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Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (Subtitled) (DVD)

Jaroslava Schallerová (Actor), Helena Anýzová (Actor), Jaromil Jires (Director) | Rated: Suitable for 18 years and over | Format: DVD
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anýzová, Petr Kopriva, Jirí Prymek, Jan Klusák
  • Directors: Jaromil Jires
  • Format: PAL
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Redemption Films
  • DVD Release Date: 14 Jun 2004
  • Run Time: 72 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0002CH7BQ
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 81,397 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

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Reviews

Product Description

An extraordinary film about a young girl's coming of age where, upon receipt of a pair of earrings, her village is revealed to her as a place of vampires and witches. Stunningly photographed and with some truly wonderful images, 'Valerie' is a shining example of how stylish European cinema's take on horror could be when it mixed its fairytale traditions with contemporary cinematography. Marvelous!

Review

A collection of dream adventures spurred by guiltless and polysexual eroticism. Virtually every shot is a knockout. --Jonathan Rosenbaum

Its overall effect is stunning. --Time Out

Surreal and, at times, achingly beautiful. --All Movie Guide

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful nightmare 28 Aug 2008
By rigo yangtse
Format:DVD
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.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Valerie confusion? 14 April 2010
By A. S. Potts
Format:DVD
It is very confusing, even annoying, when Amazon 'bundle' reviews.

These reviews may be for the same film, but often they are for different DVD productions from different countries. These DVD productions can vary greatly depending on the quality of the source material.

So, firstly, let me state that my comments relate to the Second Run version in the UK.
I have two points.
1] The print source is pristine and looks absolutely magnificent, so if you read anything to the contrary, it's from a different DVD label.

2] The film is not cut, it is entire and complete. It's amazing that confusion, or should I say a lack of insight, over the narrative structure can lead to several paragraphs of wholly unfounded, ignorant and elaborate assertions about the films length, it's fate and supposed damage.

So make sure you are reading a review for the actual DVD version that you are thinking of buying.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An awakening in a dream 17 Dec 2009
By Mr. Jonathon T. Beckett TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
I'm not at all familiar with Czechoslovakian new wave cinema, let alone films from that country, so this was a real awakening on my part as well as Valerie in the film. It's a wonderful film, more like a painting come to life than just a film. Imagine Nosferatu if directed by Jodorowsky and you're only halfway there. The plot as such concerns the sexual awakenings in 13 year old Valerie, as she experiences life through a waking dream, various authority figures and family members encounter Valerie, either threatening her, seducing her or appearing as vampires. Her only salvation appears to be a young man called Eagle, who could either be a dashing hero, or Valerie's brother, who tells her she is in possesion of magical earrings, that will protect her from danger. Whilst the film does leave the viewer with the question of how much if any of the film was Valerie's reality rather than her dream, it is a magical, very surreal piece of cinema, with lush visuals and a wonderful musical score, and is altogether an astounding film, that will leave the viewer happy and content. 5 out of 5.
A wonderful DVD too, with a booklet and nice extras.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Valerie and her week of wonders 12 Nov 2010
By eligius
Format:DVD
I purchased this film on the strength of still images and reviews I found on line and I have to say, it was not quite what I expected, especially from my experience of other Czech films. That said, I cannot say I am disappointed with having now seen the film. Though perhaps a little dated in the visual effects and screen play, it has all the feel of the European children's films the BBC showed usually on a Wednesday evening in the 70s. For me, though, the film is still visually stunning, and I enjoyed the dreamlike twists in the story line. Definitely a more interesting take on the vampire story, the surrealist symbolism strangely enough giving a realism that the current slick Americanised pap has lost. And for those who like to take things further the history of the film and those who made it are of interest as a follow up.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Alice meets Nosferatu 25 May 2010
By Rossettian
Format:DVD
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders opens to the haunting sound of a flute, the white screen with purple titles punctuated by fragmented images of Valerie heralding the beginning of a 70 minute journey through a world of vampires, lecherous priests and combwebbed crypts. Adapted from the Gothic novel by the Surrealist Vitezslav Nezval (a book I highly recommend, available through Amazon) and directed by Jaromil Jires, the film is a visual delight from start to finish. It plays like a cross between Alice in Wonderland, Nosferatu and Angela Carter.

Blending the surreal with the Gothic (though Jires himself wasn't a card carrying member of the Czech Surrealists), the film has the disjointed pace of a dream with sun-soaked cinematography and beautifully composed shots: hit the pause button in some places and you have a work of art. Valerie's week of wonders is essentially her sexual awakening, and the film's bizarre series of events begin when she falls asleep during her first period. In her dreams she encounters her grandmother who seeks eternal life, a vampire who feeds off chickens and a young boy with whom she falls in love with. The film is strewn with suggestive symbolism: Valerie clutching doves to her chest, blood dripping upon fresh daisies, the phallic stake to which Valerie is tied -- it's easy to see why this film may have influenced Angela Carter as a writer. The film's landscape of characters, happenings and symbols builds up to a finale set in an autumnal glade, people frolicking like figures in a Dionysian painting.

Then there's the aforementioned music by Lubos Fiser. The film's soundtrack is also available through Amazon and I also highly recommend it.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Gem - Discover This!
I'm forever searching for films that expand on my already solid appreciation of the creativity in filmmakers such as Tarkovsky, Resnais, Lynch & Fellini. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Vernon
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Within fairytale and mythology are deeper meanings, stories illustrating our quest to get through life unscathed by its tribulations and challenges. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Green Man Music
5.0 out of 5 stars Valerie is exceptional.
Before I purchased this film I had honestly never seen a film like it, and I have yet to see a film like it again. Read more
Published on 13 May 2011 by Belphoebe New
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
First of all it is not common to have a so young character play the main role in an erotic film. Nudity is not its main content but something rather scarce. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2011 by Afonso
1.0 out of 5 stars Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
I purchased this film on the strength of the reviews it got on this page. A week of wonders??? I have to say, after watching this film, I spent a week wondering, "What was THAT all... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2010 by cyberdonblue
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, surreal and dream like...
A beautiful, surreal and dream like fantasy...

Other reviews here have covered it well, but I can confirm the remastered edition looks stunning (and there are a few... Read more
Published on 15 July 2010 by numpty
5.0 out of 5 stars valerie
A surreal world brought to life that only a film made in the sixties or in this case early seventies could conceive the music is sublime and is worth the cost just for that I... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2010 by polly40
5.0 out of 5 stars ken russell in czech
An amazing kaleidoscope of symbolic imagery, beautifully shot and lit, but far too much to take on board with just one viewing, immediately reminded me of what a Czech Ken Russell... Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by dylan
4.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre but Beautiful
This has to be one of the most original films of the Czech new wave. The amazing cinematograhy and wonderful soundtrack create a dreamlike vision. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2009 by Richard Allen
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