Often declared the greatest Czech film ever made, this adaptation of Vladislav Vančura’s novel is a hallucinatory medieval epic, pitting clan against clan and Christians against Pagans, in a nearly three-hour long rush of stunning, high contrast, B&W CinemaScope imagery, shot with a prowling camera and edited furiously.
Keeping up with the labyrinthine plot is secondary to giving in to the film’s experiential potency, as director Vláčil’s insistence on 13th-century period exactitude is raised, by Zdeněk Liška’s majestic choral-electronic score, to the order of the sublime. The luminous Magda Vášáryová stars as the eponymous Marketa.
CaSFFA is delighted to be presenting Marketa Lazarova in a 4K digital restoration courtesy of the National Film Archive in Prague.
Discover more from author Vladislav Vančura at Readings.
