Fruit of Paradise

Director: Věra Chytilová

1970 / 99min / 35mm

Ester Krumbachová and Chytilová, working again as co-scenarists, followed up their Daisies with this no-less-provocative work, a seductively sensuous and subversive feminist retelling of the story of the Fall of Man whose “Eden” is the slightly seedy resort spa where a married woman, Eva (Jitka Nováková), falls under the spell of a charming stranger (Jan Schmid) who just happens to moonlight as a serial killer. Krumbachová’s contributions here included set design and costuming—notably, Jan’s swanky, satanic red velvet suit—and she and Chytilová are at their most exuberantly experimental in a film that freely employs slow motion, step printing, double exposures, and a steamrolling symphonic score by Zdeněk Liška.