Cinema
Daisies
Sedmikrásky
Věra Chytilová · 1966
Synopsis
Two young girls, Marie I and Marie II, observe that the whole world is going bad and decide to go bad in their turn. They get men of mature age to invite them to restaurants, then send them packing at once, have passing affairs and sow disorder in public places, in a series of sketches where colour, filters and editing change constantly.
Context
The screenplay is by the director and Ester Krumbachová, who also designed the costumes; Jaroslav Kučera's photography plays with collage. The film was authorised only in July 1966, after cuts; already sold abroad, it would have lost foreign currency if banned, but the press was not allowed to write about it. In May 1967, the deputy Jaroslav Pružinec demanded its withdrawal in Parliament, scandalised by the waste of food; the request was not followed. It was released in France on 15 November 1967.
Who it is for
About seventy-five minutes, with no continuous plot: a farce in sketches, carried by two non-actresses, Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix at the Bergamo festival in 1967; one of the major works of the Czechoslovak New Wave.