Watch the film

266

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a 1970 Czech film that feels like a fairy tale dropped into a vampire dream. We follow Valerie, a girl edging into adolescence, while everything around her starts to slip: grandmother grows suspicious, priests take on a menacing air, jewelry glows with uncanny power, creatures prowl, and the village hoards too many secrets to stay polite. The film springs from a surreal novel by Vítězslav Nezval, but its making is nearly as strange as its images. Jan Němec was first attached, then removed from Barrandov after the 1968 Soviet invasion. Jaromil Jireš took over, even as his previous feature had just been banned. Perfect conditions for conjuring a tale about fear, adults, belief, and the monsters hiding behind respectable faces. Maybe that’s why the film keeps its odd power. Valerie doesn’t offer a neat, comforting rite of passage. She’s swept into a gothic ritual: white flowers, vampires, lace, bites, prayers, hypnotic music, dreamlight. For those who love fairy tales—provided they carry a whiff of cellar, incense, and the threat beneath the dress. Direct Access: Work: Valerie and Her Week of Wonders Direction: Jaromil Jireš Country / year: Tchécoslovaquie, 1970 Watch the film via the link in bio. Credits: Film: Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Jaromil Jireš Screenplay: Ester Krumbachová, Jaromil Jireš Music: Luboš Fišer Images: Filmové studio Barrandov / D.R.