Marketa Lazarova (1967) - Frantisek Vlacil 

It took awhile but I finally got to the film considered by some to be the best film to ever come from Czechoslovakia. I cannot find the list that apparently lists it at the top, but I think we're all familiar with its reputation. This is the third Vlacil film I've seen and certainly the one with the largest reputation. His narratives have frequently been a little disjointed and confusing, but here it takes on a grandeur that is baffling for the majority of time. It takes roughly 170 minutes of the film to figure out what the hell is going on. Tense is something that seems to be of no concern here. The film goes forward and backwards, jumps ship, switches perspective in a way that can rival the most complex novels. It is a picture that transcends plot points and is much more attuned to feeling and mood. Vlacil wanted his characters to live in this world and spent nearly two years with them living in the forest fighting for survival like animals. Part of it recalls Sembene's Ceddo as a film between religions. Christianity is evoked but few heed the pious, converting many of their pagan superstitions into new stories. It's hard to even begin to explain the film where everyone seems to be evil yet occasionally good to the point were it becomes nearly impossible to root for anyone. The picture is broken into two sections and subdivided repeatedly with expository titles, which do an awful lot to help the plot of the film. The authenticity is alarming and I think this is far greater to its objective than that year's War and Peace adaptation.