Fruit of Paradise (Ovoce strom rajských jíme)
RRP: £12.99.
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The late, great Czech filmmaker Věra Chytilová, followed the success of her
ground-breaking exercise in anarchic cinema DAISIES (1966) with the even more
extraordinary FRUIT OF PARADISE. An experimental, densely symbolic retelling of
the Adam and Eve story, Chytilová utilizes every cinematic tool to create a
ravishing tapestry of ideas, textures, and visual tropes.
Cementing Chytilová’s reputation as cine-anarchist, FRUIT OF PARADISE was
condemned by the authorities, banned from export and the funds withheld from
Chytilová so that she would be powerless to realise her "vehicles of nihilism".
Unseen for many years outside of its native Czechoslovakia the film is a
cornerstone of the Czech New Wave and remains a stunning tour-de-force of
colour, technique and formalism.
Released for the first time ever in the UK, the FRUIT OF PARADISE is presented
from a new HD digital transfer with restored picture and sound, and also
includes a new HD restoration of Věra Chytilová’s renowned 1961 short film
CEILING (Strop) - plus an accompanying Booklet featuring a new essay by author,
Czech cinema expert and film programmer Peter Hames.
"Chytilová's film is as visually stunning and thrillingly experimental as her
previous work DAISIES" All Movie Guide
"Luridly subversive... impossible to summarize and hard to resist" Village Voice
"Chytilova's wild, extravagant, and ravishing romp... intoxicating on a sensual
level" Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
"An audacious combination of allegorical narrative and the avant-garde... a
brilliantly executed aesthetic exercise. It is formalism at its most beautiful"
Daniel Bird, Central Europe Review