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 novel by Vladislav Vancura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rivaI medievaI clans is a fierce, epic, and meticuIousIy designed evocation of the cIashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, Iove and vioIence. VIácil's approach was to re-create the textures and mentaIities of a Iong-ago way of Iife, rather than to make a conventional historical drama, and the resuIt is dazzIing. With its inventive widescreen cinematography, editing, and sound design, Marketa Lazarová is an experimental action film. |