Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Remastered edition) [1970] - DVD (Jaroslava Schallerova, Josef Abrham, Petr Kopriva, Karel Engel, Helena Anyzova - Dir: Jaromil Jires)

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Customer Reviews of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Remastered edition) [1970]

Andres C. Salama
Buenos Aires, Argentina
5th September 2008

Powerful surrealist film with some dubious political undertones
This 1970 film from Czechoslovakia is a surrealistic movie that deals with a teenage girl bizarre dreams after reaching puberty. The film is very imaginative, has very strong visuals, is submerged in lovely central European folklore and is shot in luscious color. It certainly represents a break with the realist (if critical) tradition of other czech films made during those years (one film it invites comparison in its rejection of realism is Chytilova's Daisies). A somewhat minor quibble is that the constant mockery of the Catholic church at a time when it was persecuted by the Communist regime of Husak seems a bit opportunistic (one wonders if, without this, such a film would have been approved at all).

rigo yangtse
UK
28th August 2008

Beautiful nightmare
This gorgeous masterpiece from Czechoslovakia - a haunting, dream-like fable of a girls awakening to womanhood - is one of the most striking, beautiful and disturbing films i've ever seen. It's a film i've often heard about and seen referenced, but never saw - it's a shame because this movie is amazing. Like a nightmareish Grimm's fairytale with added naughtiness.
And Lubis Fiscer's perfect music is some of the most beautiful ever committed to film.

grimner
DeKalb, Illinois USA
12th March 2008

surrealist film from the czech new wave
One of the great films of the 20th century, and unavailable for the last 30 years, but now finally released.
I remember seeing "Valerie" for the first time in 1974. I had no idea what was going on, But it was one of the most beautiful films I'd ever seen, so I relaxed and watched the flow of images. I've seen it many times since (thanks to a bootleg copy).

The key to its understanding is that she is asleep from the start of the film to the end,
and what we are seeing are her dreams, a unique approach to say the least. A good analysis of the film can be found on pages 229-236, The Czechoslovak New Wave by Peter Hames, U. of California Press, 1985.

The end of "Valerie" is, to me, profoundly touching. During most of the film, she freely interacts with the characters of her dreams, but by the end she has achieved a kind of detached enlightenment; though they call to her, Valerie refuses to interact with them anymore. And so at the end, in that Autumnal landscape, as her dreams dance around her, she climbs into her bed one last time......Sleep tight sweet Valerie, don't let the bedbugs bite....."Fear is only a dream / so dream little one dream."

hj
London
16th November 2005

Eccentric Cult Classic
Eccentric Cult Classic
I suppose “Valerie” (1970) was a belated product of the Czech New Wave but it comes after the Prague Spring / Russian invasion. It was probably too surreal for the commissars & censors to bother with. In the West it became a cult favourite in the days when people smoked illicit substances at late night screenings in indie cinemas.
Valerie is the young heroine, she has her first period but fortunately she’s got these magic ear-rings, however everyone in her rustic village seems to be lusting with nature or turning into vampires. I hope that makes the plot clear. It must be something to do with that favourite 60s theme: “a young girl’s sexual awakening.” It’s quite effective in conjuring a sense of anxious adolescent reverie in which everything familiar becomes erotic or strange or both at the same time.
The film is structured by extreme montage, which is all over the place & makes Nic Roeg look moderate. It’s beautifully shot and extremely picturesque. This DVD transfer is from a scratchy print but maybe that adds to the charm / ambience. The DVD is put out by a company “Redemption” specializing in “gothic erotic horror.” No extras other than trailers for other “Redemption” films, judging by which they seem to be aiming at a Marilyn Manson market. I can’t imagine either goths or S/M types (or horror fans) finding much of interest in “Valerie”. However the excellent pop band Broadcast did base their “Ha Ha Sound” album around this film, so it clearly does appeal to some contemporary cult music/film fans.

Louise Stanley
Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom
28th April 2005

Czech it out!
This film makes sense in a very strange kind of a way - a bit like a dream does. It isn't very intelligible as a story, but it seems to suck you in nonetheless, the repetitive themes in the music evidently keyed to moods and characters so much so that I would label it a musical. The rhythm of the Czech language also adds to the mysteriousness and "music" of the characters. As far as I can tell Valerie is trying to find her (dead?) mother, assisted by her pasty Babicka (grandmother) and boyfriend (?) Orlik, or Eagle. Her tribulations involve arraignment as a witch and near death at the stake, and the film, although made under an atheist communist regime cracking down on the avant-garde after the events of the 1968 "Prague Spring", is pregnant with religious - or anti-religious? - imagery.

Not one for fans of straightforward action or stories, but a wonderful way of relaxing and being sucked into ones own dreams for an hour or two. Essential also for expressionist artists trying to create a new painting, as I was definitely influenced in my own work by watching this film.