The Juniper Tree

With a plot as barren as the Icelandic landscape itself, one might be forgiven in condemning this slow burning, medieval fantasy drama about witchcraft as a mere exercise in meditative hocus pocus… Look deeper and you will discover subtle nuances which not only provide occasional shocks but thanks to a narrative that relies as much on its visuals as it does on its eerie soundtrack and the performances (with avant-garde pop songstress Björk in her movie debut), director Nietzchka Keene’s 1986 b/w film (not released until 1990) has now been restored in 4K and released on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.

Keene (who sadly passed away aged 52 in 2004 as a result of pancreatic cancer) not only directed but also was responsible for the screenplay which in turn is a loose adaptation of the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm and beyond doubt one of their darker tales. Keene, however, transported the story to medieval Iceland although there are significant changes to the original tale.

We begin with an extract from T. S. Eliot’s poem ‘Ash Wednesday’ before we make the acquaintance of Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) and her younger sister Margit (a then 21-year old Björk Guamundsdottir in her first film role) who manage to escape from home after their mother is condemned and burned for witchcraft. Now the two sisters are forced to flee across the land with no particular aim except to avoid being prosecuted themselves. Riding over hills and stony roads for days, eventually they stumble across a young widower by the name of Johann (Valdimar Örn Flygenring) who lives with his young son Jonas (Geirlaug Sunna Pormar) on a remote farm. From the outset Katla uses her magical powers to put a spell on the widower and he allows the two sisters to move into his large hut – of course, for Katla this means safety from possible prosecution because Johann has no idea who the two sisters are nor where they came from.

As the days go by and Margit and young Jonas become friends, the boy makes no secret of the fact that he dislikes Katla and refuses to accept her as his new stepmother, citing that she is “evil and a witch”. The situation creates a dilemma for Johann because although he instinctively feels that the presence of Katla means trouble and he has no will to kick her out, at the same time he needs to consider the sensibilities of his son who acts in an increasingly irritated manner over the presence of Katla.

Meanwhile, Margit has visions of her dead mother appearing and communicating with her while Jonas also encounters his dead mother, albeit in the shape of a raven. Yes, really. Sensing that the boy puts her position in jeopardy as Johann gets more and more torn over the domestic situation, Katla decides that the only way to secure her staying on the farm is to get rid of the boy and she hatches a devious plan…
Later that night, innocent-faced she lies to Johannn and remarks that the boy probably ran away too far from the house to make it back for bedtime and coaxes the worried father into delaying the search for the boy until the following morning. Only Margit knows what really happened but decides to keep quiet, at least for the time being…

The film ends on a melancholy, reflective and highly prosaic note and we are left with impressions of the magical landscape that is Iceland. Admittedly, the film could have done with perhaps a bit more pace and certain scenes, for example when Katla casts her spells and grinds her herbs, tend to go on for too long. Others might argue that it adds to the overall dreamlike quality. All in all though, the film deserves to be rediscovered and the three adult leads provide solid performances (yes, even Björk).

Special features include three re-mastered short films by director Keene (‘Still’ / ‘Hinterland’ and ‘Aves’); new feature commentary; video interview with the film’s cinematographer; interview with director N. Keene from 2002; the 1924 British silent short ‘The Witches’s Fiddle’; a 22-min footage of Iceland from 1929; Trailer und illustrated booklet.