Hagazussa

Hagazussa (2017), aka A Heathen's Curse, directed by Lukas Feigelfeld, encoded in 10 bit HEVC with AAC sound, including original German theatrical 5.1, commentary track, and English subtitles.

IMDb : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7323600/

Video encoded in two-pass 9 200 kbps x265 10bit with the veryslow preset for archive quality image.

English subtitles OCRed, proofed and corrected.

Note : More artsy modern folk horror coming up, this time Hagazussa, an almost dialog-free piece of meditative dread, set in the 15th century German Alps. The story of a girl who grows up an outcast because her mother is a heathen, and becomes a sort of witch herself, is shunned and betrayed, leading up to a shocking hallucinogenic-mediated atrocity of an ending, is pretty simple, but it's the imagery, the sound design, and the hypnotic rhythm of it that draws you in. The visuals, in particular, are extremely beautiful, but also alienating, contrasting the stark, lifeless winter landscapes with the claustrophobic interiors and the almost grotesque abundance of festering life in the summer.

It's interesting to contrast this with things like The Witch (this is much more artsy and less accessible, but also more relentless) or November, which has a sense of humor and feels playful, while this is dead serious, even depressing. Certainly not an easy movie, but it stuck with me for a long time.

This BluRay is, as is common for new films, basically perfect both in image and sound, and there's very little grain, so this encode is also about as good as it gets. The commentary with Kat Ellinger is, as usual, very interesting and analytical.

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