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Adelheid (remastered version) [DVD]

Rated:
NR
Format: DVD
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
IMDb7.4/10.0
$19.00
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Genre Foreign
Format PAL
Language Czech
Playback Region 2 : This will not play on most DVD players sold in the U.S., U.S. Territories, Canada, and Bermuda. See other DVD options under “Other Formats & Versions”. Learn more about DVD region specifications here

Product Description

Subtitles English, Czech. In the aftermath of World War II, a former Czech soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family. He falls in love with the daughter, who is now a maid, and is forced to confront the stress between his love and his conscience when he discovers her sheltering her German-soldier brother. / Audio: Czech / Subtitles: Czech English / Czech version DVD PAL - Please check your DVD player compatibility.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ PAL
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Czech
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071H9VWMD
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ Czech Republic
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Viking
5.0 out of 5 stars I LIKE IT
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
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I purchased this movie on AMAZON PRIME "movies". Interested people can read on AMAZON or google what this movie is all about. WW2 ended. German population was gathered and waiting for a transport Czech lands to Germany. Meantime able-bodied were forced to work. Conflicts between German and Czech population.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars a powerful and important film
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2020
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What is so special about this film is how it evokes the history of an era through the experiences of one character. Bravo!
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Top reviews from other countries

A. S. Potts
5.0 out of 5 stars The searing trauma of annihilated lives
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2010
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I stumbled upon the extraordinary Marketa Lazarova, then waited expectantly for the release of Valley of the Bees and was not disappointed and now, finally, my copy of Adelheid has arrived. What a journey it's been, discovering this directors work, courtesy of the excellent revivals by Second Run. A journey from the widescreen of the former to the academy ratio frame that befits this subjects chamber piece sensibility. Vlacil's ability to render a particular atmosphere can be witnessed in the previous films but in Adelheid it reaches its zenith, to devastating affect, in these intimate settings rather than on the vast canvas of say, Marketa Lazarova.

Vlacil's film making moves from the expansive landscapes and visceral mediaeval experience of Marketa Lazarova [including the disorientating overlapping time structure], through The Valley of The Bees, another perfectly executed mediaeval narrative, [in which the two protagonists suffer a dichotomy of purpose], to the aftermath of WWII that is the setting of Adelheid. It is as if the sum total of that wars human carnage and despair is imploded into the almost imperceptible interactions between Viktor and Adelheid, within the confines of a large country house.

He is a returning airman, assigned to the German speaking Sudetenland to make an inventory of a house, she is the daughter of the Nazi official who ran his reign of terror from this family home. We can only imagine what either one of them has witnessed. He needs to shut himself off from the world, he sets his bed up in the smallest room, he bars the doors and closes the shutters; shutters and doors that she, on the other-hand seems compelled to open. And in time it is an open door that heralds the devastating endgame. She speaks no Czech she says, but this is something we later have reason to doubt, as we have reason to doubt her feelings toward him in the denouement. So the dichotomy of their position is established. Gradually, these two dislocated souls tentatively establish a rudimentary relationship, while the narrative elements, effortlessly controlled by Vlacil and co-writer Korner, seep into our consciousness.

Viktor observes Adelheid working at her chores. The frisson of pleasure he derives from a glimpse of her midriff as she chops wood or as he voyeuristically observes the curve of her backside is the first sign of the implacable facade of his face quietly beginning to crumble. As he allows his emotions to return as a welcome conscious function, Adelheid and her emotions remain more ambiguous. However, she exerts her sexual control over him, as expressed when from the position of scrubbing the floor, she looks at his bare feet and slowly her gaze traces up his legs to the tilt of his hip where he leans nonchalantly in a doorway. In this largely wordless narrative it is a moment of astonishing cinematic clarity and a shot charged with more visceral erotic force than Viktor's somewhat naive glances at her. The observation of the minutiae of their daily lives through the selection of framing, composition, shot duration and of sound achieves an utterly compelling rendering of atmosphere and the disclosure of suppressed emotions.

The performances are excellent. When in the denouement Emma Cerna playing Adelheid throws a single glance at Viktor, when he declares his feelings for her, it encompasses her sudden realisation of what it is she has lost, layered with despair, pain, fear and resignation; it is a magnificent acting achievement. Her fate lies in acceptance of what she has been, while his lies in what he has become.

