Le piège du diable

There is an atmospheric pre-credit sequence with the miller and his barn almost destroyed and then we have the Bergman like priest and the horrible Regent playing chess. The fire of the mill was in the sixteen hundreds during the Thirty Years War and was the Swedish with Czechoslovakia, or then Bohemia but this is the 18th century. The priest from the Inquisition is to investigate the action of the miller and his son. Jan and his lover, Martina are splendid but of course the cinematography that is wonderful. So what with the lovers and the problem of the drought we have the priest but he should have looked out for the Devil's trap.

This is the first instalment of three historical pictures, the other two of which are far more famous: Valley of the Bees and Marketa Lazarová, both of which have DVD editions on both sides of the Atlantic. One might expect given the lack of take up that it was a halting first step, but this is not the case. It's perhaps even a lot more coherent and intellectually substantial than those other two movies.

The initial events of the movie are set in Czechoslovakia (then Bohemia and part of the Holy Roman Empire) during the period of the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, from 1630-1635. During this period armies attempted to live off the land, which explains the raiding that happens in the film, and had the same effect as locusts. This was a time of widespread desolation and disruption in Europe where there was plague and famine in addition to the warfare. The money spent on the wars by the continental European powers drained coffers substantially, which may also account for the rundown state of the Regent's castle in the movie and his lack of ornamentation.

The main characters of the story are the Regent, a straightforward dullard who cares only about his supremacy over the local serfs and making sure no-one rocks the boat, and is a little annoyed at the concept of freemen; the Miller, a taciturn yet extremely intelligent freeman who is suspected of being in league with the devil; the miller's son; and the new priest.

The film is an allegory regarding science, religion and secular power (represented by the Miller, the Priest, and the Regent) that doesn't quite end as expected. I think the message is neither to pursue science to its ultimate conclusion (the atom bomb), nor power to its ultimate conculsion (corruption), nor God (the Tower of Babel). There's also enough mystery and suspense so that you shouldn't get bored, and a lot of experimental camera work.

I think it's a really well made production with effective plotting including a neat variation on Chekhov's Gun and rope-a-dope tactics, brilliant eerie atmospherics, great camera work, and a particularly spellbinding performance from Frantisek Kovárík as the Priest.

It's a film that you could quite reasonably watch over and again. Whilst I love all three of the Vlácil history films, I think they suit different moods. The Devil's Trap is beautifully rational, Marketa is a glorious mystic vision, and Valley of the Bees closer to a straight up historical film that is more of a downer than the other two.