Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Remastered edition) [1970]

Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews

Starring: ~ Jaroslava Schallerova, Josef Abrham Petr Kopriva Karel Engel Helena Anyzova
List Price: £12.99
Our Price: £10.98
You Save: £2.01 (15%)

Availability:
Usually dispatched within 6 to 10 days

View more information about Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Remastered edition) [1970] at Amazon

	See larger photo
	Email this DVD to a friend

Product Details:

Studio: Second Run DVD

Region: 0

Number of Discs: 1

Format: PAL,

Rating:

Sales Rank: 5228

Look for similar DVDs by genre:

	DVD & VHS > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy & Futuristic
	Video > DVD & VHS > Categories > Horror
	DVD & VHS > Refinements > Format (binding_browse-bin) > DVD

Customers who bought this item also bought:

Judex/Nuits Rouges [Masters of Cinema] [1963]
~ Edith Scob, Jacques Champreux Channing Pollock Francine Berge

Vampyr [Masters of Cinema] [1932]
~ Julian West, Maurice Schutz Rena Mandel Sybille Schmitz

Customer Reviews:

A Slightly Edited Dream Movie (04 January 2009)
If you bought a 500 page book with pages missing here and there for a total of 75 pages, you probably would have a hard time following the story. That seemed to be the case with the U.S. version of this movie. I am now set up to be able to watch movies from any region whether NTSC or PAL, and this is one of the first ones I bought from Amazon UK. [I live about 120 miles from Amazon.com world headquarters in Washington State. It was listed an 85 minute version; when I ordered it, I received a copy with a different cover and it was only 73 minutes. If this ratio was accurate, that means that nearly 15% of the movie had been cut to make the 73 minute version. The longest I can find anyone else showing the movie is 77 minutes, and that from several different sources, which would make this U.K. version cut by about 5%. When Amazon UK checked into it further, they found that the 85 minute listing was in error, and without my asking, refunded my money.

Both my wife and I noticed several times when there were obvious cuts in 'Valorie,' such as where two lines of subtitles were on the screen less than 1/2 second. Cutting movies for the U.S. market is fairly common with European movies. The most massive cuts I've seen so far are with 'Crusade: A March Through Time' where the Netherlands version is 138 minutes, the German version is 125 minutes and the U.S. version is only 100 minutes! My best judgment now is that the U.K. issue of 'Valorie' is cut by only four minutes.

To comment on the movie itself, I would say that if you are a person who remembers your dreams and likes to think about them when awake, you'll find this movie familiar material, and you'll probably like it. If you don't remember your dreams, or ignore them because they seem so nonsensical, you probably won't like the movie.

Powerful surrealist film with some dubious political undertones (05 September 2008)
This 1970 film from Czechoslovakia is a surrealistic movie that deals with a teenage girl bizarre dreams after reaching puberty. The film is very imaginative, has very strong visuals, is submerged in lovely central European folklore and is shot in luscious color. It certainly represents a break with the realist (if critical) tradition of other czech films made during those years (one film it invites comparison in its rejection of realism is Chytilova's Daisies). A somewhat minor quibble is that the constant mockery of the Catholic church at a time when it was persecuted by the Communist regime of Husak seems a bit opportunistic (one wonders if, without this, such a film would have been approved at all).

Beautiful nightmare (28 August 2008)
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.

surrealist film from the czech new wave (12 March 2008)
One of the great films of the 20th century, and unavailable for the last 30 years, but now finally released.
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."

Eccentric Cult Classic (16 November 2005)
Eccentric Cult Classic
I suppose “Valerie” (1970) was a belated product of the Czech New Wave but it comes after the Prague Spring / Russian invasion. It was probably too surreal for the commissars & censors to bother with. In the West it became a cult favourite in the days when people smoked illicit substances at late night screenings in indie cinemas.
Valerie is the young heroine, she has her first period but fortunately she’s got these magic ear-rings, however everyone in her rustic village seems to be lusting with nature or turning into vampires. I hope that makes the plot clear. It must be something to do with that favourite 60s theme: “a young girl’s sexual awakening.” It’s quite effective in conjuring a sense of anxious adolescent reverie in which everything familiar becomes erotic or strange or both at the same time.
The film is structured by extreme montage, which is all over the place & makes Nic Roeg look moderate. It’s beautifully shot and extremely picturesque. This DVD transfer is from a scratchy print but maybe that adds to the charm / ambience. The DVD is put out by a company “Redemption” specializing in “gothic erotic horror.” No extras other than trailers for other “Redemption” films, judging by which they seem to be aiming at a Marilyn Manson market. I can’t imagine either goths or S/M types (or horror fans) finding much of interest in “Valerie”. However the excellent pop band Broadcast did base their “Ha Ha Sound” album around this film, so it clearly does appeal to some contemporary cult music/film fans.