Věra Chytilová facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Věra Chytilová
Chytilová at the 2007 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Born	(1929-02-02)2 February 1929 Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Died	12 March 2014(2014-03-12) (aged 85) Prague, Czech Republic
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1962–2011
Spouse(s)	Jaroslav Kučera
Children	2 (including Tereza)

Věra Chytilová (born February 2, 1929 – died March 12, 2014) was a famous Czech film director. She was a pioneer in Czech cinema, known for her unique and experimental movies. The government in Czechoslovakia banned some of her films in the 1960s.

She is most famous for her film Sedmikrásky (which means Daisies). This movie was a big part of the Czech New Wave film movement. Her films were shown at many international festivals. She received important awards for her work, like the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Czech Lion award.

Early Life and Education

Věra Chytilová was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. This was on February 2, 1929. She grew up in a religious family. Her upbringing later influenced the moral questions she explored in her films.

Before becoming a director, Chytilová studied philosophy and architecture. She later worked in different jobs. These included being a draftswoman, a fashion model, and a photo re-toucher. She also worked as a clapper girl at Barrandov Film Studios in Prague.

She wanted to study film production. Even after being turned down at first, she kept trying. At 28, she was accepted into the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). She was the first woman to study directing there. She learned from famous director Otakar Vavra. She graduated in 1962.

Chytilová was very dedicated to her artistic ideas. For her graduation film, Strop/Ceiling, her professor didn't like her original script. She got a classmate to rewrite it for approval. But she still filmed her own original script.

Filmmaking Career

After graduating, Chytilová's short films were shown in theaters. In 1963, she released her first full-length movie. It was called Something Different.

Her most famous film is Sedmikrásky (Daisies), made in 1966. This film was very controversial. It showed characters who were not very nice. It also had a broken story and a very unusual visual style. Chytilová said she made Daisies to make viewers think. She wanted them to understand the deeper ideas in the film. The characters in Daisies decide to be "spoiled" because they think the world is spoiled. This film is seen as a leading example of the Czech New Wave.

The film was banned in Czechoslovakia from 1966 to 1967. This was because it showed people wasting food. However, in 1966, Daisies won a big award at the Bergamo Film Festival in Italy. This film made Chytilová famous both in her country and around the world.

After Daisies, it became very hard for Chytilová to find work in Czechoslovakia. Even though she wasn't officially "blacklisted," the government made things difficult.

Her next film was Ovoce stromů rajských jíme (Fruit of Paradise). This was in 1969. It was her last film before the Soviet Union invaded in 1968. After the invasion, she could barely find work. She even directed commercials using her husband's name, Jaroslav Kučera.

In 1976, the government asked Chytilová to direct films again. This was because not many people were going to the movies. Around the same time, a "Year of Women" Film Festival in the United States wanted to show Daisies.

Chytilová told the festival that only uncensored copies of her film were in Paris and Brussels. She also told them her government wouldn't let her attend the festival or direct films. The festival then put pressure on the Czechoslovakian government. They asked for Chytilová to be allowed to work. Chytilová also wrote a letter to President Gustáv Husák. She explained her career and her belief in socialism.

Because of this international pressure and her letter, Chytilová began making Hra o jablko (The Apple Game). This film was completed in 1976. It was shown at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It also won an award at the Chicago International Film Festival.

After The Apple Game, Chytilová was allowed to keep making films. But she still faced problems and heavy censorship from the government. Věra Chytilová's last film was released in 2006. She also taught directing at FAMU.

Film Themes and Style

Like many Czech New Wave filmmakers, Chytilová was influenced by the changes in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. She wanted to show the government's flaws by presenting the opposite of what they preached. Chytilová was against too much buying and owning things. She called herself an individualist, not a feminist.

Women are the main characters in almost all of Chytilová's films. Ideas about gender are central to her movies. Czech society was the main focus of her work. However, the style of Czech New Wave films was meant to be understood worldwide.

Chytilová's films before the Soviet invasion were very experimental. Daisies and Fruits of Paradise are known for being absurd and surreal. She used special color filters and other experimental methods. These were unique to her films from the 1960s.

Her Legacy in Film

Chytilová described herself as someone who liked to be in control. She called herself "An overheated kettle that you can’t turn down." This strong attitude made it hard for her to work in the film industry controlled by the Soviet Union. She often criticized the Soviet Union. She believed that "A critical reflection is necessary." She would often cause "hysterical scenes" to try and make films that stayed true to her vision. This was despite the heavy censorship she faced.

Chytilová developed a unique way of making films. Her style didn't rely on books or words. Instead, she used different visual tricks to create meaning. She observed everyday life and combined it with allegories and surreal ideas. Her film style was greatly influenced by the French New Wave and Italian neorealism.

Chytilová often used a film style similar to cinéma vérité. This allowed the audience to see the film from an outside view. Her film Daisies (1966) shows this best. These techniques made the film like a "philosophical documentary." They made the viewer think and question the film's meaning.

Some people called Chytilová a strong feminist filmmaker. However, Chytilová herself did not see herself as a feminist. She believed in individualism. She thought that if a person didn't agree with certain rules, they should break them.

Personal Life and Death

Chytilová was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. She refused to leave Czechoslovakia after the Soviet Union invasion in 1968. She said that "Making films then became a mission." She married cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera. She met him while they were both at FAMU. During the Soviet occupation, when she couldn't direct, she and her husband built their family home. They raised their two children there. Their daughter, Tereza Kučerová, became an artist. Their son, Štěpán Kučera, became a cinematographer.

Věra Chytilová passed away on March 12, 2014, in Prague. She was 85 years old. She had been dealing with health issues for a long time. Her family was with her when she died.

Selected Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Screenplay	Story	Music
1961	The Ceiling	N	N
1962	A Bagful of Fleas	N	N	N
1963	Something Different	N	N	N
1966	"At the World Cafeteria" in Pearls of the Deep	N
1966	Daisies	N	N	N
1970	Fruit of Paradise	N	N
1976	The Apple Game	N	N	N
1978	Inexorable Time	N
1979	Prefab Story	N	N	N
1981	Calamity	N	N
1981	Chytilová Versus Forman − Consciousness of Continuity	N
1983	The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun	N	N
1984	Prague: The Restless Heart of Europe	N	N	N
1987	Wolf's Hole	N	N
1987	The Jester and the Queen	N	N
1988	A Hoof Here, a Hoof There	N	N
1990	Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, a Liberator	N
1991	My Citizens of Prague Understand Me	N		N
1992	The Inheritance or ...	N	N
1998	Trap, Trap, Little Trap	N		N
2000	Flights and Falls	N	N	N
2001	Exile from Paradise	N	N	N	N
2005	'Searching for Ester	N
2006	Pleasant Moments	N	N

See also

In Spanish: Věra Chytilová para niños