![Věra Chytilová](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/cSb6gIVeHl3tj8u0zP8CqQQwdt4.jpg)
Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema.
At the age of 28 she was accepted into the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). While attending FAMU she studied underneath renowned film director Otakar Vavra, graduating in 1962.
Chytilová is best known for her once highly controversial film Sedmikrásky (Daisies) – (1966). Daisies is known for its un-sympathetic characters, lack of a continuous narrative and abrupt visual style. Chytilová states that she structured Daisies to “restrict [the spectator’s] feeling of involvement and lead him to an understanding of the underlying idea or philosophy”. The film was banned within Czechoslovakia upon its initial release in 1966 until 1967, but in 1966 the film won the Grand Prix at the Bergamo Film Festival in Italy.
After Daisies the government made it very difficult for Chytilová to find work within Czechoslovakia, even though she was never officially classified as a 'blacklisted' director. After the Soviet Union invasion in 1968 it was virtually impossible for her to find work and she resorted to directing commercials under her husband’s name, Jaroslav Kučera.
In 1976, due to the low cinema attendance she was approached by the government to begin directing films through a state-run production company. At the same time the United States was assembling a 'Year of Women' Film Festival and contacted Chytilová to gain permission to screen Daisies as their opening film. She informed the festival that the only non-censored prints of the film could be found in Paris and Brussels, and that her government would not allow her to attend the festival, nor were they allowing her to direct films. The festival then began to apply international pressure upon the Czechoslovakian government by petitioning on Chytilová’s behalf. In accordance with this international pressure Chytilová wrote a letter directly to President Gustáv Husák. Due to the success of the international pressure, and Chytilová’s personal appeal to President Husak, Chytilová began production of Hra o jablko (The Apple Game, 1976). The Apple Game was completed and then was screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and won the Silver Hugo and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Chytilová described herself as a control freak and was known as being actively critical of the Soviet Union, stating that “My critique is in the context of the moral principles you preach, isn’t it? A critical reflection is necessary”. She would routinely cause havoc to make films that were loyal to her vision regardless of the heavy censorship that was routinely imposed. Věra Chytilová’s last film was released in 2006, and she has taught directing at FAMU.
Chytilová embodied a unique cinematographic language and style that does not rely on any literary or verbal conventions, but rather utilizes various forms of visual manipulations to create meaning within her films. Chytilová used observations of everyday life in accordance with allegories and surreal contexts to create a personalized film style that is greatly influenced by the French New Wave, and Italian neorealism.
Known For | Directing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 19.239 |
Birthday | 1929-02-02 |
Place of Birth | Ostrava, Czechoslovakia |
Also Known As | 베라 히틸로바, 베라 치틸로바, 维拉·希蒂洛娃, |
![The Emperor and the Golem](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/3i6VoJXD5EMmNCN1f7DTvZMzJnJ.jpg)
1952
![The Emperor and the Golem](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/3i6VoJXD5EMmNCN1f7DTvZMzJnJ.jpg)
The Emperor and the Golem
6.92/44
The Emperor's mismanagement of his country is provoking some in his court to plot to overthrow him. He feels successful, at least, when he discovers...
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![Journey: Portrait of Věra Chytilová](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/keFdvBQ2rwnjmUD0eIWN7STEyVb.jpg)
2004
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Journey: Portrait of Věra Chytilová
4/1
Documentary about Czech filmaker Vera Chytilova.
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![Pravda](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pxLwSzQolrJZFUVSCxL1PnvqheZ.jpg)
1970
![Pravda](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pxLwSzQolrJZFUVSCxL1PnvqheZ.jpg)
Pravda
5.6/12
Filmed clandestinely in Czechoslovakia on 16mm. It's one of the films Godard made with the Groupe Dziga Vertov - a Marxist film about the political si...
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![An Occasion to Speak](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
1966
![An Occasion to Speak](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
An Occasion to Speak
0/0
Documentary about the film academy in Prague and the Czech Film in 1965.
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![Caterwauling](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8b69xKbzd1UGPa1Md10OKq4F2Qw.jpg)
1960
![Caterwauling](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8b69xKbzd1UGPa1Md10OKq4F2Qw.jpg)
Caterwauling
0/0
In a rare instance of literary adaptation, Chytilová was inspired by Franz Kafka’s writings. Mr. K stashes stolen jewelry away at home and seldom allo...
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![Searching for Ester](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hk4xtfsS1MFZo63mkyo2hAavCOB.jpg)
2005
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Searching for Ester
0/0
Ester Krumbachová - a costume designer, screenwriter, director; one of the boldest personalities of the Czech New Wave. She worked in theatre, she was...
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![Chytilová Versus Forman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qpNwBmbY0CklqnH0Q0hO1Ele9yJ.jpg)
1982
![Chytilová Versus Forman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qpNwBmbY0CklqnH0Q0hO1Ele9yJ.jpg)
Chytilová Versus Forman
0/0
An intellectual match between two dramatically different artists, one permanently unsure and frustrated and questioning everything, the other an aston...
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2018
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6.5/2
An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaim...
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2016
![To Make a Comedy Is No Fun](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pP2ZG66W8VTcK1lxu7oOz0bJbYZ.jpg)
To Make a Comedy Is No Fun
6/2
Documentary feature about Czech director Jiří Menzel, featuring Menzel himself as well as Miloš Forman, Emir Kusturica, István Szabó and others.
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![Konec jasnovidce](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7p00B1lOgrVRdwT3gc9LknJbPlZ.jpg)
1957
![Konec jasnovidce](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7p00B1lOgrVRdwT3gc9LknJbPlZ.jpg)
Konec jasnovidce
8/2
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![Green Street](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
1962
![Green Street](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
Green Street
5.3/3
Her first foray into documentary filmmaking was a short called Green Street (1959), a look at an over-loaded freight train departing from Prague. Thou...
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![Ceiling](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uwSHOhvCCXTRMA43Bz02GDIMzPv.jpg)
1962
![Ceiling](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uwSHOhvCCXTRMA43Bz02GDIMzPv.jpg)
Ceiling
5.125/7
The young Marta has made a break in her medical education to fully invest in her career as a model. We follow her for a day in her life, almost comple...
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![Naughty Young People: Chytilová, Kučera, Krumbachová](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
2012
![Naughty Young People: Chytilová, Kučera, Krumbachová](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
Naughty Young People: Chytilová, Kučera, Krumbachová
0/0
Documentary about the making of Vera Chytilová's film DAISIES
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![The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/Ajwn926hYHAoMuNV7zrLzioPBU1.jpg)
1984
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4.8/9
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