Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divu)
by Jaromil Jires
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DVD details
Actor: Helena Anýzová, Jan Klusák, Jaroslava Schallerová, Jirí Prymek, Petr KoprivaDirector: Jaromil Jires
Brand: Facets Multimedia
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Czech (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 77 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Facets
DVD Reviews of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divu)
DVD Review: Edited for American Sensitivities?
Summary: 3 Stars
If you bought a 500 page book with pages missing here and there for a total of 75 pages, you probably would have a hard time following the story. That seemed to be the case with the U.S. version of this movie. I am now set up to be able to watch movies from any region whether NTSC or PAL, and this is one of the first ones I bought from Amazon UK. They listed an 85 minute version; when I ordered it, I received a copy with a different cover and it was only 73 minutes. [The NY Times Movie database also lists the movie at 85 minutes.] If this ratio was accurate, that means that nearly 15% of the movie had been cut to make the 73 minute version. The longest I can find anyone else showing the movie is 77 minutes, and that from several different sources, which would make the U.S. version a version with about 5% cut out. When Amazon UK checked into it further, they found that the 85 minute DVD listing was in error, and without my asking, refunded my money.
Both my wife and I noticed several times when there were obvious cuts in 'Valorie,' such as where two lines of subtitles were on the screen less than 1/2 second. Cutting movies for the U.S. market is fairly common with European movies. The most massive cuts I've seen so far are with 'Crusade: A March Through Time' where the Netherlands version is 138 minutes, the German version is 125 minutes and the U.S. version is only 100 minutes!
My best judgment now is that 'Valorie' in its theatrical run was 85 minutes. Since it was a movie from a Communist country, Czechoslovakia, it wasn't preserved in a proper manner for the twenty-plus years it would take for the country to be freed. Therefore, when it was able to be made into VHS or DVDs, eight minutes were too far deterioted to be used. Four more mintues were questionable, and might have been used in some versions. This was pared down, because of questionable quality, to make the 73 minute DVD that now seems to be the final version. Therefore, it would seem reasonable that many viewers would find the movie chopped up and confusing since it appears that about 15% has been lost from the theatrical version.
To comment on the movie itself, I would say that if you are a person who remembers your dreams and likes to think about them when awake, you'll find this movie familiar material, and you'll probably like it. If you don't remember your dreams, or ignore them because they seem so nonsensical, you probably won't like the movie.
I might add one more thought. If you order regularly from Amazon.com, you should have no trouble ordering movies from their U.K branch. In fact, I live less than 120 miles from Amazon.com world headquarters and I received the DVDs from England faster than from the U.S. Amazon! Just remember if you do order from Europe you need to be able to watch Region 2 DVDs.
Description of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divu)
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