or hell, I just want to live, I don’t want to be burned, don’t burn me! Don’t burn me! The old lady’s wailing made people’s hair stand on end, and before she died the old lady put a horrible curse on the priest and his family.
The aged priest once spared his mother-in-law, who was accused of being a witch, solely because he wanted to show his power to get his young and kind wife, the heroine, his second wife, Anne. He got it, but it wasn’t love, and Anne hated him, as well as the pastor’s mean-spirited mother. The pastor’s mother is a serious, condescending, mean-spirited bitch from start to finish, making things difficult for her daughter-in-law all the time.
Annie became attached to the old priest’s son, and the two of them were secretly in love behind the priest’s back, talking about their love affairs and being very happy. Eventually Annie told the old priest about her adultery with his son, and the priest was angry to death alive. This is what the wife has been hoping for, the death of her hated husband, and then to hold on to her love with her husband’s son. At first the husband’s son is on her side, but at the priest’s funeral, the priest’s mother identifies his wife as a witch, and the priest’s son immediately turns his back on his grandmother’s side, leaving Anne fighting alone to face the trumped-up charges. Anne confesses to being a witch in front of the dead priest’s coffin, apparently wanting nothing more than to end her life at the stake.
Draper’s film is very well lit and shot. The framed witch’s mournful screams, fearful expressions, and tortured passages, Delayed uses a lot of oblique downward shots and highlights to put the viewer in God’s perspective, watching the “witch” face the holy light and beg for mercy, giving rise to a great empathetic response.
It’s too far-fetched to relate to the introduction of “The Age of Passion”, and if there are similarities between the two films, the similarities are not about witches harming people, but about both films being about religion harming people.
Day of Wrath” is clearly distinguishable between the two factions. The priest, the priest’s mother, and the villagers represent the mainstream of medieval society and the ruling party of the old-fashioned, indifferent, cruel, and superstitious society. The reason why the priest will die, where because of the betrayal of his wife and son, obviously there is also because of the death of the old witch and the heart of the vain, these hypocritical and cruel people should be tied to the tree stump.
The heroine and the old witch represent the other side, the old witch is kind and simple, “I don’t care about heaven or hell, I beg for life, I’m afraid of death”, and Anne is another brave Anna Karenina, the reason they became the opposite of the priest, because they still have a human side.
In fact, it is a very modern thinking of the film, many of the films of that time are very advanced ideas, is not it? The lost faith of the people under the disease of disaster (the old woman who is not afraid of going to heaven or hell but afraid of dying also confirms this point) and the witch hunt wrapped in lust the man’s non-consensual marriage and the son’s unhesitating betrayal.
The set-piece is a cross-shift, push-track shot with a hint of haunting, and there are a lot of fixed shots to help build the characters, as well as a lot of panning shots to help portray the relationships and enhance the dramatic tension. There is an impressive scene that avoids the bloody torture and uses the camera to bring out the reactions of the people present. Finally, it turns to the old woman. And the use of the camera in the last scene, the composition and the positioning of the actors is wonderful!
The use of light is excellent. The side shots with close-ups to enhance the portrayal of the character’s heart, the various shadows of the character’s position, directly from the light and shadow to show the character’s heart. There is also the use of light to make the conductor’s hands shadows dancing on the score, like a death overture. When the fire, backlit choir team, singing this death overture, with the old woman’s scream slowly end double explosion of smoke effect is still good.
Three cross-cutting scenes that I really liked. First, the violin soundtrack cross-cutting of the main man with his son and wife, the main man ashamed of his own heart and his wife and son in mutual love, this cross-cutting greatly shows the individual moral values of the clash, the uninterrupted violin soundtrack to this conflict between the tension is very well handled, the final use of double exposure to hide the characters in the grass is also the finishing touch. Secondly, the man rushing under the gale feels death approaching and talks about “death” with his wife and son, this cross-cutting largely strengthens the dramatic conflict, the wife closes the door, next to the half embroidered “mother”, graceful and graceful, the line is great. Third, the soothing soundtrack in the coffin of the man and the backlight like a silhouette of his wife and son, and sometimes dense and sometimes dissipating “fog” also directly reflects the son’s heart.
