Anna Goldin, the Last Witch ( Anna Göldin, letzte Hexe )

Anna Goldin, the Last Witch (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Anna Göldin, letzte Hexe
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Switzerland ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
108 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1991 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )
Switzerland ( Germany, Central Europe )

Directed By:
Gertrud Pinkus

Written By:
Eveline Hasler
Gertrud Pinkus

Actors:
Cornelia Kempers ..... Anna Goeldin
Luca Kurt ..... Anne-Miggeli Tschudi
Rüdiger Vogler ..... Dr. Tschudi
Ursula Andermatt ..... Frau Tschudi
Dominique Horwitz ..... Kubli
Peter Wyssbrod ..... Blumer
Dimitri ..... Steinmüller
Roger Jendly ..... Jaenneret
Anne-Marie Blanc ..... Frau Zwicky
Pinkas Braun ..... Pfarrer Cameraius
Annamirl Bierbichler ..... Katharina
Stefan Gubser ..... Vicarius
Michael Maassen ..... Landmann / Fabrikherr
Jodoc Seidel ..... Mitglied der Ehrenkommission
Ingold Wildenauer ..... Mitglied der Ehrenkommission

Synopsis:

Anna Goldin: the Last Witch - a tense, highly unusual psychodrama by Swiss Director Gertrud Pinkus - starts out as a decorous period piece, but rapidly plummets into psychological terror. Anne-Marie, the spoilt, sly little girl in a bourgeois household, develops a sexualized crush on Anna, the over-worked maid. Reprimanded by Anna, she starts vomiting pins, 106 of them, and develops what appears to be a pyschosomatic paralysis. Anna - once punished for infanticide - is tortured for witchcraft (gruesome depictions) and, finally, executed in 1782. This psychologically sophisticated film, full of nuances and suggestions is reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's work. The troubling movie leaves questions: was there indeed an occult influence, a psychosocial disturbance like that Arthur Miller depicts in The Crucible? Feminist and Marxist in sensibility, the film depicts the economic oppression of working class women; it is savvy about the impossibility of Anna's obtaining justice from the male bourgeois court (most 'witches' were poor women). The camera lovingly lingers over the bourgeois interiors and the endless 'women's work' in cameos worthy of Jan Vermeer. The lovely shots of the spring and fall, and of the Swiss Alps provide an ironic backdrop to the psychological terror. Watch Anna Goldin, not least of all for a joyous, dignified performance by Cornelia Pankers as Anna, the maid doomed for being female and poor.

Based on the true story of Anna Goldin, a maid for Dr. Tschudi in the city of Glarus, Switzerland, in the 18th century, who was sentenced to death for witchcraft.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 07 June, 2011.