Valley Of The Bees

Catching up with our mate Frantisek, it's 1968. Here's he's made his film about religion.
Deal with the visuals; a few bits of fun with contrast, blinding overexposure, a bit of underexposure on the castle. Atmosheric, not much continuity. He has toned down the huge faces, but still likes his close ups. He does not so much dwell on the landscapes, this film was shot in Acadmey ration unlike the squarer formats of the others, it makes little difference. He's coming to like nature, but it's a slow process.
In this film Frantisek does well to tease out the complex thematics of the metaphors of dogs and bees that swarm, that sting and kill in order. We wonder whether the castle life is really any different, in that it mirrors these enviroments and that of the knights. Questions of how to follow a religion are posed, we have sense of a genuine internal conflict even if we are not particularly let in.
The narrative follows intermittently, sometimes we are unsure which perspective we are really getting. This keeps us off balance, but also leads to a film that rather meanders.
Not the best, neither the worst, Vlacil. Occassionally a little tiresome, it nevertheless feels quite worthwhile. A bit of a 'meh' piece.