A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Alias:
维拉·希蒂洛娃
베라 치틸로바
베라 히틸로바
Birthplace:
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Born:
February 2, 1929
Died:
March 12, 2014
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.
Assistant Director:
1957 Lost Children
Cinematography:
1957 Lost Children
1968 Seven Days to Remember
Clapper Loader:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1968 Seven Days to Remember
Director:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
Idea:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
Original Film Writer:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
???? Peaches
Screenplay:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
???? Peaches
Story:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
???? Peaches
Writer:
1954 Severní přístav
1955 Hudba z Marsu
1957 Lost Children
1960 Caterwauling
1962 Ceiling
1962 Green Street
1963 A Bagful of Fleas
1963 Something Different
1966 Daisies
1966 Pearls of the Deep
1968 Seven Days to Remember
1970 Fruit of Paradise
1971 Comrades
1978 The Apple Game
1978 Time is inexorable
1981 Panelstory or Birth of a Community
1982 Calamity
1982 Chytilová Versus Forman
1984 The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun
1985 Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe
1987 Wolf's Hole
1988 The Jester and the Queen
1989 A Hoof Here, a Hoof There
1990 TGM the Liberator
1991 My Pragues Understand Me
1992 The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday
1993 Kam panenky...
1998 Traps
2001 Expulsion from Paradise
2003 Trója v proměnách času
2005 Searching for Ester
2006 Pleasant Moments
2007 Troublemakers
???? Peaches
Director:
1995 GENUS
2000 Flights and Falls
Screenplay:
1995 GENUS
2000 Flights and Falls
Story:
1995 GENUS
2000 Flights and Falls
Writer:
1995 GENUS
2000 Flights and Falls
Most data and links to images for the Movies section come from TheMovieDB (TMDB).
Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).
At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.
Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)
While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:
Regarding profile removals and data corrections:
Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).
Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.
Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.