The Juniper Tree | Blu-ray release on 23 January 2023

14th January 2023

Here’s the latest from the BFI

THE JUNIPER TREE

A film by Nietzchka Keene Featuring Björk

BFI Blu-ray release on 23 January 2023

Loosely based on a medieval folktale from the Brothers Grimm stories, Nietzchka Keene’s haunting debut feature follows Margit (Björk, in her film debut) and her sister as they seek safety after their mother, thought to be a witch, is killed. Finding apparent sanctuary with a widower and his young son, their uneasy family unit immediately falls under the sway of strange, dark forces. The BFI’s Blu-ray release on 23 January 2023, includes a range of extras including a new feature commentary, interviews and archival films.

Photographed in black and white amid the dramatic landscape of Iceland and now restored in 4K from the original negative, THE JUNIPER TREE is an eerie, dreamlike meditation on magic, the destructive consequences of misogyny and the shadows that abide in far-flung places. A deeply atmospheric film, it is evocative of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Day of Wrath and Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring.

Special features

.Presented in High Definition
.4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative
.New feature commentary by Icelandic cultural scholar Dr Guðrún D Whitehead
.Still (1978, 4 mins), Hinterland (1981, 25 mins), Aves (1998, 7 mins): three remastered short films by Nietzchka Keene
.Randy Sellars on The Juniper Tree (2019, 29 mins): video interview with the film’s cinematographer
.Interview with Nietzchka Keene (2002, 15 mins)
.Outtakes from The Juniper Tree (5 mins)
.The Witch’s Fiddle (1924, 7 mins): a British folk rarity from the BFI National Archive
.Iceland – The Land of Ice and Fire (1929, 22 mins): little-seen footage of Iceland from the silent cinema era
.US theatrical trailer
.***First pressing only***
illustrated booklet with writing by Dr. Deborah Allison, Angeline Gragasin, Patrick Moyroud, Amy Sloper and Paul Fairclough; credits and notes on the special features