“The Devil's Trap” tells such a simple story which the imdb elegantly (and correctly) describes like so: “A priest travels to investigate a miller suspected to be working with the devil.” While this is true in regards to the plot of the film, as you may suspect, there is a whole lot more going on in the film than just that, as it is actually about the age old battle between science and religion. The reason why the miller in question is thought to be working with the old horned one, himself, is because in a land ravaged by drought, the miller always seems to never be short of water for his mill, so the local community, who is tethered strongly to the church and it's beliefs and rituals, come to the only conclusion that makes sense to them. The truth though is that the miller, Jan, listens to the earth, looking for clues on where water may be, or to find land he deems to be unsafe to build on. This is actually how “The Devil's Trap” begins, as we are introduced to Jan, who is making his way to the Regent's home to try to persuade him not to build on the plot of land that has been earmarked for the new granary, as he knows that the piece of land will not hold the weight of the new construction. Whilst his advice falls on deaf ears, Jan's conscious is clear as he has voiced his warning about the potential consequences that could befall the land.
Once Probus, the new priest shows up, the film really kicks into gear, as he goes about meeting the local community, listening to their stories and superstitions, paying particular attention to those tales spoken about Jan. It is immediately apparent that Probus is an intelligent man, to the point that during conversations with Jan himself, you can tell that he understands the science behind the miller's methods. However, agreeing with this science would minimise the power of the church and God, Himself, so Probus looks at ways to manipulate the situations to put the church into a better light, claiming it to be behind certain “miracles” as opposed to the simple science of Jan's methods. Things really come to a head, when at the height of the drought, Jan finds an underground spring which can supply the town with water once more. Vláčil positions this moment during a religious procession, to give himself the perfect visual means to show the community straying from the church towards science, as people begin to break away from the procession when they realise Jan has found water. Probus immediately seizes on the danger this could cause the church, and decides to claim that instead of this being the work of science, that Jan was actually an instrument of God, who led him to the water. From here, Probus begins to set a plan into action to discredit Jan and to give him just means to persecute the miller in the name of the church.
“The Devil's Trap” is bolstered by two magnificent, but completely different, lead performances. Miroslav Machácek is absolutely outstanding as Probus, giving this man an air of superiority and prestige. He is very still in his movements, to the point of being stiff, but exudes a power and a presence to all. As I mentioned earlier, you can tell how intelligent this man actually is, but he uses this intelligence as a means to control people on the way to totalitarianism. Meanwhile, Vítezslav Vejrazka performance as Jan is almost the complete opposite, in that he is loose in his movements, often bent over or near the ground, speaking quietly although with a knowing air. He does and says things not to gain anything out of others, but to help them, but because his techniques are so foreign to the rest of his community, they do not trust what he has to say, which is ironic as he only has their best interests at heart. There is a softness in Vejrazka performance, which gives Jan a lovable quality which would be obvious to see if the locals could get past their prejudices. I think both of these performances are truly stellar, and what makes “The Devil's Trap” so successful and powerful an experience to sit through. The scenes where both Vejrazka and Machácek share the screen together are the highlights of the film because whilst there is no doubt a respect between these two men, there is also an increased sense of suspense each time they both meet. The tone of these scenes are not outwardly menacing either, but you can feel the tension between them, to the point that you know that by the end of the film, these men will end up coming head to head with a more serious outcome.
As I mentioned above, whilst the visual styling of “The Devil's Trap” are not as grand as “Marketa Lazarová”, they are no less impressive. Gone are the widescreen compositions, instead Vláčil and his cinematographer Rudolf Milic have shot “The Devil's Trap” in 1:37 “square” ratio, although Vláčil uses a number of interesting visual techniques to tell his story. There is a very impressive, and repeated shot, of the camera gliding towards the front door of the mill which is used whenever someone is entering the mill in a violent manner. Vláčil also uses a split-diopter in a number of scenes to great effect. When I watched “Marketa Lazarová” last week, I thought I saw some split-diopter shots in that film too, but then decided that it was probably the large depth of focus on that film that caused two different planes in the shot to be in focus at the same time, but there was no doubt to the technique being used here in “The Devil's Trap”, which makes me think my initial impression on “Marketa Lazarová” was actually correct. The high contrast images of the later film are also missing, with this film focusing more on the grey scale of it's images this time around, with Vláčil also relying on a lot on close-ups, to the point that some of his compositions reminded of an Ingmar Bergman film. Like “Marketa Lazarová” though, Vláčil does an amazing job of creating a fully lived-in world. Once again, through the use of realistic props and costume design, there is a reality present within “The Devil's Trap” that makes you believe that what you are seeing onscreen actually occurred, rather than a group of actors playing dress-ups.
Briefly, I should mention that once again Zdenek Liska's very unusual score for the film is both brilliant and very memorable, and really sets the mood and tension of “The Devil's Trap”. He incorporates the foley of birdsong, horses hooves and even the sound of the workers working the wheat fields, into his music to create a soundscape that is beautiful and unnerving in equal measure. Liska's collaborations with František Vláčil are always something special, and it is a shame that they aren't spoken about together like the way we speak about Hitchcock and Herrmann, or Leone and Morricone.
Overall, I think “The Devil's Trap” is an excellent film that holds up over repeated viewings. While on a much smaller scale to “Marketa Lazarová”, you cannot help but think that that film could not have been made without Vláčil having made “The Devil's Trap” first. It is a simple tale told exceedingly well, beautifully shot without feeling the need to be overly flashy, and the film is bolstered by two brilliant lead performances from Vítezslav Vejrazka and Miroslav Machácek who play the two key roles of the miller and the priest, respectively. I love this film, and wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of Czech cinema, and think it is a great film for newcomers to the cinema of František Vláčil to start their journey on.
4 Stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment