The Little Shepherd Boy from the Valley
Starring: Vlastimil Drbal, Josef Kemr, Libuše Geprtová, Jiří Schmitzer, Ilja Prachař
Writer: Ladislav Fuks, Jiří Fried, Václav Erben, Ladislav Nezdařil, Jiří Křižan
March 1, 1984
6.5 / 10
František Vláčil
Filmové studio Barrandov
Overview
In 1947 by the Beskid mountains, the traces of war still linger, destroyed tanks dispersed throughout the farmland creating an eerie backdrop. This film follows a ten-year-old boy and the strange visions he encounters, his world of fantasy exacerbated with ample time, space, and a lack of companionship or guidance. We see the adults that influence and dominate his life, for better or for worse. Surreal and packed with an excellent study of human emotions and motivations compounded by their rural, isolated vacuum of a town, this is a timeless and severely underrated film from a brilliant Czech director.