StanLily Posted September 26 Share Posted September 26 I remember hearing or reading about it many years ago. Probably when I was in high school, so it's been a minute. Maybe I'll look for it after my vaccination appointment tomorrow. I'm trying to avoid the flu and COVID. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcnstar Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 One of my favorites. it's a CLASSIC!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 I'm really interested to see what it offers from a witchcraft perspective. i read at the start of this thread that there is little witchcraft content. i think to get Kim Novak involved in a film, and how beloved it seems to be, i think some thought must have gone into the film beyond just making a smash hit. like there must have been SOME kind of (maybe very minor) witchy thought that arose from the witchcraft content specifically, something that made them try to give some seriousness or credibility to the whole production. one member mentioned the concept of "soul song", im curious about that. Then again, obviously witchcraft is just some excuse to talk silly nonsense for some people, maybe that's enough reason to make a film. either way i think I'm going to get a fun film to watch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 (edited) i think there are 3 topics here. in order from least treated to most treated 1. doing ritual. we do ritual. yes we do. actual ritual. for real. we do it. we really really do. 2. fairy music. music from beyond. it's not normal human music, it's weird music. never explained in the film... cause it has no explanation anyway. cause you can't explain fairyland, or anything that comes out of fairyland. [otherworld] 3. Magic has real effects. this is the real message of the film. did you do a spell and you should've been careful cause you mightve just got what you wished for? that's the real topic of this film. magic is real. be magic and do magic and face the consequences. we are witches and it's real and we will get what we want. whether we want it or not. Edited September 29 by Moly 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 questionable: pet = familiar ? ? ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanLily Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 5 hours ago, Moly said: questionable: pet = familiar ? ? ? That depends on the pet. Smoky and Spirit were both familiars. Salem was a guardian. The other cats have been very well loved pets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 (edited) She kinda "uses" Pye. that's kinda weird. it kind of made me a bit uncomfortable somehow. maybe I'm just ... idk maybe sometimes I'm just not very witchly in my thinking, i can be ridiculously squeamish about some things. i don't think i could have a familiar-in-the-flesh because... the cats i lived with were just beautiful friends to me. they have visited me in dreams since crossing over, but so have humans, it wasn't really any different than that and those humans.. aren't my familiars. The idea of witchhood in the movie is kinda weird too. Like they're not mortals and they can lose their witchhood... and become mortal? That was really strange and I think I would need to watch it again to understand that part cause I don't think it made sense to me. Just... lose your witchhood??? LOL. Doesn't seem possible, how does that happen??!? LOL gotta say I absolutely loved Jack Lemmon. he was just great. Edited September 30 by Moly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 i thought all in all it was really a good movie for witchcraft. it did give a deeper level of serious treatment with the idea that magic is real, that when you do something it has an effect, that you really can reach out to what you want to achieve and make it happen. you could call this "power" in a way. a bit more about the music, her song. that was super strange and it was an awesome depiction of witchly strangeness. he gets enchanted by it, he's really pulled in and captured by the otherworldliness of the song and i think that's something that the film gets absolutely spot on. I'm finding a bit difficult to put into words why its important. its something about being a witch or maybe even just being a mystic in general that you're finding something from beyond yourself. like it couldn't come from you. it comes out of the dark. its not even like a human creativity exactly. i know cause I've experienced it many times. like for example , dreaming that I'm playing the piano, and a fairy is instructing me in the dream and telling me what music to play and then i wake up and write it down. And i can tell someone about that but they don't accept my explanation, they say stuff like "thank you for telling me about your creative process" but that's not it, it's not my creative process, it's music that a fairy gave to me. it's not from me at all. and there is something about that music that's not completely "right". its weird music and even for me, it draws me into its weirdness, like its seductive or something i can't describe how i feel about it but i feel like whether it's accidental or not, that's something that the film somehow just gets completely right. I'm repeating myself here i know. but i think it's worth highlighting those things. James Stewart did nothing for me. i find him crap. he's natural, but he doesn't bring anything more. flimsy. They should have cast Lemmon in his role, Lemmon is a far superior artist imho, total different category of performer. It's almost as though they didn't cast Lemmon for a really stupid reason like they thought he was not tall enough or too cute or something?? it just doesnt make sense. of course he was perfect as Nicky, he could do anything, but he has the charisma and sophistication for a leading man so he seems wasted. just my opinion Novak is really beautiful but her brows are distracting, i don't think that's where her natural brows are and i kept on noticing. but thats very trivial and beside the point, i shouldn't even be mentioning it really because she's a wonderful actor. i completely love her, she's perfect. so great, and underrated i suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belwenda Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 I own this movie (Bell Book and Candle) and enjoy it regularly, along with "I Married a Witch" (1942 w/ Veronica Lake which I believe was the precursor to "Bewitched") and all of the other standbys.....Hocus Pocus ( prefer the old one to the new one), and of course The Witches of Eastwick and Practical Magic! Great fun! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moly Posted November 8 Share Posted November 8 i watched this again, i felt more that the point of this movie is that magic requires exchange. maybe its an alchemical idea, that you get nothing if you give nothing, you have to put something in to get something out. like for example, it could be a sacrificial act, something could be lost in order to gain something else. that seems like a reasonably sound principle, far more sophisticated and realistic compared to that other silly idea we are all so familiar with that you get back what you put in. i couldn't help wondering if there was some concept here of Freudian development. very antique misogynistic type concept that a woman isn't fully developed without a man. but further to that, i appreciated the ending more this time. there seemed to be an ambiguity to the final scene with the lamp posts that i didn't notice last time. i felt as though it wasnt entirely clear whether it was Nicky who was extinguishing all the lights, maybe he was just surprised and observing. or maybe i just imagined that ambiguity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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