You’ll be hard pressed to make a more exciting discovery than Criterion’s digital transfer of Frantisek Vlacil’s 1967 Czech classic, Marketa Lazarova. Voted the best Czech film of all time by a 1998 panel of Czech critics, the film had been unavailable for Western consumption (beyond rare art house screenings) until late 2007 when UK studio Second Run released a Region 2 copy. After a 2011 restoration from Universal Production Partners, the Us now has access to a gloriously restored digital transfer, a phenomenal presentation of what stands as one of the world’s cinematic wonders, a densely structured unique experience of cinema as visual poetry.
While the narrative outline seems succinctly evident, especially considering Vlacil’s attempts to retain the essence of the famed novel upon which it’s based by announcing quick summaries via title cards as before a set amount of chapters, the glorious immersion of sight and sound...
While the narrative outline seems succinctly evident, especially considering Vlacil’s attempts to retain the essence of the famed novel upon which it’s based by announcing quick summaries via title cards as before a set amount of chapters, the glorious immersion of sight and sound...
- 6/11/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"I think the point about Marketa Lazarova is that when you first see it you're confused, and by that I mean you know that the whole story of what you're looking at is obscured, but it's still there, but you have to look hard." Peter Hames (film historian) Quick, name a Czechoslovakian film or film director... I would expect most of you are either drawing a blank or shouting out Milos Forman. The reason I ask is because on the back of Criterion's new Blu-ray release of Marketa Lazarova it reads, "In its native land, Frantisek Vlacil's Marketa Lazarova has been hailed as the greatest Czech film ever made; for many U.S. viewers, it will be a revelation." I can't speak to the first part of that statement as I believe this was the first, bonafide Czech film I've ever seen, but the second rings true. When it comes to Czech cinema,...
- 6/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 18, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
In its home country, František Vlácil’s 1967 historical drama-romance Marketa Lazarová has been hailed as the greatest Czech film ever made; for many U.S. viewers, it will be a revelation.
Based on a novel by Vladislav Vancura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rival medieval clans is a fierce, epic, and meticulously designed evocation of the clashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, love and violence.
Vlácil’s approach was to re-create the textures and mentalities of a long-ago way of life, rather than to make a conventional historical drama, and the result is as harrowing as it is dazzling. With its inventive widescreen cinematography, editing, and sound design, Marketa Lazarová can best be described as an experimental action film—and we haven’t seen many of those!
Presented in Czech and German with English subtitles,...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
In its home country, František Vlácil’s 1967 historical drama-romance Marketa Lazarová has been hailed as the greatest Czech film ever made; for many U.S. viewers, it will be a revelation.
Based on a novel by Vladislav Vancura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rival medieval clans is a fierce, epic, and meticulously designed evocation of the clashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, love and violence.
Vlácil’s approach was to re-create the textures and mentalities of a long-ago way of life, rather than to make a conventional historical drama, and the result is as harrowing as it is dazzling. With its inventive widescreen cinematography, editing, and sound design, Marketa Lazarová can best be described as an experimental action film—and we haven’t seen many of those!
Presented in Czech and German with English subtitles,...
- 3/28/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
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