Directed by František Vláčil • 1962 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Vítězslav Vejražka, Miroslav Macháček, Čestmír Řanda
The first in a trilogy of historical epics by director František Vláčil (followed by the renowned MARKETA LAZAROVÁ and THE VALLEY OF THE BEES), THE DEVIL’S TRAP unfolds in sixteenth-century Bohemia, where a successful miller (Vítězslav Vejražka) sees his life shattered when he is accused of being in league with Satan by a jealous regent and a fanatical priest. Setting haunting images to a powerful score by composer Zdeněk Liška, Vláčil fashions a potent reflection on the eternal conflict between faith and reason.
Up Next in Czechoslovak New Wave
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The Valley of the Bees
Directed by František Vláčil • 1968 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Petr Čepek, Jan Kačer, Věra GalatíkováThe final installment in František Vláčil’s trilogy of historical epics (directly following his most widely heralded work, MARKETA LAZAROVÁ) follows a young man (Petr Čepek) in thirteenth-century...
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Adelheid
Directed by František Vláčil • 1970 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Petr Čepek, Emma Černá, Jan VostrčilOne of director František Vláčil’s most renowned works, this searing romantic tragedy considers questions of national trauma through a powerful human love story. In the aftermath of World War II, f...
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Four Murders Are Enough, Darling
Directed by Oldřich Lipský • 1971 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Lubomír Lipský, Jiřina Bohdalová, Iva JanžurováInfused with an anarchic cartoon energy, this irresistibly silly, almost Dadaist black comedy traces the absurdities that arise when a mild-mannered schoolteacher named George Camel (Lubom...
