The Valley of the Bees

The final installment in František Vláčil’s trilogy of historical epics (directly following his most widely heralded work, MARKETA LAZAROVÁ) follows a young man (Petr Čepek) in thirteenth-century Europe through years of trials and tribulations as his father forces him to join the repressive religious order of the Teutonic Knights, from which he escapes only to be pursued by a dogmatic comrade (Jan Kačer) intent on punishing him for his betrayal. Rich with historical detail and starkly beautiful black-and-white visuals, THE VALLEY OF THE BEES powerfully dramatizes the tension between personal freedom and religious fundamentalism.