Paste Magazine by Andrew Crump
With The Juniper Tree, [Keene] left behind an impeccable piece of cinema history as her legacy, waiting to be discovered by audiences denied the chance to experience it themselves.
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Iceland · 1990
1h 18m
Director Nietzchka Keene
Starring Björk, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir, Valdimar Örn Flygenring, Guðrún Gísladóttir
Genre Drama, Fantasy
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Accused of witchcraft, Margit and Katla's mother is publicly executed. To avoid the same fate, the young sisters have no choice but to flee their hometown. While looking for shelter, they come across Johann, a grieving widower, and decide to cast a love spell on him.
Paste Magazine by Andrew Crump
With The Juniper Tree, [Keene] left behind an impeccable piece of cinema history as her legacy, waiting to be discovered by audiences denied the chance to experience it themselves.
The Juniper Tree’s peculiar pedigree as an American indie fueled by European arthouse tropes and constructed with a flair for the avant-garde and the handmade marks it as a welcome rediscovery.
A film that’s dark and delightful and ripe for rediscovery.
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
In watching a newly restored version, I was struck not only by Björk’s distinctive charisma at 24 years old but also by the talent of the film’s writer, director and editor, Nietzchka Keene.
The New Yorker by Richard Brody
Keene films the supernatural tale of timeless rusticity with fanatical attention to the barren and craggy seaside setting; her stunningly spare yet phantasmagorical images fuse the forces of nature with the spirit of mystery. Björk brings an otherworldly calm to her visionary role, and occasionally sings.
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
Keene made only a couple of films in her abbreviated life, but The Juniper Tree is absorbing enough to make one rue there weren’t more.
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