Vera Chytilová was born on February 2, 1929, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic). She studied philosophy and architecture in Brno
for two years, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a
fashion model, a photo re-toucher, then worked as a clapper girl for
Barrandov Film Studios in Prague. There she continued as a writer,
actress, and assistant director.
She was denied a scholarship, or even a recommendation from Barrandov,
but she took the admissions tests at FAMU and was accepted. From
1957-1962 she studied film directing under Otakar Vávra, who also taught
Jirí Menzel, Milos Forman, Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer. In 1962 she graduated as
director from Film Academy (FAMU) in Prague. Her graduation film
'Strop' (Ceiling 1962) and the following film 'Pytel blech' (A Bagful
of Fleas 1963) were "staged" improvisations with non-actors. In 1966
Chytilova and her husband, 'Jaroslav Kucera', made a witty surrealist comedy
Tausendschönchen (1966), which was immediately banned, but then was released in 1967,
and won the Grand Prix at the Bergamo Film Festival. She remained in
Czechoslovakia after the events of 1968, when her colleagues Milos Forman,
Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer emigrated. Her films were often "shelved" for
reasons of political censorship. For six years Chytilova was banned
from making films. In 1976 she wrote a letter of complaint to President
Gustav Husak, describing her artistic position. After some
behind-the-scenes influence by her supporters, Chytilova was allowed to
make a low-budget Ein bißchen schwanger (1977), which won a Silver Hugo at Chicago Film
Festival.
Chytilova belongs among the foremost directors of the 1960's Czech New
Wave, which was influenced by both the French New Wave and Italian
Neo-Realism. Her films were acclaimed for visual experimentation and
for bold unmasking of the moral problems of contemporary society. Her
art belongs to what Sergei Eisenstein described as "intellectual cinema", that
embraces the mix of "avant-garde", "cinema verite", "formalism",
"feminism", or "happening" and, with a good deal of humor, it spreads
beyond definitions. Chytilova's films often present a multi-layered
plethora of visual associations that encourages the viewer to make
active interpretations. She survived through the political turbulences
in Czechoslovakia and has been a highly original and uncompromising
filmmaker.
