In the time of Count er-Reformati on, a miller and his son come under inve stigation by a priest of t he In quisition, when rumors spread that their prosper ity comes from wo rking wit h the Dev il. The Devil's T rap is a film directed by František Vláil, based o n a novel by Alfréd Technik, ad apted by František A. Dvorák and Miloš Kratochvíl. It was the first of thr ee histor ical dramas that Vláil made during the Czech New Wave (technicall y he isn't r eally a part of th e New Wave, however thes e films were m ade during the same era of arti stic freed om), preceding his more wel l known Marketa Lazarová (1967) and Valley of the Bees (1968). Set in the late 16th Century during the Catholic Reformati on, i n the Moravian Karst, situated i n what is now the Eastern Czec h Republic, it te lls t he tale of a miller (V ítezslav Vejr azka), and his so n Jan (Vít Olmer), who come under suspicion and are investigated by a Jes uit priest of the Inquisit ion (Mir oslav Macháchek), when rumors of witchcraft are spread by the local regent (Cestmír Randa ), who is jealous of the miller's prosperity and degree of respect among the local populac e. As expec ted from Vláil , this f ilm is a stunning expe rienc e al l the way th rough. Fr om the openi ng shot, an ominous manipulatio n of pe rspective with a close up of a man gled fi gure of Chri st dominati ng the foreground a gainst a tin y figure in black walking a long the horizon , to the b reathtaki ng co nfro ntati onal finale insid e the vast stalact ite filled Karst caverns, it is a wond erful disp lay of visua l maste ry. Maybe not quite as impres sive a s Marketa Lazarová, but stil l full of astonishing imagery. As seen fro m unique an gles and d istinct p oints of view which highlight th e director's remarkable sense of a wareness o f framing , motion, and positi oning on the emotion al and dr amatic tone of the scene. The most me morable being a repeated shot wh ere the camera is suspended and launched wi th speed through the air towards the miller's door. Th e story he re is a s imple one and I would say more ac cessible than h is later works. With a conventional structure e mphasized as m uch by it s plot and cha racters, th an by its expres sion istic cinem atography or authent ic historic al det ail. The eve nts play out without much surprise, an d there i s a str ong underl ying, almos t supernatural, mysterious asp ect t hat is left unresolved, in fact bare ly e xplored, whi ch is slightly d isap pointin g, but only because it's s o fascinatin g that I wish there was more . Acting is great al l arou nd. Particularly the villains Miroslav Macháchek a s the p riest, casting a siniste r and impos ing sha dow wherever he goes, and Cestmír R anda as the weasel like regent behind all the persec ution. While Vít Olmer brings a charismatic leading man presence in his rol e as the miller's son Jan, in love with the lovely o rphan girl Martina (Karla Chadimová), who becomes a dang erous objec t of rivalry between Jan an d other young men of th e village. The film also features the evocativ e music of Zdenk Liška (perhaps the most prolif ic composer of the Cze ch New Wave). In this his second of eleven collaborations with Vláil, his compo sitions are used sparingly, bu t to great effect, compli menting b ut never overpowe ring a scene . The best exam ple of whic h can be hea rd i n an ama zingly shot celebr atio n and dance sequence at the e nd of the secon d act. The Devil 's Trap m ight not be a masterpiece, but it is stil l a strong effort, wit h a fascinating straight forward story and a glo rious hist orical se tting captured beautif ully by Vláil's unmistakable visu al prow ess. A fine wo rk that would als o be the pe rfect star ter plate to prepa re yourself for t he ch allenging feast of Marketa Lazarová or The Valley of the Bees. It even has an easy to digest running tim e. It's therefore puzzling wh y this gem remains largely overlooked and ignore
精彩剧情/对白：“何况，意姐儿是宁家的血脉，身上既然流着宁家的血液，自然要肩 负起宁家的责任来。以前意姐儿没有那样的能力，若是认她回 来，只会让她陷入困境。如今意姐儿有能力了，我们这才动了这个心 思，主要也是因为现在的意姐儿，即便回来，也不会让自己有危险的。”
“清子乃是本郡主的姐 妹，嫌她身 份不够？我们清子家还嫌你们李家身份 不够呢！若不是李虎诚意的来求， 清子家又怎 会答应你们这件事情 。六品的宁远将军，很是尊贵了呢？若是要选，有本郡主做媒，就是 本郡主的兄弟们都选的，怎么 你们家六品的将军还不够格了
“父亲在答应二皇子的提亲时，便与多意商量过了，想要告老还乡了，如今已经成亲了，父亲的辞官 文书应该也早就递上 去了。父亲虽然早年乃是探 花郎，但这些年下 来，他也深知自己在 官场并没有什么成就，也正是怕有皇子妃这样 的人，让他去拿本来自己没有能力拿的东西，所以才早早打算辞官。即便我日后 是皇子妃，父亲却 不想因为我的关系，就霍乱 永恒皇朝的官场。”
“不管怎么，也是我们阴府的客人，送一下 也是应该的嘛，我们阴府素来是以礼仪为上的府邸，这点细节还是要 做到来的。再了，如今金家 这样的情况，这位金阳少爷若是走在路 上别人欺负了怎么办，这不 好吧？再者了，如今金家人被那么多人盯着，这金 阳少爷来了我们阴府，合 作也没有谈成，万一别人误会了什么？ ”
“这世上理想化的爱情并不多见，我们大部分人都是不完美的凡夫俗 子，从朱大哥的人品和条件来看，是完全 值得托付的，而贝蓓 是个好姑娘 ，我希望她余生无忧有人爱，不管怎么说，至少得让 他们说明白，不能像这样稀 里糊涂的。”
