☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Valerie
and her Week of Wonders (1970) – J. Jires
Come explore the erotic and
phantasmagorical dream world of a young girl who has just had her first
period! Surreal and hypnotic, this Czech
film is full of the beautiful and the weird – and presumably much
symbolism. Valerie lives with her
grandmother (who may or may not be a vampire, having pledged her soul to the
weasel for a return to youth, temporarily not eternally). Said weasel may actually be her father (in
varying human form, gruesome or handsome) and the father of her
suitor/protector (named Eagle). Later, she is ravished by a scary bearded
priest who dies but then rises from his coffin unharmed. Valerie takes it all in stride. Perhaps she knows this is a dream or perhaps
she is confident in the powers of the magic earrings that Eagle has given her
for protection. Now if I’ve made this
sound like an actual plot, please forgive me – what we have here is a string of
pictures and moments that gently wash over the viewer with no respect at all
for narrative conventions. Choose the
right time.
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