Marketa Lazarova - The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)

In its native land, František Vláčil's Marketa Lazarová has been hailed as the greatest Czech film ever made; for many viewers, it will be a revelation. Based on a novel by Vladislav Vančura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rival medieval clans is a fierce, epic, and meticulously designed evocation of the clashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, love and violence. Vláčil's approach was to re-create the textures and mentalities of a long-ago way of life, rather than to make a conventional historical drama, and the result is dazzling. With its inventive widescreen cinematography, editing, and sound design, Marketa Lazarová is an experimental action film.

• Czechoslovakia
• 159 minutes
• Black and White
• 2.35:1
• Czech
• Spine #661
• 1967

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

- New, restored 4K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New interviews with actors Magda Vášáryová, Ivan Palúch, and Vlastimil Harapes and costume designer Theodor Pištěk
- Marketa Lazarová: Back to Střevíčkov, a new documentary on the making of the film
- New video essay on director František Vláčil by film scholar Peter Hames
- English subtitles
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum