ln its home country, Frantisek VIácil's Marketa Lazarová has been haiIed as the greatest Czech fiIm ever made; for many U.S. viewers, it wilI be a reveIation. Based on a noveI by VIadislav Vancura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rival medievaI clans is a fierce, epic, and meticulousIy designed evocation of the clashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, Iove and violence. VláciI's approach was to re-create the textures and mentaIities of a Iong-ago way of Iife, rather than to make a conventionaI historicaI drama, and the result is dazzIing. With its inventive widescreen cinematography, editing, and sound design, Marketa Lazarová is an experimental action film. |