Valerie a týden divu)Directed by Jaromil Jires
Written by Jaromil Jires, Ester Krumbachova, and Jiri Musil from a novel by Viteslav Nezval
1970/Czechoslovakia
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
They Shoot Zombies Don’t They – 1000 Greatest Horror Films
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.” — Alice in Wonderland
Once upon a time in the Czech countryside a thirteen-year-old girl named Valerie (the gorgeous Jaroslava Schallerova) is standing on the brink of womanhood. In slumber, her pubescent dreams and nightmares work through her anxieties and hopes.
And so we get kind of a stew of scenes of sex and death; pain and pleasure; magic and religion; innocence and evil and on and on. These are all painted by some of the most beautiful camerawork you ever will see.
I probably would have gotten way more out of the story of this film if I were more familiar with Czechoslovak folklore. But this movie does not so much tell a story as it creates a complete detailed fantasy world. There are images drawn from horror stories and macabre art throughout but don’t come in looking to be scared. It’s all much too beautiful for that. Recommended.
“Recommended.”……OK I’ll reluctantly add this one which looks too arty maybe.
Thanks.
Save it for a day when you feel like some eye candy. It is pretty darn arty, but not pretentious if you know what I mean.
A strange and beautiful little movie. And yes, it’s arty but in a good way.
I thought so too. This kind of thing can so easily go wrong but I thought it was done so very well.