Daisies (film)

Daisies
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVěra Chytilová
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced byRudolf Hájek
Starring
  • Ivana Karbanová
  • Jitka Cerhová
CinematographyJaroslav Kučera
Edited byMiroslav Hájek
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by
  • Ústřední Půjčovna Filmů
  • Kouzlo Films Společnost
Release date
  • 30 December 1966 (1966-12-30) (Czechoslovakia)
Running time
76 minutes[1]
CountryCzechoslovakia
LanguageCzech
Marie II on the bed, showcasing the fragmented mise-en-scène of the film

Daisies (Czech: Sedmikrásky) is a 1966 Czechoslovakian experimental surrealist comedy art film[2][3] written and directed by Věra Chytilová.

Regarded as a milestone of the Czechoslovak New Wave movement,[4][5] it follows two young women (Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová), both named Marie, who engage in strange pranks.[1] Originally planned as a satire of bourgeois decadence, the movie targets those attached to rules and was referred to by Chytilová as "a necrologue about a negative way of life."[6] Daisies also inverts the stereotypical ideas of women and redraws them to the heroines' advantage. The film is considered critical of authoritarianism, censorship, and patriarchy,[7][8][9] and it was banned from theaters or export in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Daisies". Filmový přehled. NFA. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. ^ Collins, Patricia (2 September 2020). "Daisies is Art-House Fun ⋆ 3SMReviews.com ⋆ Movie Review". 3SMReviews.com. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Daisies (1966)". 28 September 2020.
  4. ^ Soukup, Katarina (1 September 1998). "Banquet of Profanities: Food and Subversion in Vera Chytilová's 'Daisies'". Tessera. doi:10.25071/1923-9408.25123. ISSN 1923-9408.
  5. ^ Gester, Julien (26 November 2013). "Les petites pétroleuses de Prague". Libération (in French). Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  6. ^ Anderson, Melissa (4 July 2012). "Mod Madness from Vera Chytilová's New Wave Daisies". The Village Voice.
  7. ^ "Farewell, FilmStruck: A Bittersweet Guide to the Movies to Catch Before It's Gone". The New York Times. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2021. Chytilova doesn't indulge in free-form quirkiness for its own sake. The movie is a puckish poke at authoritarianism of all stripes, from the patriarchy to the Iron Curtain bureaucracy.
  8. ^ Owen, Jonathan L. (2011). Avant-Garde to New Wave: Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties (NED - New edition, 1 ed.). Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0-85745-126-2. JSTOR j.ctt9qd7tp.
  9. ^ Raup, Jordan (9 August 2018). "The Power of the Powerless: Banned Films from the Czechoslovak New Wave Returns September 21". Film at Lincoln Center. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2021. The Czechoslovak New Wave was one of the most radical and brilliant bursts of creativity in film history... Despite stifling restrictions, an intrepid generation of filmmakers continued to challenge Communist censorship by creating art that was provocative, satirical, and deeply critical of authoritarianism.
  10. ^ Rapold, Nicolas (29 June 2012). "An Audience for Free Spirits in a Closed Society". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2021.