I liked the quality of the colour but the film source isn't that good, but it doesn't matter, what counts is the searing trauma of these annihilated lives that comes seeping through every frame of this film.
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Hans Wigman
4.0 out of 5 stars After war: can a soldier really return home?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2023
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I've watched quite a few films by Vlacil - all great (but none better than Marketa Lazarova). This film is a sombre affair: The ironically named Viktor, a soldier with stomach ulcers, returns from the war to his homeland with the explicit wish 'to go home'. But home is elusive and he'll never reach it. His new job is to sort out a sprawling mansion which first belonged to a Jewish family and then, when the Germans took over, the haunt of a Nazi of senior rank. The latter is caught and faces the death penalty. Taciturn Viktor likes his task in the mansion because it gives him time to be on his own. There are clear signs of paranoia: he shutters every door he can find. He finds Adelheid in the house, daughter of the Nazi officer now tasked with cleaning her former home. Viktor falls in love with the equally taciturn woman who knows the tables have turned and who just wants to survive. Gradually they grow closer and Viktor is able to persuade the local police officer to let her stay with him. But it turns out Adelheid has been hiding her brother, a soldier who'd been fighting in Russia - which leads to a bitter end. Viktor is seen walking away in a snow covered landscape, more alone than ever.

I thought the leads were very good. Not much is said by either Viktor or Adelheid, but this silence is a crucial part of the film. The film's themes are poignant: should daughters carry the guilt of their fathers? Is it possible to find a home or even just a sense of well-being after being embroiled in war? What is the face of justice when peace has been restored? Is love possible when one is victorious and one subjugated? I've seen this film described as a story about 'doomed lovers' but this, I think, is not true. Viktor really desires Adelheid and projects his longing for 'home' onto her but does she truly desire him back? In any case, her actions when her brother and Viktor are fighting to the death at the very least show that Viktor has warmed her heart.

The film is very dark in general which underlines the depressing atmosphere but it is detrimental to the visual quality - it is miles away from the B&W clarity and gorgeous images of say 'Marketa'. A well-considered film with a unique storyline which makes for pondering afterwards. Three-and-a-half stars for me.
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MarkusG
5.0 out of 5 stars Adelheid
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2010
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This is the third film by Frantisek Vlácil I have seen, and it is just as good as the others (also available on Second Run). But while 'Marketa Lazarova' and 'Valley of the Bees' were set in the middle ages, 'Adelheid' (1970) takes place just after the Second World War. And it is in color.

As in his earlier movies, 'Adelheid' begins with medieval style choirs in the background, but this time there is also classical music. The plot: a lieutenant returns from the war to live stationed in a Czech village. Everything seems to be more or less chaotic. He is given a big house which was used by a prominent nazist named Heinemann, now in jail waiting to be hanged. There he meets Adelheid, Heinemanns daughter, now relegated to a live in a work camp and to help with cleaning, scrubbing the floors and chopping wood. Fascinated by and attracted to the enigmatic, german-speaking Adelheid, the lieutenant lets her stay in the house as a maid. But who is she, what does whe want? And what does the lieutenant want?

The film is shot mostly inside the big, shadowy and sometimes spooky house, and with many close-ups of faces and eyes. Adelheid is certainly not a funny or happy movie, but rather low-key in mood and style with flashes of intensity. While the plot involves WW2 and nazism, this is only the background and I didn't find the film to be a comment on this: instead the characters and their relations are in focus.

The picture is not perfect, with somewhat washed out colors and contrast. But I didn't mind this at all, it is certainly good enough for a 40 year old film. I watched it on a projector without problems. Recommended.
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Yoselovich Boris
3.0 out of 5 stars Weak pleasure
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2013
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This movie is OK for a one time viewing when you don't have anything better to watch. Among Second Run editions I find F.Vlacil's films to be the least interesting (and his position as a film-maker highly overated). The same can be said about his Marketa Lazarova and The Valley of the Bees which I didn't find to be very good too. All the best Eastern Europe film directors have been discovered already and those like F.Vlacil are just mediocre fillers to make more money from the devoted cinema fans. If you want a trully great Eastern Europe cinematography, take Andrei Tarkovsky,Isztwan Szabo, A.Wajda, K. Kieslowsky, K.Zannusi, E.Kusturica or Bela Tarr.
2 people found this helpful
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Donnie Zuo
4.0 out of 5 stars Intoxicating and poignant chamber piece
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2015
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The director's "Marketa Lazarova" and "The Valley of the Bees" shocked me as middle age art-house epics like nothing I've seen before, and both immediately entered my favorite list, so I think it's understandable that I found this film a little bit underwhelming upon first viewing. But three years later, with all my preconceived expectations gone, I re-watched it and found it intoxicating and poignant. Routinely, the film is visually stunning, but one has to understand the historical post-WII context for the deceptively simple story to become rich and rewarding -- the mistreatment of ethnic Germans, the border line adjustments, soldiers serving duty overseas... It's about the individual attempt to connect despite ethnic and political differences, and ultimately, about loneliness. Luckily, the article accompanying the DVD is quite informative. To me, the film doesn't reach the same height as the other two titles, but is nonetheless an outstanding work, even better considering that it's largely set in a mansion.
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