Hagazussa is a film rightly compared to its contemporary in "The Witch" and it undoubtedly suffers for it.
Where The Witch laid out a basic narrative structure and sowed the seeds of malevolence in far more obvious terms, it did not lose its impact or atmosphere during the slower burning scenes. In fact, they served to highlight the ever growing sense of dread - allowing the mind to wander into dark possibilities without ever losing sense of itself.
Hagazussa approaches a similar theme - superstitions, isolation and how misconceptions about the natural world played into daily life during the 16th century, but delivers far less in terms of narrative.
This is more a trip through the life of an outcast Mother & Daughter and we the audience are left to piece together the elements one by one as events unfold.
For me the main question posed by the movie was whether Albrun was indeed going mad or whether she was a witch.
While there is a glaring lack of dialogue that would help to flesh out some of the themes pushed forward (the interactions with Nature, impacts of disease etc) there are enough clues in the imagery to understand that Albrun is undergoing a transformation of some kind, whether it be the loss of her own sanity or something more supernatural.
The presence of the plague and its impact on both Albrun and the local villagers are a catalyst for the films major plot points, as is the intense isolation and persecution of Albrun and its influence over her mental state.
Due to the space in between each element coming together, it is difficult to maintain focus as a viewer and I found myself distracted by my own mind wandering...asking myself if there was something I was missing.
There is a movie worth watching somewhere in here, but it is buried so deep under a pile of long takes and ambiguity, that many will simply look for answers in a different film altogether.
