Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (film)

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Valerie a týden divů
Directed by Jaromil Jireš
Produced by Jirí Becka
Written by Vitezslav Nezval (novel)
Jaromil Jireš (screenplay)
Ester Krumbachová (screenplay)
Jirí Musil (dialogue)
Starring Jaroslava Schallerová
Helena Anýzová
Karel Engel
Jan Klusák
Petr Kopriva
Music by Lubos Fiser
Jan Klusák
Distributed by Janus Films (US release)
Release date(s) 1970
1974 (US release)
Running time 77 min.
Language Czech
IMDb profile
This article is about the 1970 film. For the 1932 novel, see Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů) is a 1970 Czech film directed by Jaromil Jireš and based on the novel of the same name by Vítězslav Nezval.

The 1970 film adaptation of Valerie a týden divů, was filmed in 1969 starring the then 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast of Helena Anýzová, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, Petr Kopriva, among others. It was filmed in the Czech town of Slavonice and surrounding areas. Oneiric and ethereal in essence, the film portrays the heroine as living in a disorienting dream, seduced by priests, vampires, men and women alike.

Sound is used in very inventive ways in this film, from the alerting pling-plongs heard which alerts Valerie when she finds her earrings to the cacophonous tick-tocks of the odd spinning cogwheels in the barn. Intense, supersaturated colors and unusual compositions also create an otherworldly effect reminiscent of the Symbolist art movement.


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[edit] DVD

In January 2004 the film became available commercially in the US on the Facets Video label. In June of the same year, the film was released on DVD in the UK by Redemption Films Ltd. In 2006 the film was officially released in the Czech Republic by label CÈV/Bonton. All three releases present the film in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1, but the print quality varies between them. Unlike the Facets and Redemption releases, the CÈV/Bonton DVD is not presented with hardcoded English subtitles, but with optional Czech subtitles. The CÈV/Banton release also contains a photo gallery, interviews with Jaroslava Schallerová, Jan Klusák, and Pavel Taussig, filmographies of the various players, as well as production & distribution notes.

[edit] Soundtrack

The film soundtrack, featuring music composed by Luboš Fišer, was released for the first time by Finders Keepers Records in December of 2006. Available both on CD and LP, the booklet reveals previously unseen images, international poster designs, as well as notes by Andy Votel, Professor Peter Hames and Trish Keenan from the band Broadcast.

[edit] Influence

Many writers have cited similarities between the film and the work of English writer Angela Carter, who had seen the film during its release in England. Angela's screenplay for The Company of Wolves (adapted, in collaboration with the film's director Neil Jordan, from Carter's short stories) bears a direct or indirect influence. A May 2005 Jireš retrospective film series at Riverside Studios would, in fact, pair the two films together.

The English band Broadcast released a tribute song, "Valerie" on their 2003 album Haha Sound.

In 2006 members of Espers, Fern Night, Fursaxa and other musicians formed the Valerie Project. The group performs original compositions in unison with the film.

In the early 80's A Scottish band called "Valerie and the Week of Wonders" was formed by Gerard M Burns (who went on to be one of Scotland's most successful artists), Brian McFie (went on to join The Big Dish), Ewan McFie and Grag Kane (who formed Hue and Cry with his brother). They named the band after finding the movie title in a book of world films.

A song about the film was written and recorded by UK psychedelic / acid folk band Earthling Society on their 4th Album 'Beauty and the Beast' (4zero records 2008).

[edit] External links