Set in 13th-century Europe, František Vláčil’s visionary medieval epic chronicles the tale of a young boy forced to join the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Years later he abandons the Crusaders, only to be pursued by a fanatical comrade and pay a terrible price for his rejection of the Holy Order.
With dazzling monochrome cinematography and vivid recreation of the period, The Valley of the Bees is a raw and haunting moral fable about the conflict between human nature and dogmatism – and just as powerful and compelling a film as his more famous work, Marketa Lazarová.
Blu-ray Special features:
• The Valley of the Bees (Údolí včel, 1967) presented from a new HD transfer from the best existing original materials created by the Czech National Film Archive.
• An all-new Projection Booth commentary with Mike White and Robert Bellissimo.
• Two of František Vláčil's acclaimed short documentary films, photographed by František Uldrich with music by Zdeněk Liška:
- The City in White (Město v bílém, 1972)
- Karlovy Vary Promenades (Karlovarské promenády, 1972).
• 24-page booklet with writing on the film by author Peter Hames.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C).
