Barking Boxshot


Czechoslovakia, 1970
Length / Main feature: 77 minutes
Length / Special features: 69 mins
Sound / 2.0 Stereo LPCM (48khz/24-bit)
Colour
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English

Blu-Ray BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / Region ABC
RRP: £19.99


Release Date: 27 Jan 2020
SRBD 027

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With its stunning visuals and transcendent score by the great Luboš Fišer, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a potent mix of fairy tale, horror and surrealism, drawing the audience into the fantastical world inhabited by a young girl on the threshold of adulthood.

Caught between waking and dreaming, Valerie’s enchanted realm is inhabited by vampires and phantasmagorical creatures evoked in a marvellous kaleidoscope of intoxicating imagery. Haunting and poetic, Jaromil Jireš' audacious film casts a powerful spell. Recognised as one of the most enduring and influential fantasies ever made, it has become a cult classic.

Our region-free Blu-ray Special Edition features two expert audio commentaries (an all-new discussion of the film from The Projection Booth and featuring Mike White, Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan; the other with Peter Hames and Daniel Bird), a filmed introduction by Michael Brooke, and an interview with 'Valerie' herself, Jaroslava Schallerová. Our edition also includes three acclaimed short films by Jaromil Jireš: - Uncle (Strejda, 1959); the complete 21-minute version of Footprints (Stopy, 1960) – previously only available in a truncated form; and The Hall of Lost Footsteps (Sál ztracených kroků, 1960) with original colour sequences missing from previous releases - plus a 24-page booklet featuring writing on the film by Peter Hames and Joseph A Gervasi.

more about the film

Blonde Stills

Special Features

• Valerie and Her Week of Wonders presented from a brand new HD transfer of the film from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive.

• Audio commentary with Peter Hames and Daniel Bird.

• All-new Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger.

• Filmed introduction by Michael Brooke.

• Interview with actor Jaroslava Schallerová (Valerie).

• Three acclaimed short films by Jaromil Jireš:
- Uncle (Strejda, 1959 / 6 mins)
- Footprints (Stopy, 1960 / 21 mins) – full length uncut version.
- The Hall of Lost Footsteps (Sál ztracených kroků, 1960 /
12 mins) – with original colour sequences.

• 24-page booklet featuring writing by Peter Hames and Joseph A. Gervasi.

• New and improved English subtitle translation.

• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

Related Titles

Directed by Jaromil Jireš

Screenplay – Jaromil Jireš and Ester Krumbachová
Adapted from the novel by Vítězslav Nezval
Cinematography – Jan Čuřík
Art Direction – Jan Oliva
Set and Costume Design – Ester Krumbachová
Music – Luboš Fišer
Editing – Josef Valušiak
Sound – Emil Poledník

Main Cast
Jaroslava Schallerová - Valerie
Helena Anyžová - Grandmother / Elsa / Mother
['Mother' spoken by Viola Zinková /
'Elsa' spoken by Nina Divíšková]
Petr Kopřiva - Orlík [spoken by Josef Abrhám]
Jiří Prýmek - Tchoř/Constable/Weasel
Martin Wielgus -Tchoř/Father
Jan Klusák - Gracian
Alena Stojáková - Hedvika

 

Trailer





 

 

 

Appreciation

1970 Bergamo Film Festival / Winner: Grand Prix – Best Film

“It's best to strap yourself in and allow a dizzying melange of visual and sonic flights of fancy to just wash over you and consider the result after the fact. It's powered by pure sensory overload [...] This new Blu-ray edition arrives on the film's 50th anniversary, and it's definitely worth celebrating.”
David Jenkins, Little White Lies

“A collection of dream adventures, spurred by guiltless and poly-sexual eroticism. Virtually every shot is a knockout.” Jonathan Rosenbaum

“Valerie and Her Week of Wonders has transcended film, its country of origin, and everything that tethers it to a specific time and place. It is a cultural touchstone that will continue to find relevance as long as people sustain the ability to live free, love freely and dream outside all boundaries.”
Greg Weeks, Espers/The Valerie Project

“Its overall effect is stunning.” Time Out

“Surreal and, at times, achingly beautiful, ” All Movie Guide

“Once seen, Valerie is difficult to forget.” Kinoeye

“A work of both visceral immediacy and lingering allure, a uniquely influential film, one of intoxicating sensation and unconscious immersion — and one, for that matter, often recognised and referenced more than actually seen. [...] his surrealist fantasy from 1970 represents both the spiritual culmination of the Czech new wave and a brave bid for a newly liberated filmic sensibility.” Slant magazine

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