Tono Stano presents

“I chose Marketa Lazarová because, in my view, it totally and utterly fulfils the criteria for an outstanding work of art, even with its minor imperfections. I first saw it when I was a boy and it really had an impact on me; it influenced me and helped me understand certain contexts in my work. This film continues to fascinate me, also for the fact that, from the very beginning, I instinctively stopped perceiving the story as an essential element. I immerse myself in it and feast my eyes on all its subtleties, on the cruelties, the mire, and, above all, on the majesty of it all. I often think about this film when I’m not watching it; it perfectly captures our contemporary world. And that’s chiefly thanks to Vláčil, whose genius was kissed by God.”

This wide-ranging fresco, set in the early Middle Ages, is both a unique reconstruction of a distant epoch and an ecstatic poem. The expressive modernist work, capitalizing on the film achievements of the 1960s, is a singular accomplishment in Czech and world cinema.