Valérie au pays des merveilles

It's remarkable that something like this was made at a time of already solidifying normalisation, when many of the new wave filmmakers were already banned. This is a difficult film to grasp, unclassifiable by genre, something between horror and dark fairytale, a poetic narrative that can't be taken with reason, rather just felt. But even more than Jireš's bold approach to the viewer (a kind of "here you have it and deal with it as you wish"), I appreciate the work of the artist Ester Krumbachová, who did a great job and many of her visual compositions are unforgettable. For many viewers, the result is a hard-to-digest cinematic experiment, which I quite enjoyed for its otherness, but which was a tough nut to crack in places. Of course, it's good to know that pedophiles wear a necklace made of animal teeth :o) (04/01/2015)

Can I like a film with line: "Valery, my father is a polecat!"? I don’t think so. (16/06/2010)

The poetic horror Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - a filmed poem by Vítězslav Nezval - is, from a formal perspective, one of the most interesting films in Czechoslovak cinematography and has found a relatively small but steady group of fans around the world, albeit due to its aesthetic exclusivity. Jireš managed to create a unique atmosphere of mystery, with the help of set designer Ester Krumbachová, resulting in a visually unique spectacle. Furthermore, the selection of the main actress was fortunate, as Jaroslava Schallerová, despite not being an actress, was able to lend her character exceptional fragility and the charm of a girl entering puberty and beginning to perceive her femininity. Slightly erotically sensual, dreamlike, and fantastical. Overall impression: 95%. The film is certainly not suitable for horror fans who expect a terrifying and bloody spectacle. (17/06/2006)