František Vláčil’s film rhapsody Marketa Lazarová (1967) is remembered by many people. Former actress and diplomat Magda Vášáryová also played in his work. Vláčilová’s Marketa Lazarová belongs to the most important works of world cinematography in the genre of historical film. In 1998, Czech film critics and publicists chose it as the most important title in the century-long history of cinematography.
“I was 16 years old, they chose me because I had my famous long blond hair and 48 kilos with a height of 168 cm, so I also had those big eyes” Magda Vášáryová recalled her first acting experience.
Vášáryová emphasized that Marketa Lazarová is not a finished film. “Vláčil no longer received the money to film the royal part, although the film lasts almost three hours, but it should have been longer. The royal image was supposed to reveal the atmosphere in which the story from the 13th century took place.” she added to the film, which according to most film critics is the best Czechoslovak film.
At the same time, it was the most expensive film of the 60s. It cost 12 million crowns and the actors had to endure mud, winter and cold on their own skin in order to fit into the medieval conditions. For the young Magda Vášáryová, filming Marketa Lazarová was a traumatic experience.
“When I finished filming, I swore to myself that I would never film again in my life. Then for almost half a year, everyone persuaded me to film Krotká,” added the former actress, who originally wanted to study mathematics. Adaptation of the novella of the Russian classic Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky’s Meek, in which Magda Vášáryová starred alongside Ctibor Filčík, won the Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo IFF.
“It was in 1968 and I was no longer allowed there. Mr. Barabáš decided to leave Czechoslovakia. And since the screenwriter František Pavlíček also emigrated, both films went into the safe and nobody saw them for 20 years, they disappeared from the face of the earth. I was kicked out of the university and the only place I could work was the theater,” described the former actress and diplomat.
