The Valley of the Bees Blu-ray - Petr Cepek, Jan Kacer

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'The Valley of the Bees')

Directed by Frantisek Vlácil
Czechoslovakia 1968

Set in 13th-century Europe, Frantisek Vlacil’s visionary medieval epic chronicles the tale of a young boy forced to join the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Years later he abandons the Crusaders, only to be pursued by a fanatical comrade and pay a terrible price for his rejection of the Holy Order. With dazzling monochrome cinematography and vivid recreation of the period, The Valley of the Bees is a raw and haunting moral fable about the conflict between human nature and dogmatism – and just as powerful and engrossing a film as his more famous work, Marketa Lazarová.

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Cast out by his father, young Ondrej joins the Order of the Teutonic Knights, where he is raised by strict monk Armin. After years of hardship, Ondrej escapes from the Order when he is wrongly punished, and sets out for his former home. Arriving to discover his father to be dead, Armin now not only assumes control of his fathers properties, but seeks to marry his former stepmother.

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Theatrical Release: May 17th, 1968

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Review: Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:40:32.708
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,499,186,434 bytes Feature: 30,919,710,720 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio Czech 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Second Run 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,499,186,434 bytes Feature: 30,919,710,720 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • A new Projection Booth commentary with Mike White and Robert Bellissimo. • Frantisek Vlacil's acclaimed 1972 short documentary films, photographed by Frantisek Uldrich, with music by Zdenek Liska: The City in White (Mesto v bilem) (15:36) and Karlovy Vary Promenades (Karlovarske promenady) (15:14) • 24-page booklet with writing on the film by author Peter Hames. Blu-ray Release Date: September 30th, 2024 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Second Run Blu-ray (September 2024): Second Run have transferred Frantisek Vlácil's The Valley of the Bees to Blu-ray. We reviewed the Second Run PAL DVD back in 2010 HERE and have compared captures below. The 1080P is a bit heavy and dark but this may be theatrically accurate. It certainly advances over the SD with an uptick in sharpness. The muddy contrast suits the film's sfumato appearance. There are a few cue blips (see below) but I thoroughly enjoyed the HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Second Run use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Czech language. The Valley of the Bees has few aggressive moments, a body thrown over a wall, self flagellation, ocean waves etc. - what there is has modest depth. The score was by Zdenek Liska (Ikarie XB 1, The Cremator, The Shop on High Street, The White Dove, Fruit of Paradise, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen) giving a fine representation of the period - set in the 13th century. Second Run offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Second Run Blu-ray offers a new commentary by the Projection Booth Podcast with Mike White and Robert Bellissimo. They discuss Frantisek Vlácil and his poetic films, they examine the themes, characters, medieval Christianity and metaphors in The Valley of the Bees. It's an observant commentary. Included are two Frantisek Vlacil's short documentary films from 1972, photographed by Frantisek Uldrich, with music by Zdenek Liska: The City in White (Mesto v bilem) (15:36) and Karlovy Vary Promenades (Karlovarske promenady.) Each run 1/4 hour. The package has a 24-page booklet with writing on the film by author Peter Hames (The Czechoslovak New Wave.)

Frantisek Vlácil's The Valley of the Bees deals with the Teutonic Order - a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society. The film has themes of religious fanaticism, the invasiveness of the order's doctrine of belief, and one character courage in seeking escape from it. In a nutshell, it's about the struggle to lead a secular life from one of total religious devotion. Vláčil was voted the greatest Czech director of all time by a poll of Czech film critics in 1998. He was inspired by historical movies of Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring) and Robert Bresson (Lancelot of the Lake.) While The Valley of the Bees was rejected on initial release it is now regarded as one of the director's greatest works. The Second Run Blu-ray has advanced on their SD with the vastly improved a/v transfer, a new commentary, two shorts from the director and it has liner notes. This is strongly recommended.