A sadly forgotten but very impressive romantic drama tragedy where evil and darkness prevails over light and love.

Until very recently i hadn't heard about this Swedish-French 1956 co-production. After watching a couple of really
great French crime-noirs, as Jules Dassin's 1955 "Rififi" and Claude Sautet's 1960 "Classe tous risques" i was
looking for some more French 1950's and 1960's crime movies in the neo-noir style. I found two films i really wanted
badly to see, both of them directed by Robert Hossein and both with Marina Vlady - or Marina Catherine de Poliakoff
Baydaroff (born 1938) in them, his 1955 "Les salauds vont en enfer" and the 1958 "Toi ... le venin". Supposedly two
great films, but no english friendly DVD or Blu-ray releases seem to exist, only continental releases with french or german
subtitles. Who is this Marina Vlady i wondered, and then i saw this Swedish DVD release of "La sorcière".

Swedish Klubb Super 8 had released it on a DVD and many thanks to them for releasing a forgotten gem, and perhaps a
little esoteric film like this. I only found 2 releases of it, a US cellar public domain company DVD and then this disc.

This is a Great film if not any masterpiece due to a too abrupt ending, bad acting from the non-actor villagers and to
unsure direction at times, BUT, the acting from the main actors are very fine (and Ulf Palme and Naima Wifstrand were
two of our greatest actors in theatre), the 18-year young Marina Vlady was for sure a sight to behold and the atmo-
sphere of the almost mystical swedish woods were caught nicely by cinematographer Marcel Grignon.
The story is based on a novel by russian writer Alexander Kuprin. This unique film should absolutely be considered a
Swedish classic and released on a prestige restored Blu-ray release you would think.

The Blonde Goddess of the Forest - Die blonde hexe

Above: Maurice Ronet and Marina Vlady

French engineer Laurent Brulard (Maurice Ronet) travels to Sweden and the wild forests of Dalarna to build a road, a
work commissioned by a rich landowner, widow Kristina Lundgren (Nicole Courcel). He travels by air, bus, ferry and
finally also by a horse and carriage to reach a small village deep into the big woods.

Kristina speaks remarkably fluid french but very poor swedish (well, she's a french actress after all) but later Marina
Vlady's Aino/Ina actually speaks some fine swedish and with the correct intonation too, impressive due to her being
a French actress. Brulard is met by the previous engineer, Camoin, who's about to leave the place, and he hates the
swedes and they hate him. Almost no-one speak french except Kristina, the priest (Rune Lindström) and Matti (Ulf
Palme) who's the foreman of the roadworkers.


The swedish villagers live in very old timber houses, and probably much too backwards for Sweden in the 1950's,
but OK, it's fantasy and it adds to the atmosphere of isolation, backwardness and superstition.
There's an interesting example of superstition that's for real though, at the roadwork when the workers won't blast
away a big stone blocking the direction of the road, because it's a "Troll stone". Ancient beliefs but i doubt any
people in the 1950's Sweden believed in it.
The Nightingale is singing so we know that this film takes place sometime between the middle of May and the end
of June, and probably in a remote part of Dalarna. Marina Vlady takes a nude bath too, only possible in summer.

Above: Naima Wifstrand's Maila and Vlady's Aino or Ina

But, even deeper into the forest (than the village) lives a blond goddess, Aino/Ina with her grandmother Maila
(Naima Wifstrand). The villagers think that the old woman is a witch and that Aino is the daughter of Satan.
Aino saves animals from traps, can make wounds heal and make other things happen, and she thinks she's a
witch too. She take nude dips in the lake, meets Brulard and they fall in love.
A nice happy couple, but the locals, including the boss Kristina Lundgren, don't like it at all. Lundgren is hot
for Brulard herself and jealous of Aino/Ina, and, being the local landowner, she evicts old Maila from her cabin
at the lake. Then, the film builds up to a Feel Bad ending, and ends much too abruptly.

Some thoughts: A Great but sadly obscure film. Pretty well made with fine actors in all main parts. A bit mystical
with wonderful atmosphere, and with 18-year old Marina Vlady as the blonde Goddess of the Forest.

However, about the superstitious villagers i highly doubt that a whole village of those existed in the 1950's,
maybe if 300 years ago. Sweden were, and is one of the least religious and superstitious countries.
Regarding young Aino/Ina it's mentioned that she ran to her grandmother in the woods when her parents died,
but swedish authorities (then) wouldn't allow a kid to skip school, and she would've been put in a foster home
otherwise.

The film is presented in 4:3 fullscreen, black & white, with French and Swedish spoken on the audio and with
swedish, english or french subtitles.
Extras Deleted scenes, an image and poster gallery and some unrelated Klubb Super 8 trailers