Údolí vcel

Exquisite. Its recreation of the middle ages is thoroughly absorbing and even more convincing than The Seventh Seal, visually it is absolutely impeccable and stunning, and the story is terrific, utterly engaging and covering a huge amount of emotional ground fuelled with very affecting tragedy. Few films manage to at once be both so breathtakingly beautiful and (surprisingly) dramatically riveting.

Received opinion of U.V being a simplistic version of Marketa Lazarova is rubbish: it's a far more austere and subtle affair that works astonishingly well on its own terms. It's an intense film about the dangers of dogmatism whose formal rigor is closer to Bresson or Eisenstein than Bergman with flashes of Wellesian expressionism. The cinematography is stunning (contrasty black and white with deliberate overexposure) and the choral music adds tremendous power and weight to key scenes.

Complex and well worked-out exploration of, let's say, the consequences of false consciousness, which repeats several elements in a rather interesting way and produces some memorable imagery.

A fantastic medieval set film on the deep and rich issues of Christianity. It slightly reminds one of The Seventh Seal, but this feels less like an Ingmar Bergman film but from a very unique director with his own distinct visual style and ideas.

Along the same lines as Marketa Lazarova, it's a Middle Ages religious drama (shades of Seventh Seal) but much less messy and confusing. I had little trouble following the story... it's never made clear why Lenora has such a sudden change of heart, but it's not that important. Some memorable images, interesting music, and intriguing religious themes.

Although rather visually impressive in it's own right (and certainly comparable to early Tarkovsky, although i actually prefer Vlacil's style), it's hard for this not to feel overshadowed in every way by Marketa Lazarova, as stylistically similar as they are. Here, the artiness of the presentation only serves to somewhat distract from what is really an (un)remarkably straight-forward and even conventional narrative.

A bleak medieval costume drama evoking Greek tragedies and English ballads as well as Bergman's tortured Christian fables. A soundtrack full of carefully selected, period-appropriate music may be its greatest asset. It's a clearer and more compact film than Vlacil's Marketa Lazarova, but still extremely heavy and over-serious without being involving or interesting enough to compensate.