Valerie and Her Week of Wonders [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Jaromil Jires Jaromil Jires

Overview

Valerie (Jaroslava Schallerová) is the young teenage girl who lives with her grandmother. She feels the first stirring of sexual awareness when a carnival parade comes to town. Eagle (Petr Kopriva) is the young man who presents her with a pair of magic earrings. Her fantasy adventures begin when she imagines she is the daughter of a bishop with a hideous visage. Her grandmother becomes a vampire. She pretends to be dead when a priest tries to rape her by swallowing one of the earrings. The line between dreams and reality is blurred in this surreal psychological fantasy.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/30/2015
UPC:	0715515148313
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:16:00
Sales rank:	10,067

Special Features

New 4k digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Three early shots by Director Jaromil Jires: Uncle (1959), Footprints (1960), and The Hall of Lost Footsteps (1960); New interview with Czechoslovak film scholar Peter Hames; Interviews from 2006 with actors Jaroslava Schallerová and Jan Klusák; Alternate 2007 psych-folk soundtrack to the film by the Valerie Project, with a new video piece on the music's origins; Plus: An essay by critic Jana Prikryl

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jaroslava Schallerová	Valerie
Jan Klusak	Priest
Helena Anyzková	Actor
Petr Kopriva	Eaglet
Jiri Prymek	Tchor-konstábl
Jaroslava Schallerova	Actor
Helena Anyzkova	Actor
Lubos Fiser	Composer

Technical Credits

Jaromil Jires

Ester Krumbachova

Jaromil Jires	Director,Screenwriter
Ester Krumbachova	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A surreal and, at times, achingly beautiful coming-of-age tale set against a backdrop of menacing pagan mysticism, director Jaromil Jires' earthy fable offers a unique portrait of a world not too far from our own in terms of collective mentality and skewed politics. Whether viewed as a political allegory or a simple cautionary fable, the film could likely succeed on either level, though Jires' damning view of organized religion shines through with distinct and unmistakable clarity no matter how the film is interpreted. From the dank interiors of the vampire-infested village's secret underground corridors to the bright sunshine that seems to permeate the celluloid in the afternoon light, Jires succeeds in creating an unsettling atmosphere that's as effective as it is unpredictable. Comfort in family, religion, and law enforcement all fades, as Valerie (Jaroslava Schallerová) confronts such menacing corruptors as a creepy, Nosferatu-like priest and the pedophilic constable and throughout everything, Jires offers his young protagonist no safety or sanctuary save for a pair of powerful magical earrings. As the menace closes in from every side (including Valerie's own household), the bleakness that would traditionally be punctuated by darkness is instead sickeningly highlighted by the soft rays of the afternoon sun -- making the threat all the more effective. The choice of Jaroslava Schallerová as the innocent but extremely aware Valerie is indeed a wise choice, as her unusual and hypnotic beauty serves to highlight the film's otherworldly aesthetic.

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan