Marketa Lazarová

The sons of Kozlík, a robber clan leader, ambush a group travelling to Mladá Boleslav in winter. The new Bishop of Hennau, an ally of the Bohemian king, escapes, but his young son Kristian and his assistant are taken. Mikoláš, one of Kozlík's sons, finds the neighbouring clan leader Lazar scavenging the site but spares his life as he prays to Christ. They both have a holy vision involving Lazar's virgin daughter, Marketa. At their settlement, Kozlík chastizes Mikoláš for letting a man escape, bringing captives, and sparing Lazar. His rage increases when he overhears his other son Adam saying that they could have used the escaped bishop as leverage against the king. His daughter Alexandra takes a liking to Kristian, much to Adam's disgust. (She had previously once indulged and once rejected an affair with Adam. When their mother Katarina found out and told Kozlík, Adam lost his arm as punishment for the incest.)

Kozlík answers a royal summons to Boleslav. The king's captain attempts to seize him, but he escapes, chased by wolves back to the settlement. Anticipating a regiment led by the captain, the clan retreats into the woods. Mikoláš visits Lazar, urging him to help Kozlík ambush the regiment. Marketa is shocked to see Mikoláš brutally beaten and driven out. A small group sent by Kozlík to avenge the beating finds the regiment already at Lazar's settlement. They kill the captain's closest knight and retreat. The captain swears justice and revenge.

Lazar and Marketa visit the nunnery, but Lazar does not have enough money for her to take vows. Returning their settlement, they find it captured by Mikoláš and his men, who kill Lazar's mentally disabled son. As Lazar begs for his life, Mikoláš demands Marketa in exchange. He protests, but they nail him to the gate and take Marketa. At their forest stronghold, Mikoláš rapes Marketa and then protects her from Kozlík's wrath. Meanwhile, Kristian has impregnated Alexandra. Kozlík chains both couples on a nearby hill.

When the captain's regiment arrives at the stronghold with Adam as a captive, Kozlík allows the four back inside. In an initial rash attack, the captain is repulsed but Adam dies. He then mounts a successful second attack. Kristian sees Alexandra chased by the attackers and is torn between loyalty to his father and love for her. He stumbles away beaten while a dream-like flashback shows him explaining his love for Alexandra and their future child to his dismayed father. He reaches Lazar's abandoned settlement and meets Bernard, a priest and former victim of the robber clan. He collapses, recovers, and walks through a pack of wolves back into the woods. Meanwhile, Alexandra, Mikoláš, and Marketa have escaped the captain, who has taken Kozlík captive to Boleslav. Alexandra finds Kristian crawling through the woods and hits him on the head with a stone. Kristian's father eventually finds her and demands to know where his body is buried, and finally she is arrested.

Marketa returns to Lazar, who survived, but he rejects her. In a trance-like state, she travels to the nunnery and begins to take her vows just as Mikoláš attempts to free Kozlík from the Boleslav dungeon. A child finds her and takes her arm. She leaves the ceremony to find Mikoláš dying in the castle courtyard from wounds suffered in the attempt. The captain marries Mikoláš and Marketa on the spot. Kozlík sees the marriage and is taken away while Mikoláš dies. Brother Bernard finds Marketa in the wilderness and offers to travel with her in search of a new life. In the final scene, Marketa wanders on as the narrator reveals that she and Alexandra each had a son and that Marketa nursed both boys.

• Josef Kemr as Kozlík, a bandit yeoman who resides at Roháček. Lazar's rival.
• František Velecký as Mikoláš, Kozlík's second born son
• Ivan Palúch as Adam-Jednoručka, Kozlík's son
• Pavla Polášková as Alexandra, Kozlík's daughter
• Michal Kožuch as Lazar, a bandit yeoman. Kozlík's rival.
• Magda Vášáryová as Marketa Lazarová, Lazar's daughter
• Harry Studt as Kristián, Saxon Count whose son is abducted by Kozlík's sons
• Vlastimil Harapes as Kristián, son of a Saxon noble who is taken prisoner by Kozlík's clan
• Zdeněk Kryzánek Captain Pivo, the leader of the royal army
• Zdeněk Řehoř as Sovička, Pivo's second in command
• Naďa Hejná as Kateřina, Kozlík's wife.
• Vladimír Menšík as Bernard, a wandering monk
• Karla Chadimová as the Abbess
• Jaroslav Moučka as Jan, Kozlík's first born son
• Pavel Landovský as Smil, Kozlík's son.
• Zdeněk Štěpánek as Narrator (voice)
• Petr Kostka as Mikoláš (voice)
• Ladislav Trojan as Adam-Jednoručka (voice)
• Karolina Slunéčková as Alexandra, Kozlík's daughter (voice)
• Martin Růžek as Lazar (voice)
• Gabriela Vránová as Marketa Lazarová (voice)
• Klaus-Peter-Thiele as Kristián (voice)
• Antonie Hegerliková as Kateřina (voice)[6][7][8]

The film is set in medieval Bohemia at a time when Christianity had not fully replaced Paganism. Conflict between Christianity and Paganism, mirroring a conflict between the clans and central authority, is a major theme. The Kozlík clan leans toward Paganism while the royal regiment represent Christianity and authority.[9] Meanwhile, Lazar's clan is nominally Christian but politically neutral. Kozlík wants Lazar to support him in the fight but Lazar refuses and sides with the king, leading to the abduction of his daughter.[10][11]

Similarly, the romance between Markéta and Mikoláš, who rapes her but later protects and loves her, represents a meeting of purity and innocence with worldly violence. The film highlights Mikoláš's ferocity and unrestrainment.[12][13] This interplays with the romance between Mikoláš's sister Alexandra and Kristián, in which the roles are reversed. Kristián's love for Alexandra contradicts Mikoláš's love for Marketa; he is uncertain in it due to his loyalty to his father.

