''The Valley of the Bees'' () is a 1968 Czechoslovak historical drama film directed by

František Vláčil František Vláčil (19 February 1924 – 27 January 1999) was a Czech film director, painter, and graphic artist. From 1945 to 1950, he studied aesthetics and art history at Masaryk University in Brno. Later, he worked in various groups an ...

. The film follows a young man Ondřej who's sent to join the Teutonic order by his father. When he flees the order and returns home, his friend Armin is determined to bring him back.

Plot

The film is set in the 13th century. The lord of Vlkov marries much younger Lenora. His son Ondřej gives live

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s to Lenora as a wedding gift, which enrages his father who almost kills him. He prays for the boy to survive. He promises to God that he will give Ondřej to the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

if he survives. Ondřej is healed and sent to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, where he joins the Teutonic Order. He befriends Armin who becomes his mentor and protector. Armin participated in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

and is a fanatic who is devoted to God. Knight Rotgier tries to leave the order and escapes. Ondřej, Armin and other members chase him. He is found by Ondřej and tries to convince Ondřej to leave the order. Ondřej hesitates to arrest him but declines. Rotgier injures him and steals his horse. Rotgier is eventually captured and executed for attacking Ondřej. Ondřej is punished by penitence for his weakness. Ondřej decides to run away. Armin decides to track him down. Armin travels to

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

where he hears about Ondřej from

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

burners who wanted to steal his sword. Armin joins them and when they surprise Ondřej, he attacks the one who wanted to steal his sword which makes the other charcoal burners attack him. But Armin draws his sword and kills or scares them away saving Ondřej's life. Ondřej's sword has been broken in the fight and Armin forces him to go with him. Later, near a brook when Armin bends over to drink, Ondřej hits him with a stone which causes Armin to fall unconscious and Ondřej escapes. Ondřej returns home only to find out his father is dead. He takes care of his father's business, but feels remorse about what he did to Armin. Ondřej falls in love with Lenora and convinces a local priest to marry them. When they are getting married, Armin shows up. Ondřej invites him to the wedding but tension between them runs out. Ondřej convinces Armin to spend the night in Vlkov. During the night, Armin gets to Lenora's chambers and murders her. He gets caught and Ondřej decides to execute him in a similar manner as Rotgier was killed. Armin begs Ondřej to return to the order before his death. The film concludes with Ondřej's return to Teutonic Order.

Cast

Petr Čepek Petr Čepek (16 September 1940 – 20 September 1994) was a Czechs, Czech actor. He was among the founders of The Drama Club theatre in Prague, where he played from 1965 until his death. He also had dozens of film roles, and he won the Czech Lion ...

as Ondřej *

Jan Kačer Jan Kačer (3 October 1936 – 24 May 2024) was a Czech actor and theatrical director. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1960 onwards. Life and career Kačer studied theatrical directing at DAMU. He was an actor and a director in The D ...

as Armin von Heide *

Věra Galatíková Věra Galatíková (19 August 1938 – 21 December 2007) was a Czech Republic, Czech actress. She acted in Pardubice following her studies at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Galatíková then joined The Drama Club (Prague), The ...

as Lenora *

Zdeněk Kryzánek Zdeněk is a Czech male given name derived from the Latin name Sidonius. contested the relation with the Latin name, and an alternative etymology is a diminutive of Zdeslav.Jan Svoboda, Staročeská osobní jména se základem sd , sdě-, :Onom ...

as Lord of Vlkov *

Miroslav Macháček Miroslav Macháček (May 8, 1922 – February 17, 1991) was a Czech theatre director and actor. Life and career Macháček was born in Nymburk. His father was a car painter and a custodian of (and sometimes actor and director in) the theater in ...

as Brown Friar *

Josef Somr Josef Somr (14 April 1934 – 16 October 2022) was a Czech actor. He was noted for starring in the Oscar-winning 1966 film '' Closely Watched Trains'', as well as in '' The Joke''. Early life Somr was born in Vracov, Czechoslovakia, on 14 Ap ...

as Rotgier *

Václav Kotva Václav Kotva (20 January 1922 – 3 November 2004) was a Czech actor. Teaching career After graduation in the 1950s Kotva became a teacher. As a practising Christian, Kotva was regarded as politically suspect and potentially disloyal by the Czec ...

as Farmer

Production

The film was produced after Vláčil's previous film ''

Marketa Lazarová ''Marketa Lazarová'' is a 1967 Czechoslovak New Wave Epic film, epic period drama film directed by František Vláčil. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Marketa Lazarová (novel), Marketa Lazarová'' (1931) by Vladislav Vančura. Set in the mi ...

''. Marketa was very expensive and it was decided to make another film set in

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

so the sets and costumes could be re-used. However by the time production started the sets from Marketa Lazarová were already destroyed. The screenplay was written by Vláčil and

Vladimír Körner Vladimír Körner (born 12 October 1939 in Prostějov) accessed 11 February 2009 is a Czech novelist and screenwriter. His novels were also adapted into screenplays for about 20 films. Partial filmography *''The Valley of the Bees'' (1968) *''A ...

. Körner was doing research for his novel ''Písečná kosa'' about

Prussian uprisings The Prussian uprisings were two major and three smaller uprisings by the Old Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights that took place in the 13th century during the Prussian Crusade. The crusading military order, supp ...

when he was contacted by Vláčil. They quickly wrote the screenplay and the film immediately went into production. Körner released Valley of the Bees as a novel in 1975. The film was eventually shot at Kuklov monastery ruins near Brloh. The Teutonic order scenes were shot at Czech castles

Karlštejn Karlštejn Castle (; ) is a castle in the Czech Republic. It is a large Gothic architecture, Gothic castle founded in 1348 by King Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as ...

and

Rabí Rabí () is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known for ruins of the Rabí Castle, one of the biggest castles in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is ...

and Polish castles Malborg and

Lidzbark Warmiński Lidzbark Warmiński (; , ), often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County. Lidzbark Warmiński was once the capital of Warmia and fo ...

. Theodor Pištěk designed the costumes for the film. Vláčil was inspired by historical movies of

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

and

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

was originally supposed to play both Armin and Ondřej. It proved to be technically impossible so Kačer suggested

for the role of Ondřej. The director demanded that ascetic knight Armin needs to be slim, so Kačer was forced to lose 11 kilograms for the role. The film was shot from July to October 1967. Post-production ended in December 1967. The final budget was 4 379 000 Kčs.

Release

Theatrical release

The film had a premiere on 17 May 1968 at Kino U Hradeb in Prague. During its theatrical run it only managed to attract 350,000 viewers. The film was re-released in theatres in 1980.

Home video

The film was released on DVD in 2007 by Bonton in the Czech Republic. A Second Run DVD with English subtitles was released in 2010.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Many felt that it didn't reach the qualities of ''Marketa Lazarová'', which premiered just 4 months earlier. Gustav Francl criticized the casting Jan Kačer, who he felt didn't fit in the role of Armin. The film had better reviews in foreign press and today it is considered one of Vláčil's best works.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallley of the Bees 1968 films 1960s historical drama films 1960s Czech-language films Czech historical drama films Czechoslovak drama films Films directed by František Vláčil Films set in the Middle Ages Films scored by Zdeněk Liška