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Údolí Vcel (1968)

Drama | 97 minutes
3,82 30 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 97 minuten

Alternative title: Valley of the Bees

Country: Czechoslovakia

Directed by: Frantisek Vlácil

Stars: Petr Čepek, Jan Kacer and Věra Galatíková

IMDb score: 7,7 (2.110)

Releasedate: 17 May 1968

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Údolí Vcel plot

Ondrej is sent to a religious order when his father marries a much younger bride. He is mentored by the very strict monk Armin. Ondrej escapes one day when he is punished for a wrongdoing. He returns home to betroth his widowed stepmother. However, Armin suddenly shows up to reclaim Ondrej for the order.

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avatar van Woland

Woland

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This was made around the Prague Spring, but it feels a bit different from the Czech new wave I've seen before. The Valley of the Bees is a fairly serious historical drama set in the Middle Ages, with a lot of religious themes as well. Teenager Ondrej is more or less kicked out of his home when his father hooks up with a fairly young woman, and ends up in a religious order - the Teutonic Order, which for history nerds might also be known for the crusades. Anyway, the film is an atmospheric, but also slow meditation on Ondrej's life - how he befriends Armin in the Order, and how his faith evolves from barely religious, to strictly religious, to sinful when he returns to his old town where his former stepmother seduces him, and they try to drive Armin into sin as well. It feels quite Bergman-esque, especially the Seventh Seal. Creator Frantisek Vlacil also directed Marketa Lazarova who has been on my watchlist for years, and apparently this film is also partly a result of that because medieval sets had to be reused. Anyway, I can see the quality, but despite the occasional nastiness it is certainly slow, heavy, meditative stuff.

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