: A quasi-medieval, 19th-century village that feels like a disorienting hallucination.
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On its surface, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders follows a thirteen-year-old girl named Valerie, played by Jaroslava Schallerová. She lives in a timeless, pastoral 19th-century village. The entire plot unfurls over the course of seven days.
The adults in Valerie’s life morph constantly. Her strict grandmother shifts into a blood-sucking vampire. A local missionary, Gracián, oscillates between a pious savior and a predatory monster. Her alleged father alternates between a supportive figure and a literal weasel-faced beast.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů ) is a surrealist masterpiece that blends Gothic horror, dark fantasy, and the coming-of-age genre . Originally a by Vítězslav Nezval, it is most famous today as a 1970 film directed by Jaromil Jireš, a landmark of the Czechoslovak New Wave . Core Premise & Narrative
There are coming-of-age stories, and then there is Valerie and Her Week of Wonders ( Valerie a týden divů ). Released in 1970 and directed by Jaromil Jireš, this Czechoslovak New Wave film is less a straightforward narrative and more a waking dream — or nightmare — painted in soft focus, silver light, and dripping with forbidden fruit.