Royal scenes that were cut from the film were supposed to show contradictions between the Kozlík clan and the royal family. Their difference was to be shown in a struggle for property and power. Desire for the crown leads to hatred between brothers and of sons towards their father, common in big royal families but not in small families. The film also shows conflict between Mikoláš and Adam. Neither is the oldest son but they are both likely candidates to replace Kozlík as clan leader.[13]

Rabí Castle represented Medieval Boleslav.[14]

Before production started, František Vláčil and František Pavlíček had to transfer the novel into screenplay. The text of the book was linguistically difficult and the transfer took a few years. The whole works on Marketa Lazarová took seven years.[15]

Production itself took three years. The shooting started in 1964 and concluded in 1966. It took 548 days. The film was shot at multiple places in the current Czech Republic such as Lánská obora, Mrtvý luh and Klokočín Castle. Shooting took place during extreme conditions of tough winter.[16] The intended budget was 7 million crowns but the film cost almost 13 million crowns in the end. The expensiveness of the film was one of the reasons for making The Valley of the Bees in which Vláčil used costumes and decorations intended for Marketa Lazarová. The film was finished in 1967.[17][2] Some parts were shot in Slovakia.[18]

The music for Marketa Lazarová was composed by Zdeněk Liška. It is based on medieval composition. There are motives of Gregorian chant. The music emphasizes the conflict between the Christian and the Pagan world.[21] The soundtrack was released in 1996 as part of edition by publishers Zóna and Bonton Music.

In 2015, Petr Ostrouch was permitted by Liška's descendants to make a concert of music from Marketa Lazarová.[22] It was held on 9 October 2015 at Karlín. It was part of the musical festival Struny podzimu and a recording was released as a double album in 2018.[23][24]

Vladislav Vančura

The film is based on Vladislav Vančura's novel of the same name.[25] The film isn't a faithful adaptation and there are many differences.[26] The film includes some elements from Obrazy z dějin národa českého that weren't present in the Marketa Lazarová novel. The character of Monk Bernard and the unrealised Royal Pictures originate from Obrazy z dějin národa českého.[27]

The novel wasn't a historically accurate capture of the age of setting. The film tries to be more historically accurate wanted to capture the world of 13th century. It was visible in the Royal Pictures that was to be set at the Royal Court of Wenceslaus I of Bohemia.[28]

Another major difference is that Alexandra's fate is left unresolved in the film. This was caused by the removal of the Royal Pictures that would include her trial at the royal court and suicide.[27]

The film premiered on 24 November 1967. The film was watched by 1.3 million people in theaters. The film was inaccessible for a long period of time after it left Cinemas.[3] When the film was screen at San Francisco Film Festival in 1968 the critics wrote "This is one of the most artistic and convincing medieval epics ever made, plunging us into the past with a relentless assault upon the visual senses with both dazzling and horrifying effects."

On 30 August 1974, Marketa Lazarová premiered in the United States. It was shortened to 100 minutes for the American market. Reviews for this version were mixed.[11][29] The film's reputation was restored after the original version was made available in the United States in 2011.[30]

The restored version returned to Czech cinemas on 13 October 2011.[31] The premiere was presented by Magdaléna Vášáryová. Vašáryová stated that she was moved by the number of young people who expressed interest in the film.[32]

Marketa Lazarová is widely considered the best Czech film ever made and the best film directed by František Vláčil. It is also considered one of the best historical films of all time.[51] The film was already critically acclaimed in 1967 and received many positive reviews and won a survey for the best film. Vláčil himself wasn't satisfied with the film and stated that he expected more. The reason for his dissatisfaction was the failure to realise Royal Pictures as he believed that it was a pivotal part of the film.[52]

There was a survey of journalists during the 1994 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to choose the best Czech film ever made. Marketa Lazarová won the survey.[15] Another poll was held in 1998. 55 Czech and Slovak film critics and publicists voted Marketa Lazarová the Best Czech-Slovak film of all time.[5] Marketa Lazarová also topped a 2007 survey of Reflex magazine publicists.[53] Týden.cz held surveys to choose the best Czech film of every epoch. Marketa Lazarová was voted the best Czech film of the 1965-1967 period.[40]

Casablanca Publisher released the book Marketa Lazarová: Studies and Documents in 2009. It is a study of the film edited by Petr Gajdošík.[54] It consists of various studies, interviews and articles about the film.[55]

The novel was adapted into a Theatre play in 2013. It premiered on 16 November 2013 at ABC Theatre. Dramaturgist Věra Mašková stated that the play focuses on emotions and Theatrical Poetry. The play was directed by Pavel Khek, and it starred Veronika Khek Kubařová as Marketa and Tomáš Novotný as Mikoláš.[56] Tomáš Šťástka gave the play 60% in his review for iDnes.cz. He stated that it tries to focus on wider audience and retain medieval brutality. He praised that it managed to show the lyrical side of the novel, but noted that the medieval reality of the novel is in clear contrast with a theatrical environment.[57]

• The Devil's Trap
• List of films considered the best
• List of Czech films considered the best
• List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
• The Valley of the Bees

• Marketa Lazarová at IMDb
• Marketa Lazarová at Rotten Tomatoes
• Marketa Lazarová at České filmové nebe (in Czech)
• Marketa Lazarová at AllMovie
• Cinema of the Wolf: The Mystery of Marketa Lazarová an essay by Tom Gunning at the Criterion Collection