Vítězslav Nezval
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Vítězslav Nezval (May 26, 1900, Biskoupky – April 6, 1958, Prague) was one of the most prolific Czech writers best known in the West for his novel Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. [1] [May 2007]
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Literary work
As a member of the avant-garde group of artists Devětsil (literally "Nine Forces," the Czech name of the Butterbur plant), he was a founding figure of the Poetism movement. His output consists of a number of poetry collections, experimental plays and novels, memoirs, essays, and translations. His best works are from the interwar period. Along with Karel Teige, Jindřich Štyrský, and Toyen, Nezval frequently traveled to Paris, engaging with the French surrealists. Forging a friendship with André Breton and Paul Eluard, he was instrumental in founding The Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia in 1934 (the first group of this kind outside France), serving as an editor of the group's journal Surrealismus.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
- Inspired by fairy-tales such as Alice in Wonderland and Little Red-Riding Hood, "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" is a surreal tale in which love, fear, sex and religion merge into one fantastic world.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů) is a 1970 Czech film directed by Jaromil Jireš and based on the novel of the same name by Vítězslav Nezval.
The 1970 film adaptation of Valerie a týden divů, was filmed in 1969 starring the then 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast of Helena Anýzovál, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, Petr Kopriva, among others. It was filmed in the Czech town of Slavonice and surrounding areas. Oneiric and ethereal in essence, the film portrays the heroine as living in a disorienting dream, seduced by priests, vampires, men and women alike.
Sound is used in very inventive ways in this film, from the alerting pling-plongs heard which alerts Valerie when she finds her earrings to the cacophonous tick-tocks of the odd spinning cogwheels in the barn. Intense, supersaturated colors and unusual compositions also create an otherworldly effect reminiscent of the Symbolist art movement.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (or Valerie a týden divů) was written in 1935 by surrealist Czech writer Vítězslav Nezval. It was made into a 1970 Czech film directed by Jaromil Jireš.
Plot introduction
With this novel, Nezval explored the gothic themes and settings of novels such as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein and Matthew Gregory Lewis' The Monk, as well as F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (based on Dracula by Bram Stoker). He took a great risk using this format, seeing as the Romantic movement was shunned by followers of the surrealist movement.
It has long been published in Czech, but has only become available in English recently thanks to Czech publishers Twisted Spoon Press. This edition features the illustrations of Kamil Lhotak that were used in the original release of the book.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The 1970 film adaptation of Valerie a týden divů, directed by Jaromil Jireš, stars the then 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie.
