MARKETA LAZAROVA

 

Back in 1998, in a poll conducted between 55 Slovak and Czech film critics and publicists, František Vláčil's 1967 medieval epic “Marketa Lazarová” was awarded the prestigious title of being voted the greatest Czechoslovakian film of all time. It is also a film that has been at the heart of much frustration for myself, as during my first viewing of “Marketa Lazarová”, I found it so dense and narratively complex, that I could not make heads or tails of the film, despite being impressed by the supreme film making craft on display. Not being able to connect to such a prestigious and much loved film really bothered me, particularly due to the fact that everything else I had seen from Vláčil, I absolutely loved (especially his debut film, “The White Dove”, from 1960), and I was determined to have a more positive experience of “Marketa Lazarová”, whenever my next viewing of the film turned out to be. Almost a decade later, and the Melbourne Cinematheque are currently doing a three week retrospective of František Vláčil's cinema, screening five of his features, with “Marketa Lazarová” being the first film shown. I was very excited to finally see the film on the big screen, but wanted to go in with as much context as possible in regards to the film, so I wouldn't be left with the feeling of similar disappointment like after my first viewing. As such, I went through all of the special features on my Criterion blu ray of “Marketa Lazarová”, as a type of research which I felt I needed before seeing the film again. Did any of this help or was I left confounded and confused by the film once again?

I was originally going to try and write my own plot synopsis, but I found that the one on imdb sums up the film quite nicely, which is as follows: “Mikolás and his brother Adam rob travellers for their tyrannical father Kozlík. During one of their "jobs" they end up with a young German hostage whose father escapes to return news of the kidnapping and robbery to the King. Kozlik prepares for the wrath of the King, and sends Mikolás to pressure his neighbour Lazar to join him in war. Persuasion fails, and in vengeance Mikolás abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa, just as she was about to join a convent. The King, meantime, dispatches an army and the religious Lazar will be called upon to join hands against Kozlik. Stripped-down, surreal, and relentlessly grimy account of the shift from Paganism to Christianity.”

I am very happy to report that my second experience with “Marketa Lazarová” was a much more positive one, and that I ended up loving the film this time around. What surprised me the most though was just how simple the actual story is once you have a hold on the way František Vláčil goes about telling his tale. I will not sit here though and say that I understood everything and that it was a breeze to sit through, because that would not be true; this is a film where you really need to focus and participate as an audience member because Vláčil isn't going to explicitly explain every detail of his story, which means you need to fill in some of the gaps yourself. If you are not paying attention, you will get lost, and this is a film that is close to three hours long, so it demands a lot of it's audience, but it is well worth the effort. I will admit that it is an exhausting watch, and that my attention did briefly start to wane about two thirds through as I started to get tired, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed “Marketa Lazarová” this time around. I truly believe my research before the film helped in unlocking the film for me, but the thing that helped the most was focusing heavily on the text that is written during the beginning of each “chapter” of the film, as these words actually do a great job of describing what we are about to witness in the following scenes. By processing and understanding what is coming, it then gives you a chance to sit back and watch and marvel at Vláčil's visual artistry that is on display constantly throughout the film.

“Marketa Lazarová” is famous for being a film that feels so real and lived in, as František Vláčil constructs the medieval world of the 13^th century in the utmost detail, with period costumes, locations and weapons, all made from scratch and constructed in the way that they would have been made back then. Everything made feels like it has a purpose, particularly the costumes, which have been designed to protect, warm and clothe the wearer, although comfort doesn't always seem to be the first priority. To help in creating an honesty and realism in their characters, Vláčil got his actors to essentially “live-in” their characters for the duration of the shoot, wearing their costumes as much as they could. This was also done so the costumes would deteriorate over time, like they would in reality, as if the clothing got damaged during shooting, it was not fixed but left to become more tattered as the film goes along. In a way, the film almost has a documentary feel to it, in that it doesn't feel like actors pretending to live in the past, making a movie, instead it feels like the past of many centuries ago has been miraculously captured on film. It depicts a brutal and harsh world where violence often begets more violence, and those that suffer the consequences the most, are often those who are the most innocent, like poor Marketa herself.

One needs to understand just how special “Marketa Lazarová” actually is, in terms of the amount of money and time that were spent in making the film. Throughout the entirety of Vlacil's career, he would never again make another film with the enormity of scope that “Marketa Lazarová” has. It appears that he had a blank check in regards to the budget of the film, and the 548 shooting days he had to shoot his film is almost mind boggling to think of. That said, you get the feeling that Vlacil knew that this would be a one-off and he does not waste the opportunity at all. The visual style of “Marketa Lazarová” is simply to die for, and even if you can not find a way into the narrative of the film itself, I guarantee that you will still marvel at it's images. Vlacil and his cinematographer Bedrich Batka have shot the film in high contrast black and white widescreen, alternating between objective and subjective perspectives (sometimes in the same shot), while also highlighting the abrasive textures of this medieval world. Mud, blood, sticks, snow, ice, fur, grass; this is a harsh landscape, but through Batka's lens and Vlacil's design, it is also achingly beautiful. Vlacil never studied film making, rather he was a student of the fine arts, and his expertise in this field shines through in spades in this film. His images are so intricately composed and choreographed, at times coming across like paintings, but they also strangely feel very real and immediate. Apparently Vlacil story boarded the entire film in intricate detail, and wouldn't move on from a scene until what he filmed matched those storyboards as close as possible. Seriously, “Marketa Lazarová” is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, (particularly the scenes set in winter and in the snow), which considering the brutality that is on display within the film, says a lot.

The aural landscape of the film is the other aspect that makes “Marketa Lazarová” so special, as the sounds we hear over certain images do not necessarily marry with what we see, rather they are used to create a feeling or mood to enhance these images, or to jog the audiences memory of elements or moments that have happened in the film prior. Sounds are also often used to help describe the psychological well-being of a certain character at any given time. I would also be remiss not to mention Zdenek Liska's wonderful score that uses medieval instruments of the time to create a musical landscape that is both haunting and beautiful in equal measure. This is one time I really wish I knew more about music than I do, because Liska's score is so powerful and unique, and adds so much to the film, but my limited knowledge on the subject can not do it justice.

Overall, there is so much more that could be said and written about “Marketa Lazarová”, but I honestly do not think I am a good enough writer to even scratch the surface about what makes this film so good. I am just happy that my second experience with the film turned out to be a positive one, and I can now claim to be a fan of “Marketa Lazarová”. Again, after the disappointment of my first viewing where I was unable to understand anything in the film, what surprised me the most this time around was just how simple the story being told actually is. It is a story of small mistakes and missed opportunities, that ends up having huge consequences to the people involved, as well as on those who are indirectly involved like Marketa herself. It is a harsh world they live in, where violence begets violence, but even throughout all this misery, characters find a way to love, although love can only last so long in a world as dark and brutal as this. “Marketa Lazarová” is a challenging film, but an amazing one. Superbly acted, stunningly designed, shot and directed; it is a once-in-a-lifetime movie, that I am rapt to finally be able to say that I understood and thus loved it.

4 Stars.