Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

This exquisite and amazing film from 1970 belongs to that group of surrealist Czechoslovakian films such as those of Juraj Herz or Jan Švankmajer. Beautiful, erotic, dreamlike, enigmatic, disturbing… Valerie is a “coming of age” story like no other, and perfectly captures the fear, curiosity and pleasures of a teenage girl’s sexual awakening. It has a unique mix of darkness and lightness, terror and wonder, as well as a poetical and almost experimental narration that never goes where you think it will. It is one of the most lyrical and sensual films I have seen, with every single frame vibrating with energy and creativity.

CS, 1970, 73 min.; cz / en sub