New York Times (9 March 2007)
Reviewing this Czech New Wave oddity in The New York Times in 1974, Howard Thompson wrote that it evoked ''a pictorial music of its own.'' This weekend at Anthology Film Archives, it will gain another kind of music: a live score performed, under the name the Valerie Project, by an ensemble of Philadelphia folkies that includes Greg Weeks, Brooke Sietinsons and Helena Espvall of the band Espers. The new soundtrack will replace one of the film's better features, its score by Lubos Fiser and Jan Klusak; the band members have said that their challenge is to equal that original music, ''with which we all have fallen madly in love.'' The film that will be screening behind them (directed in 1970 by Jaromil Jires and starring the alarmingly sexy Jaroslava Schallerova, then 14) is a true period piece, a nudie fairy-tale head trip about a girl hitting puberty and having to deal with lecherous priests and her nubile vampire grandmother -- an Aquarian stew of Freud, Murnau, Hefner and the Brothers Grimm. Hit the concession stand early. MIKE HALE
New York Press
"A cult film inspires a new sound"
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders' dreamlike visuals, psychedelic sounds and odd plot twists (Incest! Vampires! Lecherous priests!) make it the very definition of a cult film. Jaromil Jires' buried treasure of Czech surrealist/erotic/horror cinema from 1970 is the type of film that gets passed around like a hard-to-find vinyl LP by film geeks worldwide and, in the last few years, it's slowly gained a small community of rabid fans committed to preserving it. By Bryce Edwards
Pitchfork
"Jires' film is considered a new folk milestone"
Espers, Folkies Pay Tribute to Film With Valerie Project . Quoth a press release, Jaromil Jires' 1970 film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a "baroque, surrealist folk tale of a teenage girl's dreams and hallucinations as she experiences her first menstruation. Repeat encounters with witchcraft, vampires, the living dead, perverted monks and doppelganger distant cousins punctuate her journey into womanhood as the truth about her family's dubious past unfolds before her weeping eyes."
Yep, this thing has acid folk written all over it.
This weekend, it will have acid folk playing all over it too. Espers' Greg Weeks and Brooke Sietinsons and Fern Knight's Margie Wienk have assembled a choice group of Philadelphia musicians to perform an alternate live score for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders in New York.
The event, called The Valerie Project , goes down March 10 and 11 at 8:00 PM at NYC's Anthology Film Archives. The Project ensemble includes cellist Helena Espvall (also of Espers), harpist Mary Lattimore, vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), electronic artist Charles Cohen, and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight).
Jires' film is considered a new folk milestone and a part of the Czech New Wave movement, and Anthology will screen two more Czech New Wave classics-- Vojtech Jasny's Cassandra Cat (1963) and Juraj Herz's Morgiana (1972)-- before the Valerie Project event on March 11.
Rare reissue specialists Finders Keepers Records, meanwhile, released the original soundtrack to Valerie and Her Week of Wonders last week. It features an original score by Lubos Fiser and lots of acid folk types swear by it, so it must be completely incomprehensible to the drug-free. Pitchfork.
New York Times
Valerie Has Had Quite a Week, Indeed
The 1970 Czech film "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" is "a nudie fairy-tale head trip," says Mike Hale, "an Aquarian stew of Freud, Murnau, Hefner and the Brothers Grimm," complete with lecherous priests, a pubescent heroine and a vampire grandmother. Not dizzying enough for you? This weekend, the little-known work will get a brand new score, performed live by a band of Philadelphia freak folk musicians — including a harpist, a cellist and an "enigmatic electronicist." Will you even need cocktails at the after-party?
"Valerie and her Week of Wonders," 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 p.m. Sunday, Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Avenue (Second Street), (212) 505-5181; $12. After-party on Saturday at Club MIdway; a double-header of Czech experimental films screen at 3 and 5 p.m. on Sunday. NYT.
New York Press
"A cult film inspires a new sound"
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders' dreamlike visuals, psychedelic sounds and odd plot twists (Incest! Vampires! Lecherous priests!) make it the very definition of a cult film. Jaromil Jires' buried treasure of Czech surrealist/erotic/horror cinema from 1970 is the type of film that gets passed around like a hard-to-find vinyl LP by film geeks worldwide and, in the last few years, it's slowly gained a small community of rabid fans committed to preserving it.
Not unlike the original Wicker Man soundtrack—a score that's a touchstone for many contemporary folk, psychedelic and electronic artists—Lubos Fiser's odd and effective score to Valerie has inspired a wide range of musicians. Trish Keenan of psych-pop band Broadcast borrowed the opening theme's delicate, nursery rhyme-like melody for one of the highlight tracks on 2003's Haha Sound and big-name electronic musician Andy Votel worked for nearly 12 years to unearth the film's original soundtrack, recently issued on hip U.K. label Finders Keepers.
