The Valley of the Bees — The Valley of the Bees(Blu Ray)
The Valley of the Bees ( aka Údolí vcel) is a late 60s Czech historical drama set in the 13th century. The film has a fairly simple lead plot line/structure regarding a young boy joining a brotherhood of holy Knights- years pass, and he decides to leave & is pursued by his fanatical brother-in-arms. But it truly does whisk you back to the grim & moody Middle Ages, with a film full of stunning & haunting imagery, barren/ rundown landscapes & buildings, moments of jarring/ brutal violence, and pious discipline meeting doubt. Here from Second Run- one of the key label reissue Czech cinema- is a new region-free Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, two of the director's short films, and a twenty-four-page inlay booklet.
The Valley of the Bees was made in 1968. It was directed by Cesky Tesin, Moravian-Silesian, Czech Republic-born Frantisek Vlácil, who between the early ’50s & late ’80s had fifteen features to his name. These went from The White Dove (1962) a visual and poetic drama, Sirius( 1975) a wartime drama regarding the relationship between a boy and a dog, and rural set crime drama The Shadow Of The Ferns(1985). He’s also seen as an important/ key figure in the Czech new wave.
The film is captured in black and white stock- this enhances the moody, barren and often grim tone of the film. After the opening credits featuring close-up/ inverted shots of amassed bees, we meet our lead character Ondrej (Zdenek Sedlácek) at the age of twelve- he is moving his hands over a wood-carved bee hive, some of the insects crawling over his figures. He’s called by the authoritative male voice- his father calling him to meet his new young wife. In his arms, Ondrej carries a basket seemingly full of flower petals- he places the gift on the table with his new stepmother gleeful pulling & throwing the white petals, but unfortunately at the bottom of the basket is a selection of baby bats- his father is furious, picking up & throwing the boy against the wall- with his blood/ broken face showing, and so begins the film's mix of startling imagery, moodiness and brutality.
Young Ondrej is sent to a brotherhood of Teutonic Knights, to try and save him. They reside in a seaside set castle, and we get some wonderful barren coast-based imagery in the early part of the film- moving between nude monks letting the sea wash over and numb their bodies, a broken and battered wreck, etc.
Fairly early on we move on some ten/ fifteen years to meet the now grown-up Ondrej (Petr Cepek) who has befriended the extremely pious, raggedly haired and bearded Armin von Heide(Jan Kacer)- who is one of the most loyal/ focused of all the brotherhood.
One of the other brothers attempts to leave the brotherhood- after being put to dramatic death in one of the film's many memorable scenes, with a semi-circle of knights blowing out & breaking candles before throwing the man from a great height down to the dogs that rip him apart. So Ondrej decides to leave himself, and fairly soon Armin starts off to track him down.
As the film unfolds Armin encounters a series of characters- taking in a young blind woman tending the land with her dogs, a group of rough ‘n’ ready Sheppard’s, and a rundown castle/ small gathering with the lord dead & his wife left haunted/ troubled.
The landscapes, buildings, and people look worn down & weary- with no evidence of the modern world. This is enhanced by the recorder, whistle, and choir soundtrack- which moves between the rapid & darting, to angular and grimly moody.
Acting wise Cepek captures a wonderful blend of being haunted, fearful, and cowardly as Ondrej. And Kacer is great as the starchily focused, later clearly unhinged Armin. The rest of the supporting cast sell their roles well too.
The Valley of the Bees stands in its grim believability- with the viewer feeling truly that they have been whisked back to the Middle Ages. Added to this is the simple- yet- engaging story, wonderfully acting, and eye for haunting / moody imagery make this a deeply glum, at points troubling, and impactful experience.
This recent Blu-Ray features a largely bold and crisp black & white HD scan, though I did notice a few lines of glitches here and there- but nothing major. On the new extra side of the disc, we get a new Projection Booth commentary from Mike White and Robert Bellissimo. They open by talking about how Frantisek Vlácil is one of the lesser-known of Czech directors, and how his work is visually poetic. They debate how they did the boy thrown against the wall effect was done. They chat about the film's mix of paganism and controlled religion. They touch on the career of Petr Cepek- mentioning other notable roles. They talk about how there is nuance & subtle, as well as depth of meaning in the picture. They touch on the film's score, and discuss other notable works by its composer Zdenek Liska. They talk about the possible influence of biblical texts on the script. Later on, they discuss the moments of transgressive erotica, and debate if some of the scenes are meant to be within a dream. They talk about how much is packed into the film's runtime, and the shifts in the relationships of the characters. This track is fine- with some interesting observations made, I just wish it had been a bit better researched as it would have been nice to get more in-depth bios of the cast/ crew- also at points, the two do drop into just describing what’s on screen.
Otherwise, on the disc, we get two short films by Frantisek Vlácil- these are fairly abstract/documentary-like. Both are from 1972- The City in White (15.36) and Karlovy Vary Promenades (15.14)
The release is finished off with a glossy twenty-four-page inlay booklet. With writing by film historian, author and Czech cinema expert Peter Hames, as well as some great moody stills from the film.
The Valley of the Bees truly is a spellbinding trip back to the glum and religiously troubled Middle Ages- with captivatingly poetic shot use, great acting, and moments of jarring violence. I really can’t recommend it enough if you enjoy moody & bleak filmmaking, and once again Second Run have done a great job with this new release.