Directed by:
František VláčilCinematography:
František UldrichComposer:
Zdeněk LiškaCast:
Petr Čepek, Jan Kačer, Věra Galatíková, Zdeněk Sedláček, Zdeněk Kryzánek, Jana Hájková, Michal Kožuch, Ladislav Gzela, Petr Štěpánek, Josef Somr, Miloš Willig (more)Plots(1)
A young man is sent to live and study with a religious order when his father takes a young bride. When the son helps one of the noble knights at the order escape, he is expelled from the institution. (MUBI)
Reviews (9)
Much easier to grasp in terms of content than the poetic Markéta Lazarová, but at the same time less interesting and expressive. Many passages are too cold and emotionally empty, which may have been the intention given Vláčil's approach to the dark Middle Ages, but this time boredom creeps in more, its deadly effects countered primarily by the beautiful authentic music by master Liška. Fortunately, there’s the cast led by the amazing Čepek, chilling and raw sets, great costumes and a strong story that always manages to evoke exactly the right feelings. It's a pity that the script runs out of breath in the middle (though, fortunately, it gets it back by the end). 75%
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A cinematic delicacy that emerged as a side product and poorer sibling of Markéta Lazarová. The plot is fundamentally very simple, yet it is filmed poetically and rawly, making for an extraordinarily evocative cinematic experience with perfectly tailored music, excellent cinematography, and stellar performances by Petr Čepek and Jan Kačer. In this film, the saying "there are no small roles" holds true. I assert that if it were made in color, The Valley of the Bees would be half as impactful; the black-and-white material contributes significantly to the ballad-like atmosphere of the story. Overall impression: 95%.
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“My father promised me to the Order. To save his soul." If it weren’t for Herz’s year younger The Cremator, The Valley of the Bees would sit on the imaginary throne of Czechoslovak cinema. This way it is doomed to second place, but what can you do... And that shows amongst other things that I belong to the “barbarian riffraff" who consider this, Vláčil’s picture to be better than Marketa Lazarová (which is a bit of a paradox since The Valley of the Bees was only made to make use of the costumes and scenery left behind after it). The Bergmanesque proportions, the indescribably splendid camerawork (I will probably never get bored of the shot at the end with Ondřej disappearing into the darkness) and Liška’s score make watching this a wonderful experience for the mind, eyes and ears. And the actors are absolutely... We don’t see Petr Čepek on screen, but Ondřej of Vlkov. Nor do we see Jan Kačer (who currently stars in an awful Czech telenovela), but purely and simply Armin von Heide. The same applies for the others. OK? OK!
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The story of a religious fanatic who does not hesitate to take up the sword for the glory of God and for whom the desire for a normal life is alien. It is hard to believe that this film was made mainly to use the costumes from Markéta Lazarová. The Valley of the Bees is equally exquisite, oozing the atmosphere of the 13th century, and Zdeněk Liška's music is unique as always.
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Bergman in a Czech version? At least that's how I see it, because Vláčil's gloomy and soiled vision of the Middle Ages brings him very close to the Swedish genius. Like the ceremonial nature of gesture and word, the weight of a single image that seems to say nothing and yet speaks through every detail. Körner's script is constructed masterfully, building a staircase stone by stone to the final tragedy that emerges from the almost harmonious celebration of medieval paganism. Čepek, Kačer and other actors from the Drama Club brought a touch of theatricality, slowness, emphasis on every word and act to the story. Zdeněk Liška, for his part, confirmed that he was an exceptional composer; however, sometimes strangely, his secular and religious musical accompaniment precisely colors a quietly buzzing drama about two sides of faith. Although The Valley of the Bees was quite ruthlessly stomped by New Wave, in time it proved the dominance of a complex artistic statement over the period filmmaking experiment. With all due respect to New Wave, this is just a class better.
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