The Devil's Trap is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

The Devil's Trap (1962)DramaRating 53/100

The first in a trilogy of historical epics by director František Vláčil (followed by the renowned MARKETA LAZAROVÁ and THE VALLEY OF THE BEES), THE DEVIL’S TRAP unfolds in sixteenth-century Bohemia, where a successful miller (Vítězslav Vejražka) sees his life shattered when he is accused of being in league with Satan by a jealous regent and a fanatical priest. Setting haunting images to a powerful score by composer Zdeněk Liška, Vláčil fashions a potent reflection on the eternal conflict between faith and reason.

Cast: Vítězslav Vejražka, Miroslav Macháček, Čestmír Řanda, Vlastimil Hašek, Vít Olmer, Karla Chadimová, František Kovářík

Director: František Vláčil