Subscription
Věra Chytilová
Defiance and compassion: celebrating the work of a true original and a pioneer of Czech cinema.
A pioneer of women’s cinema, Chytilová thought it natural to use her female perspective and experience, although she didn’t see herself as a feminist. Never one to hesitate, she played on stereotypes associated with women, exploiting the fear of feminine hysterics and famously threatening to jump out of the window in front of state officials when she struggled to get her unorthodox films financed or released.
With this collection of five of her key works, we pay tribute to one of the key directors of the 60s – a filmmaker of consistent moral vision and innovation.
Fruit of ParadiseFruit of Paradise
Drama196999 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová's symbolic retelling of the Adam and Eve story is a ravishing tapestry of ideas, textures, and visual tropes.
A Bagful of FleasA Bagful of Fleas
Documentary196243 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová's 'fictionalised documentary' uses non-actors to portray girls' lives in the cotton mills of Náchod.
DaisiesDaisies
Comedy196673 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
TrapsTraps
Comedy1998116 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová's dark, post-communist comedy. After a veterinary surgeon is sexually assaulted by two men, she uses her particular expertise in castraton to exact her revenge…
Something DifferentSomething Different
Drama196381 minsDirector: Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová's first feature is an important work of women's cinema, which contrasts the parallel stories of a gymnast (filmed as documentary) and a housewife (told as fiction).
Filmmakers in Focus: Věra ChytilováFilmmakers in Focus: Věra Chytilová
Inside Film202141 mins
Film critic Carmen Gray and film writer Ela Bittencourt discuss three films by trailblazing Czech filmmaker Věra Chytilová.