Cinema
Wild Lilies
Ľalie poľné
Elo Havetta · 1972
Synopsis
In the aftermath of the First World War, former soldiers, maimed or uprooted, wander the Slovak countryside, from fair to pilgrimage and from procession to procession. Among them, Matej Hejgeš, a clarinet player from a wealthy family of millers, dreams of a home without managing to settle, and for a time shares the life of the widow Paula, while Krujbel, a former seminarian turned itinerant orator, preaches freedom. Each hesitates between the road without ties and the need for roots.
Context
Vincent Šikula drew the screenplay from the chapters “Žobráci” of his short story Nebýva na každom vŕšku hostinec, published in 1966. Jozef Šimončič's cinematography, sped up at moments, tints the black and white blue for the past, brownish green for the old photographs and red for love, and Zdeněk Liška's music blends church songs, fairground tunes and military marches. Well received in Venice in 1972, the film was condemned by the studio management and shelved after its premiere. It was not honoured until 1990, with the posthumous Vančura Prize for its author and a camera prize for Šimončič.
Who it is for
Eighty minutes in tinted black and white; actors mixed with non-professionals, and tableaux rather than a plot.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as a requiem for the Czechoslovak New Wave, it was only truly discovered after the rehabilitation of its director.