Second Run Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders [Blu-ray]

I'm forever searching for films that expand on my already solid appreciation of the creativity in filmmakers such as Tarkovsky, Resnais, Lynch & Fellini. Often I'm disappointed when I think I've found something new, or fresh, and I find the world I'm seeking rarely exists. This film though, which was recommended to me, really surprised me. It is a superb and bizarre mash of cinematography and genres born out of the Czech New Wave (that I didn't even know existed). It has essences of the fairytale, vampire film, and fantasy all woven into a gothic dream that swings it's narrative in a delirious delicious mash of tones and atmospheres.The film is 1hr 15mins long, which I think is an ideal length to introduce someone unaccustomed with this sort of cinema. I find that films of this ilk can sometimes be quite lengthy, sadly putting off new audiences at a glance that may enjoy them, if they only had a tiny push to delve into parts unknown. The short length, should not be underestimated as a selling point.A great release from the Second Run DVD label, as they throw out into the market this little known gem of haunting macabre and unsettling eroticism. A film without borders or restraints that leaves you exhausted with it's beauty, pace and ideas. There's nothing else like it I've seen, and if there is I'd REALLY like to know about!

This film is just so magical and brilliant. I didn't know anything about it when I bought it and when I finished watching it, I was simply blown away by just how beautiful this film is. The soundtrack is also very very good, very dreamy. I just love how they've blended so many uses of fantasy together, I love vampires :)Amazing cinematography, every shot is colourful and vibrant and Second Run DVD have done a great job releasing this film as the image quality is very crisp and really presents the film as it should be. You get some nice extras too, including an interview with the actress who plays Valerie. Also included is a beautiful booklet with some lovely shots from the film and some extremely informative text around the background of the film - did you know that this film used to be banned?!I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves fantasy, vampires, folklore, cinematography, music... I could go on and on. But let's just say that I can guarantee that you will fall in love with this film :)

Great movie

This Czechoslovak film is described as ‘surrealist, fantasy horror’ by Wikipedia. Directed by Jaromil Jireš, it uses the coming of age of young Valerie (Jaroslava Schallerová) to display the adult world as being full of vampires, lechers and monsters.Schallerová was only 13 years old at the time of production, which throws into question – is this exploitative? My answer would be, no more than any number of modern day films. Is the use of such a young actress appropriate in such a film? Apart from the term ‘appropriate’ being flexible enough to offer all kinds of restrictions/freedoms, especially in today’s eager-to-be-offended fashions, I would say – you have to see the film to judge. Valerie apparently has a boyfriend of sorts – the seemingly older Orlik – and there are those who desire her, which is damning, but only to show how strange and depraved such characters are. Even Orlik is suspect in many ways (he is sometimes described as her brother, which further obfuscates matters), but gains our sympathies when being constantly chased and punished. Valerie remains impassive and ultimately triumphant, happy and untouched. For a film with such unreal, dreamlike parameters, ‘normal’ rules only apply in the mind of the individual.Having got all that out of the way, and whether one can justify enjoying ‘Valerie and her Week of Wonders’ without feeling murky, I have to say I savoured every minute, and its weirdness is compelling enough to require further re-watches. Visually it is wonderfully disturbing, and it is full of absurdly unsettling characters. The fact that Valerie’s grandmother is clearly a young woman in tepid ageing make-up, that the vampire changes into a weasel as opposed to a bat, and that the entire cast of characters all reappear at the end for a kind of surreal ‘curtain call’ before allowing Schallerová the final scene alone, allows the production to move into a dimension anything other than traditional - and the musical score (available to buy) is mesmerising.An acquired taste certainly, but beautiful and charming as well as uncomfortable and disturbing, this is a memorable adult fairy tale whose connotations are often left in the mind of the audience. My score is 9 out of 10.

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. It includes vampires, but the vampires alone don't make the film. The story line is continuously evolving with many changing sceneries and no dead moments, and every scene is meticulously enacted. This is a film from head to toe and a whole village with its many participants is involved.Other publishers who say that this film lasts longer than 73 minutes are most likely counting the adverts.

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 'jumps' which really DO look like cuts, though apparently aren't)Valerie will bore some 'action', 'story', 'closure' junkies to distraction (especially with all those subtitles to read! golly!).For me, it has jumped straight into my all time favorite films. XXX

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 feel its a film you will either love or hate but its a film I really cannot see ever being made again in this climate .

Valerie - Eine Woche voller WunderEin sehr interessanter Film. Einiges hielt ich für fragwürdig und ich musste nachdenken. Aber es ist schön auch mal das Gehirn einzuschalten bei einem Film und zu ermitteln, was der Film nun aussagen möchte. Die Visualisation hat mir gefallen.Wenn man bedenkt, dass der Film von 1970 ist, einfach wow - älter als meine MutterAll in all - empfehlenswert

Film visivamente bellissimo, pieno di allegorie non sempre comrpensibili, forse a causa dei tagli (pare non sia arrivata una versione integra al di fuori dell'ex Cecoslovacchia). Peccato non esista un dvd con l'audio in italiano, ma non c'è molto dialogo, ed i sottotitoli in inglese sono efficaci.

