AllMovie

In All The Bright Young Men and Women, Josef Skvorecky notes that Fruit of Paradise is about the "God who dogmatically forbids people to eat from the tree of knowledge and about the Devil who rationally tempts us to do so." Refreshingly, this film concentrates on the complications and limitations of discovering the truth, rather than issues of guilt and sin. Working with cinematographer and second husband Jaroslav Kucera, Vera Chytilová's film is as visually stunning and thrillingly experimental as her previous workDaisies. Chytilová conveys Eva's awakening to moral complications through visual and aural distortions. A fish-eye lens exaggerates their actual and desired distances. Oscillating voice volumes, reverberations, action deceleration and acceleration, and choppy editing make her experience seem like a druggy nightmare. However, fans of her more well-known classic may be disappointed by this film's more languid pace and oppressively dark symbolism. After this film was completed, it would take six years for Chytilová to get financing for another from the Soviet-subjugated Czechoslovak government, and only after publishing a letter of complaint to president Gustav Husák.