Review of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) by Edward K — 14 Jan 2013
Jaromil Jires' film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is based upon Vítezslav Nezval's surrealist novel of the same name. The film seems to closely follow the novel based on readers' reviews of the novel and from those reviews it appears that the film better captures the essence of the imagery than does the novel which most readers felt lacked any prosaic quality.
The film is a semi-erotic romp through a fairytale nightmare mixed with not very subtle Christian symbolism. It is a unique portrayal of the beauty and wonder inherent in mystery and its conflict with the perversion of mystery.
Unfortunately there is too much of the visual without the support of convincing narrative from the characters to hold the viewer's interest for very long. Surrealism attempts to startle the viewer into seeing reality from a different perspective and by doing so recognize hidden truths but it seems to have lost its power or at least lost its power on film.
The deadening of our sensitivities by brutal shock technique inherent in many of today's films may simply overwhelm any attempt to touch the intellect and soul using surrealism's gentler approach.
This review of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) was written by Edward K on 14 Jan 2013.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders has generally received positive reviews.
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