La musique a été rééditée avec soin par un petit label indépendant, "B-Music" (site : [...]) ; elle vaut aussi le détour par son orchestration baroque. Livret très sérieux, avec plusieurs photos du film et la repro de différentes affiches du film.

"And here... is our clue to the method of the adventure, if one is ever to return home.It is this: not to identify one's self with any of the figures or powers experienced." - Joseph CampbellOne of the great films of the 20th century, and unavailable for the last 30 years. A real shame. Thank you Facets for its release! And such a beautiful print (this was written before the Criterion release). I remember seeing "Valerie" for the first time in 1974. I had no idea what was going on, But it was one of the most beautiful films I'd ever seen, so I relaxed and watched the flow of images. I've seen it many times since (thanks to a bootleg copy).The key to its understanding is that she is asleep from the start of the film to the end, and what we are seeing are her dreams, a unique approach to say the least. A good analysis of the film can be found on pages 229-236, The Czechoslovak New Wave by Peter Hames, U. of California Press, 1985.The end of "Valerie" is, to me, profoundly touching. During most of the film, she freely interacts with the characters of her dreams, but by the end she has achieved a kind of detached enlightenment; though they call to her, Valerie refuses to interact with them anymore. And so at the end, in that Autumnal landscape, as her dreams dance around her, she climbs into her bed one last time......Sleep tight sweet Valerie, don't let the bedbugs bite....."Fear is only a dream / so dream little one dream."Finally, regarding the remarkably unkind comments of "Valerie" by some of the reviewers,I'll let uncle Will have the last word: "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things...."And now the soundtrack is available on CD. will wonders never cease?

Schon des öfteren bin ich über diesen Film gestolpert, konnte mich jedoch nie zu einem Kauf überwinden, u. a. auch, weil er meist extrem teuer war.Irgendwann war es dann nach Belesen über den Film soweit, dass ich ihn kennen wollte und siehe da, ich wurde sehr positiv überrascht.Oberflächlich betrachtet kann man den Film als auch versuchsweisen Softporno mit Psychoanleihen herunterkategorisieren, aber dieser Film ist so unglaublich viel mehr...Inhaltlich fühlte ich mich etwas an Neil Jordans "Zeit der Wölfe" erinnert, doch ist dieser viel naiver und einfacher als das vorliegende Werk."Valerie" ist von !1970! und weiß allein mit seiner Bilderwelt noch heute zu begeistern. Davon könnten sich einige (westliche) Filmemacher noch einiges abgucken, um mal wieder gehaltvolle und keine CGI-überfrachteten und hirnfreien Filme auf den Markt zu werfen.Hier wird generell sehr farbenfroh vorgegangen und jede Einstellung im Film sitzt. Man könnte es rein optisch nicht besser verfilmen. Sehr innnovative Kameraperspektiven ergänzen die hervorragend aufgestellten Szenen, die Ausleuchtung heller und auch dunklerer Passagen ist vorbild- und beispielhaft.Doch Optik ist glücklicherweise nicht alles.Neben der Optik bietet der Film einen Auszug aus dem Leben von Valerie, die sich im Zuge des Erwachsenwerden ihren Ängsten, Gelüsten und Gefühlen stellen muss. Die Geschichte verpackt und verschachtelt dies in bizarr anmutende Szenerien. Vom Genießen der Sonne über romantische Treffen mit einem nahestehenden Menschen, angedeutete Sexualakte mit dem Pfarrer, Enttäuschungen durch Menschen, die auf einen aufpassen sollten bis hin zu einer Orgie als klärendem Höhepunkt ist alles dabei. So kommt es, dass der "Sonnenschein" Valerie wechselnd mit hellen und eher dunkel angelegten Gestalten sympathisiert und agiert. Ihre Hin- und Hergerissenheit finde ich hier glaubhaft und verdammt gut in Szene gesetzt.Der Zuschauer grübelt einen Großteil des Films darüber, was der Film einem nun eigentlich sagen will, weil man die Botschaft eher schwer verpackt hat, aber das stört nicht. Ich mag Filme, die den Zuschauer fordern, anstatt diesen nur zu berieseln. Bzw. ist die Botschaft eigentlich nicht schwer verpackt, aber der Weg, Valerie zu folgen, ist verschlungen. dadurch kann der Zuschauer aber zu einem guten Teil nachvollziehen, wie es Valerie in ihrem Gefühlschaos ergeht.Der Film ist nur in Originalsprache zu erhalten. Untertitel lassen sich auf der abgebildeten DVD nur in englisch einschalten. Die Originalsprache ist kein Hindernis, sondern gibt dem ganzen noch einen ganz besonderen Reiz und Flair und entrückt die Geschichte der normalen, langweiligen Welt noch ein klein wenig mehr.Die Auflösung kam mir dann etwas knapp vor, nichtsdestotrotz ist der Film ein viel zu unbekanntes Meisterwerk. DAS ist der bessere Grund, wieso Leute Filme drehen und andere Leute sich diese im Kino ansehen.Danke für diese wundervolle etwas andere Reise!