Valley of the Bees

"A tragedy of loyalty and feeling" - so read the original distribution slogan for this historical drama. Its creation was aided by a practical circumstance: the reuse of props and costumes left over from Marketa Lazarova, made a year earlier. Director and screenwriter František Vláčil and Vladimír Körner had to wait some time for their film about the age-old conflict between dogmatic asceticism and the desire for freedom to receive proper recognition.

The newly restored film ballad follows temporary companions on a spiritual journey - Ondřej of Vlkov and Armin von Heide. The story is set in the 13th century, but can be read as timeless: as a tale of the struggle to break free from the grip of an ideology hungry for power over human nature.