The Lyrical Coming-of-Age Horror of ‘Valerie and Her Week of Wonders’
A forgotten masterpiece that combines beauty, horror, sexual emancipation, and social critique
The 1970 Czech film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is an experiment in the visual poetry of cinema, combining the narrative structure of traditional fairytales with Gothic aesthetic and psychoanalytical symbolism to tell a coming-of-age story of sexual awakening.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
The film begins with Valerie, a 13-year-old girl living in the Czech countryside with her grandmother, Elsa. She is a well-mannered girl who always recites her prayers before a meal, yet is also playful and free-spirited.
The tone of the film is oneiric and surrealistic, which makes it hard to identify a linear narrative, but the main storyline begins after Valerie gets her first period and finds herself beset by a monstrous, vampiric creature known as the Constable who has a disturbingly sexual obsession with the girl. At the same time, a group of Christian missionaries visits Valerie’s town, but, far from offering the girl any protection from the evil Constable, one of them sneaks into Valerie’s room at night and unceremoniously attempts to rape her.
