My review of the Facets disc - I'm expecting this to be a considerable improvement!The exciting rediscovery of František Vláčil was helped through our release of his 1967 masterpiece Marketa Lazarová. As a result of the wonderful response we have had to that film, Second Run are delighted to announce that we will be releasing more of this important filmmaker's work during 2009.
The Valley of the Bees
(Údoli včel)
A film by František Vláčil
Czechoslovakia, 1967
SRDVD 040
Although different in style and tone, whilst still sharing its resplendent black-and-white widescreen cinematography and a highly convincing recreation of the medieval era, Vláčil's The Valley of the Bees is just as complex a film as his Marketa Lazarová.
Vláčil poses his characters a series of impossible moral conundra, forcing them to choose between their own desires and codes that regulate their behaviour but suppress their humanity.
Based on precedent, it'll probably be the Czech DVD (reviewed by DVDFreak here) with added - and properly synchronised - English subtitles.