Marketa Lazarova Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Marketa Lazarova
Year: 1967
Director: Frantisek Vlacil
Country: Czechoslovakia
Language(s): Czech, German

An American company known as The Criterion Collection has been dedicated to restoring and distributing impressive classic and contemporary films from all over the world. Many of their releases are rarities that may have not seen the light of day as a region 1 home video release if it had not been for Criterion. One of those "rarities" is a little known Czechoslovakian film called Marketa Lazarova, which is hailed by critics as the greatest piece of Czech Cinema even made.

The plot of the film involves Mikolás and his brother Adam, who rob travelers for their tyrannical father Kozlík. During one of their "jobs" they end up with a young German hostage whose father escapes to return news of the kidnapping and robbery to the King. Kozlik prepares for the wrath of the King, and sends Mikolás to pressure his neighbor Lazar to join him in war. Persuasion fails, and in vengeance Mikolás abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa.

It's almost impossible to prepare yourself for Vlacil's Czech epic, even if you go into the film knowing every little detail you will find yourself quite surprised. Vlacil doesn't conform to any linear narrative, the plot jumps back and forth through time and space. It's unfortunately very easy to get lost in the film, which is why even the most educated of film scholars need more than one viewing to fully understand the story being told. However, don't let that detract you from watching this great picture, it's quite an emotional and powerful piece.

Watching Marketa Lazarova for the first time is like experiencing the events of 9/11 unfold before your eyes. In both you are overwhelmed with images and sounds that evoke great emotion from you. Even though you aren't exactly sure what's going on, you do know that the events are incredibly important. Vlacil's film is impressively constructed, resurrecting the look and atmosphere of the Middle Ages. While most directors fall in love with the time period they recreate and exploit a false reality, Vlacil tries his best to show an accurate representation of the tumultuous time period that was the change from Paganism to Christianity.

In conclusion, Marketa Lazarova is one of the deepest films you will ever see. It is loaded with complex themes about the nature of humanity, love, religion and patriarchy. Unfortunately I have not seen the film enough times to go into too much detail about these themes, however from what I have viewed I can confirm that this is quite a breathtaking picture. Praise it! 4.5/5