Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (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
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“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”  — Lewis Carroll, 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.