It's the The Valerie Project, however, that proves to be the film's ultimate fan-geek tribute. The 10+ members of this collective from Philadelphia were so smitten with Valerie that they created an entirely new soundtrack to be played live alongside a 35mm print of the subtitled film.
"Joseph Gervasi and I had been talking about doing a synergistic film/music project for some time, and both of us brought up Valerie," explains Greg Weeks of the psych-folk ensemble Espers and The Valerie Project's leader. "It so happened that Joseph owned a 16mm print of the film. I was obsessed with how relevant the film was to certain subcultural movements of the time, not to mention blown away by its dreamlike imagery, old-world purity, psychedelic candor and mesmerizing soundtrack."
Weeks enlisted help from both his current band Espers, as well as a range of people from Philadelphia's vibrant psych and folk scenes, to create a tapestry of sound inspired by the original soundtrack and their own interpretation of the film. In particular, the film's themes of lost innocence and pastoral living struck a chord with Weeks and his fellow players.
"There's a current movement towards responsible living. The folk and psychedelic folk/experimental musics that have been evolving from the mid '90s are a direct correlation to a need and desire to reorient to a world that is too chaotic, too oppressive, too technologically stifling," says Weeks. "It's a new version of the 'back to the land' phenomenon of the late '60s/early '70s—only with lessons learned. Valerie taps into so much of that. It projects a political and cultural message that is all the more relevant today." By Bryce Edwards
Fangoria
March 2: Dark fantasy VALERIE special screening/CD news
New York fans of dark, allegorical fantasies (and who have already seen PAN'S LABYRINTH two or three times) won't want to miss a pair of special screenings of Czech director Jaromil Jires' VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS, taking place Saturday-Sunday, March 10-11 at 8 p.m. at the Anthology Film Archives(32 Second Avenue). Titled The VALERIE Project, this presentation accompanies the feature with an "alternate soundtrack" of live music performed by a group of Philadelphia underground musicians. Originally released in 1970, VALERIE, like LABYRINTH, frames its story around the coming of age of a young girl, but in even more surreal fashion and with an undercurrent of eroticism; this fairy tale is definitely not for kids.
Meanwhile, the movie's original score by Lubos Fiser has been released on CD and LP (the latter in a deluxe gatefold package) by Finders Keepers records. Both versions contain 23 tracks from the film, derived from old studio recordings uncovered by the company's Andy Votel after a search of more than a decade. The CD and LP are both available for order at the Finders Keepers website here. —Michael Gingold
Other Music Newsletter
This Saturday and Sunday, Philadelphia musicians bring new life to a forgotten classic of the Czech New Wave: Jaromil Jires' VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970). The sound goes off and the amps get cranked as a collective of Philly’s finest underground musicians pay tribute to this seminal film of the new folk movement. Spearheaded by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), the ensemble includes harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), amongst an all-star orchestra. Other Music has a pair of tickets to give away for each night! The two winners will also receive a CD copy of the movie's original soundtrack. To enter, send an email to contest@othermusic.com, and please include your daytime phone number. Winners will be notified this Friday.
In conjunction with the VALERIE PROJECT performance, B-Music will also present a double-bill of freak-folk cinema from the infamous and underexposed Czech New Wave of the late ‘60s / early '70s -- CASSANDRA CAT and MORGIANA -- on SUNDAY MARCH 11 beginning at 3pm.
Anthology Film Archives Press Release
PSYCHEDELIC CZECH NEW WAVE CINEMA and LIVE MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA!
Anthology is thrilled to present a film-music extravaganza featuring Czech New Wave films and live music! Philadelphia musicians bring new life to a forgotten classic of the Czech New Wave: Jaromil Jires' VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970). The sound goes off and the amps get cranked (do harps need amps?) as a collective of Philadelphia's finest underground musicians pay tribute to this seminal film of the new folk movement. Spearheaded by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), Margie Wienk (Fern Knight, Eyesores) and Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass), the ensemble includes harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), Vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), enigmatic electronicist Charles Cohen and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight).
Key to the VALERIE PROJECT's concept is how reframing the film's action with an alternate soundtrack draws new interpretations from a work of intricate depth and changeable meaning. Foremost in the musicians' minds, however, is paying tribute to a timeless fantasy film of increasing relevance. The tone is lush, orchestral and acid-charged.
B-Music is proud to present this maiden commercial voyage of the new soundtrack for VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS. CD's will be available at both performances. An afterparty after the Saturday night screening will be held at MIDWAY in Manhattan with special guest DJ Andy Votel on decks and a great lineup of NY DJs. - AFA.