Valerie and her Week of Wonders - Jaromil Jires - 1970
View attachment 1370678
View attachment 1370679
Where to start with this one? First, I'd urge anyone who loves dreamy, pagany, highly symbolic films to Czech this one out pronto. It has got to be a contender for one of the most beautiful sights ever captured on film. It's like a series of Hieronymus Bosch paintings come to life at times, particularly towards the end of the film.
What's it about? Ehm... a girl gets her first... know what, it's probably best to find out for yourself! It's different, certainly counter-cultural in today's day and age and shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's about a lot of things: the transition from childhood to womanhood; corrupt institutions and the hypocrites and cowards who use them to cloak their true beliefs and desires; death and its profound impact on all human activity but mainly concerning sexuality in this film where it's used as a stark contrast between the forces of new life and impending death; incest and androgyny; and wicked polecats that want to suck the blood out of every living creature!
It's faintly ridiculous and grotesque, deliberately so, and stuffed full of esoteric symbolism from Tarot to Pagan rites like you've probably seen in The Wicker Man and more recently Midsommar. It has a haunting soundtrack that, like the score for Picnic at Hanging Rock, perfectly compliments the ethereal and spooky nature of the film and will linger in your mind for hours and days after the film is over. It shares a heck of a lot in common with Picnic at Hanging Rock as well as The Seventh Seal in some respects. Actually, maybe you could characterise it as the feminine side of Ingmar Bergman's all-time classic The Seventh Seal.
Highly, highly recommend this cherry popper if you're in the mood for something a little different and risque. Has to go up there with the best films I've ever seen.