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Contents

Here is a selective list of available web materials on the Czech director Věra Chytilová. All links were functioning and descriptions accurate as of the date of publication (30 April 2002).

• Articles in Kinoeye
• Websites
• Interviews and writings by the director

Articles in Kinoeye

• Angry young girls
  Gender representations in the films of Věra Chytilová

Chytilová's heroines rebelliously try to subvert the patriarchal system and gender stereotypes—and fail. Małgorzata Radkiewicz examines the plight of female leads in two of Chytilová's most famous films.

• The void behind the mask
  Game-playing in the films of Věra Chytilová

The mortality of human life and the shallowness of existence are repeated themes in Chytilová's work. Ivana Košuličová explores how these themes are realised through the concept of the game.

• "Now I don't know how to keep on going"
  The early films of Věra Chytilová

In Chytilová's early films, there is already clear evidence of the themes that would continue to obsess her, expressed in a unique and remarkable style, as Jiří Cieslar argues.

• Against destruction
  Věra Chytilová's Panelstory (Prefab Story, 1979)

Images of destruction, especially in opposition to creativity or a utopia, are a perennial motif for Chytilová. Andrew James Horton looks at a film in which this reaches an apogee.

• Bones, bones, bone-eater...
  Věra Chytilová's Pasti, pasti, pastičky (Traps, 1998)

Pasti, pasti, pastičky was largely a disappointment for the critics. Jaromír Blažejovský explains how it fits into Chytilová's oeuvre and prepares the viewer for some of the film's "problems."

• Naked allegory
  Věra Chytilová's Vyhnání z ráje
  (Expulsion from Paradise, 2001)

Chytilová's latest tale of moral decay has confounded critics with its deliberate contrasting of acting styles and mixed levals of reality. Dora Viceníková analyses the film.

• Can we live with the truth?
  Věra Chytilová's Ovoce stromů rajských jíme
  (Fruit of Paradise, 1969)

Critics widely misunderstood Chytilová's operatic parable on its release. Daniel Bird analyses this film that was "for the next decade."

• Hitchhiking: The perils and the romance
  Věra Chytilová's Pasti, pasti, pastičky (Traps, 1998)

Chytilová's "feminist black comedy" is less controlled than her earlier works and contains mixed messages. Andrew James Horton finds it unsatisfying.

Websites

• Czech Cinema website

Appallingly designed, hard on the eyes and blighted by irritating pop-ups, this website nevertheless contains some interesting information on the Czech New Wave directors, including Chytilová. Most of the information is reproduced (probably without permission) from standard texts on Czech cinema.

Interviews and writings by the director

• Bohemian rhapsodist
  Kate Connolly, The Guardian, 11 August 2000

An interview with "the Margaret Thatcher of Czech film" during the production of Vyhnání z ráje.

• An open letter to Gustav Husak
  Czech cinema website

Chytilová's letter to "Comrade President" in 1975 to try and get her back into feature film production.

• Interview from "Closely Watched Films" (By Antonin J Liehm—Fall 1967)
  Czech cinema website

Chytilová discusses Sedmikrásky, then her most recent film, and preparations for Ovoce stromů rajských jíme.

Sarah Andrews