The Pagan Queen
The Pagan Queen | |
---|---|
Directed by | Constantin Werner |
Screenplay by | Constantin Werner, Lance Daly |
Produced by | Constantin Werner, Maria Schram |
Starring | Winter Ave Zoli, Csaba Lucas, Lea Mornar |
Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski |
Edited by | Roberto Silvi |
Music by | Benedikt Brydern |
Production company | Amok Film |
Distributed by | Vanguard Cinema (U.S.), Atyp (Czech Republic) |
Running time | 97 Min. |
Country | Czech Republic/United States |
Language | English |
The Pagan Queen is a 2009
Plot
After her father, the great chieftain Krok (Ivo Novák) dies, the tribes of the Bohemian forests elect his youngest daughter
During her reign Libuse envisions the city of Prague at the Vltava river, starts mining in the rich Bohemian mountains and helps her farmers to fight a deadly plague. She also starts a secret affair with the charismatic ploughman Přemysl (Csaba Lucas).
When the peaceful community of farmers is under attack by raiders and split into different parties of power hungry landowners under the guidance of their plotting chieftains Domaslav (Pavel Kríz) and Vrsovec (Marek Vašut), Libuše is eventually forced into marriage by her own people. Desperate, she elects Přemysl to become her husband and king. Soon Přemysl takes over the new kingdom and rules with an iron fist, enslaving the formerly free farmers.
But Libuše's friend Vlasta, who loves her since childhood, refuses to follow the new leader and with her maiden army declares war on the men of Bohemia. After Vlasta kills Ctirad (Mirek Hrabé), a popular warrior, and blinds Domaslav, Přemysl meets Vlasta in a showdown and kills her. At the same time Libuše gives birth to his son Nezamysl.
The film ends with Libuše diving into the river Vltava which symbolizes her becoming a legend.
Cast
Role | Actor |
---|---|
Libuše | Winter Ave Zoli |
Přemysl | Csaba Lucas |
Vlasta |
Lea Mornar |
Kazi | Veronika Bellová |
Teta | Vera Filatova |
Vršovec | Marek Vašut |
Domaslav | Pavel Kříž |
Ctirad | Mirek Hrabě |
The Emissary of Vyšehrad | Daniel Brown |
Krok | Ivo Novák |
Šárka | Mirka Koštanová |
Roxhon | Marko Ingonda |
Story sources
The English language screenplay by Irish writer/director
The film recreates the
Locations
The entire film was shot on location in the Czech Republic using reconstructions of Slavic settlements for the buildings in the story.
Release history and critical reception
The film had its premiere at the October 2009 Estepona Fantastic Film Festival/Spain where it won the Silver Unicorn award for best original film music.
It was released theatrically in the Czech Republic in October 2009 by Atyp Film where it ran in movie theaters until January 2010. Since then it has been sold to over a dozen countries. It was released in Russia and the Russian speaking countries on DVD November 2009 by Lizard Trade and in the US on June 29, 2010 by Vanguard Cinema. It was released in the German-speaking countries on September 9, 2010 by Eurovideo and in Australia and New Zealand February 23, 2011 by Gryphon Entertainment.
The critical reception in the Czech Republic was very negative. Many Czech critics like
In the United States the film's reception was much better. Ian Jane from AV Maniacs called it "a nicely made picture with some beautiful camera work and strong performances. It plays around with some interesting themes quite effectively and makes for a decidedly different type of film all together"[3] and the Pagan Newswire Collective called it "a beautiful and realistic look at early medieval paganism".[4]
Music
The orchestral score for The Pagan Queen was written by German composer
2018 New version
The film was remastered with a new director's cut in 2019 and is now included in Amazon Prime and other streaming services.
References
- ^ "FFFILM: Recenze: Kněžna Libuše (The Pagan Queen) - 0%". Fffilm.fuxoft.cz. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ "Hollywood se chopil české historie. Kněžna Libuše je blondýna, bojovnice | life.ihned.cz - Film a divadlo". Kultura.ihned.cz. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ www.avmaniacs.com. "AV Maniacs, DVD Maniacs, DVD News, DVD Reviews, Movies". Avmaniacs.com. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ Cosette Paneque (September 6, 2010). "The Pagan Queen". Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2013.