The Valley of the Bees
František Vláčil’s The Valley of the Bees (Údolí včel) got a fairly cool reception when it came out in 1968, even though his previous film, Marketa Lazarová, had been a success. Maybe they followed too hard on each other – Bees came only four months after Lazarová. Maybe the same 13th-century setting failed to hit the spot second time around – that itch had already been scratched. Maybe it was just too subtle, and its allegory whooshed over audience’s heads. Zeal is what it’s about, religious zeal in this telling, though the political allegory is clear, in its story about a young man who tries to escape a severe religious order and return … Read more