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Upon hearing the title Valerie and Her Week of
Wonders, one might assume that they are in store for a
delicious straight-forward 70's sexual romp along the lines
of Emmanuelle or Rochelle Rochelle (Insert game show buzzer
here). Wrong, dead wrong. But dead wrong in a mighty fine
way, for Valerie is a smashing 70's success at combining the
elements of a grotesque fairy tale, horror flick and sensual
romp. All of these elements combined formulate a cinematic
tale that is going to please and stimulate just as many as
its gonna piss off to no end, ahhhhh - such is the magic of
cin-e-ma! Bravo!
The story of Valerie and her s'posed "week of wonders" is a
very difficult one to dissect in a single paragraph. Told in
a most non-linear of fashions, the gist of it all has to do
with a young woman, named Valerie (that's the easy part).
Valerie is given a pair of earrings that seem to retain some
sort of magical power. The earrings allow Valerie to see the
world around her as it really is. Full of greed, corruption
and enough sexual deviance to make any early 70's filmgoer's
head do a complete 360.
That's not all though folks. Turns out that Valerie's
village is swarming with the undead and she's promptly
introduced to a bizarre world of horror and sexual
atrocities by her youth stealing grandmother and a creepy
priest that would make any catholic switch to Judaism in a
heartbeat, welcome aboard! Once again, we're presented with
these odd aesthetics in a non-linear, dreamlike fashion,
sure to be appreciated by some, condemned by others.
There's a lot to like about Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
including the lavish sets, costumes and scenery. The film
has a stupendous visual sense that would certainly cause
even the most seasoned film geek to wince. Aesthetically,
this film has got it goin' on (for lack of a better term)
and then some. But, beyond all of these reasons, the true
standout for succumbing to Valerie is the films attitude
towards the subject matter at hand. In attempting to pull a
film like this off, it's easy to be lazy and to come across
as pretentious or holier than thou, while Valerie manages to
escape the cliché and stand on her own.
Blending elements of horror, fantasy and eroticism,
Valerie's story is told in a dreamlike, whimsical fashion.
When first presented with the new world around her,
Valerie's first reaction is that of wonder and the curiosity
to explore, even if she's forced to watch a woman being
brutally whipped by the most beefcake-iest of oiled up
grease-monkeys. Valerie easily transitions her attitude when
needed and even scoffs at her accusers when she's tied to a
stake - in suspicion of being a witch. It's not long before
Valerie's what the fuck attitude takes hold when she
realizes that she might as well go with the flow - when
there's an inkling of a chance that she may be trapped in a
dream, but perhaps it's a dream that one will never awaken.
Presented on DVD from Facets Home Video, Valerie and Her
Week of Wonders is a mixed blessing. Presented in Czech with
English subtitles, I'm sorry to say that the English subs
are non-removable. Going even further, Valerie appears to
have been culled from a video source for this release.
Still, presented full frame (It's hard to notice and
cropping, framing looks accurate) Valerie looks pretty good
here all things considered. There is some slight print
damage, colors are a bit muted, and there is a slight video
haze (black levels are a bit low as a result of this). The
mono Czech audio sounds fine, with really no evidence of
distortion or background noise.
The only extra is a still of a cartoon maze based on the
flick. While the cover boasts the fact that there is "a
richly informative booklet" included, it was nowhere to be
found with my copy of the flick. Until Valerie is given the
complete digital overhaul, this release is easily
recommendable. Spend a week with Valerie, you won't be
disappointed.