The Pagan Queen (2010)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

best movie i've ever seen.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The film is based on a "true legend" and ranks on the historical scale of King Arthur. When the chieftain dies, the settlement is left to his three daughters. Libuse (Winter Ave Zoli) the youngest rules. She is a seer and a bit of a necromancer. Her one sister is a healer, while the other a priestess. She gets involved with a farmer and things to to pot. This was the part of ancient Prague that speaks English with a slight accent and the women pluck their eyebrows, wear make-up, and shave their legs. The film lacks the heavy fantasy elements of other legends which makes it interesting. The fight scenes were a joke. Premysl was a transgender fight before Andy Kaufman. Guide: Sex and nudity. No swearing.

This is a movie my brother likes. I decided to sit down and watch this knowing full well of it's reputation here on IMDb. I have absolutely no idea of the Czech legend it was based on so I am not going to bring that up as a complaint.The plot is that a king dies and one of his three daughters ends up being queen. This one can also see the future (Why is this never explained?). She whores herself (There really is no better word for it) at a peasant who saved her life and gets him to become king once a war starts. Completely forgetting about the war (??????????????) the king starts ruling the country with an iron fist (Which when we see the only settings being caves, forests and peasant houses - yes even the castle looks exactly the same as a farm).So the plot is pretty disjointed (but it's not like Monster A-Go Go where you ask yourself if there was a plot to begin with) to the extent that I didn't really know what these people were doing or what they were aiming for. The King's goal (See! I don't even remember his name!) seems clear enough, grow as a country and crush his opposition. That was all I got for the movie in terms of goals.The next point. What were the character's names? I know Libuse but... That's all. I didn't know what any other person's name was. The 2 minute exposition at the beginning might have said them but of all the things we don't have to rely on THAT.Another thing the villain of this piece has to be one of the weakest villains in cinema. I mean, worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space. I know I can't take that back but it's true the villain in Plan 9 From Outer Space was stronger.Now onto the positives. The Acting was decent from some people, even if they are also forgettable. The Cinematography was not bad (even if they have about 4 locations). There was a small hint that they could have been trying something with the premise.So if you want to sit down and watch a historical drama with some kind of love relationship... watch the three hour cut of Arn instead. That had a plot, character development, DEVELOPMENT, good focus and when they changed it, they did it right. Go watch that instead.

I am writing this especially as the movie has mostly positive reviews in here and I'd like to put some counterpart to them. To make things clear, I hated the movie. Well, "hate" might be too a strong word. It is so ridiculous you can't really hate it. If I overlook the fact that it is based on Czech mythology, it is a really bad movie. The idea is OK - people should take care of nature and try to live in harmony with it. The whole thing with women being one with natural order and men being mean, arrogant machos is rather far- fetched...but OK, the director has his ideas and I'm not taking them from him. But so many other thing drag it down. Props are...mostly not there. The story barely makes sense. Actors are mostly Czech and their English sounds verrry bad. (By the way, the two actors from Libuse's entourage are known for having lived in English-speaking countries before the Velvet Revolution, so one would expect them to sound at least a little native. Well, one would be wrong.) The dialogues are ridiculous and acting beyond anything describable in human language. And I could go on. The problem is, I cannot overlook the fact that this piece of...art...is based upon Czech mythology. I don't know what people imagine when they read "based upon". Yes, the movie has some common points with the Czech stories. Like names of the characters. And some parts of plot-lines. I just don't understand why the creators did't take parts of the Czech myths they liked and didn't use them without ever mentioning the source. Well, I do. No one would care that way. This gives the movie mythological flavour and somewhat justifies how awfully bad it is. Why is Vlasta lesbian? Or transgender or whatever. Libuse never tricks her men like she does in the movie, when she purposefully sends them to Premysl (she's a seer so she doesn't need to...), it actually turns her into some sex-driven, crazy puppet-master. Libuse should be dead when the war between men and women starts (the point of this story is completely different). And nor she nor any of her sisters is supposed to be a FAIRY. I mean what the hell? I don't want to seem like I am writing this out of spite. But I really believe this movie is an insult of storytelling, the art of cinema and anyone acquainted with the original mythology...actually, maybe of the whole Czech nation.

I saw this film at the Estepona Fantastic Film Festival where it won an award. It is a pleasantly poetic and low key indie drama set in the dark ages which is very unusual for that kind of genre. It's like Jim Jarmusch or David Lynch directing a historic film. The film feels very real but is also stylized and has a lot of contemporary themes and elements. There is a lesbian love story in it as well as ideas about the destruction of nature and the end of the old Pagan religions who were one with nature. The camera work and the music is extremely beautiful. The acting is good, mostly from the female cast who clearly own the movie. Lea Mornar as the lesbian warrior girl steals the show but the lead, Winter Ave Zoli is very good as well. If you have an opportunity watch this film, it's edgy and very different than any film I know about the dark ages.