Produced during the Nazi occupation in Denmark, this film is one of those rare births of an austere and somber reflection on the mechanisms of institutionalized fear, religious guilt, and the destruction of the feminine by structures of power. Released in 1943, the same year the Nazis began their open persecution of Danish Jews, the narrative is set in the 17th century — during the witch trials — which brings a certain painful resonance. The analogy between the burning of…