Taking a look online for Czech films,I discovered a Czech New Wave (CNW) titled that the up-loader had highlighted as featuring," corrected, conversational subtitles." Being interested in seeing the "correct" version of the title,I decided that it was time to pick up the daisies.The plot:Sitting around having robotic conversations,Marie and Marie decide that it is time for them to go bad.Joining wealthy men in night clubs and for meals,the Marie's soon reveal that they will not conform to men's images of them at all. View on the film:Whirling round the Marie's in strutted camera moves,co- writer/(along with Ester Krumbachová & Pavel Jurácek) director Vera Chytilová (who dedicates the film to the censors on screen!) slices "Dada" stylishness with a Silent Movie playfulness.Tinting the film in rustic blues, reds and a constant switching between grainy black and white and vivid colour film stock, Chytilová and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera spin a disorientating atmosphere,by circling inanimate objects from a Dada edge whilst blunt CNW edits cut into the Silent Movie tints with a mischief making grin.Hit with a ban by the government for "depicting the wanton",the screenplay by Chytilová, Krumbachová and Jurácek slides the CNW into surrealism,as the Marie's personalities are kept vague,and the writers focus on the reverse-sex indulgences that the Marie's partake in.Returning to some of the set-piece locations, Chytilová hits out at the ruling Communist Party's idea of conformity,thanks to Chytilová (who got banned from working again in the country until 1975) rubbing the rebellious, non- conformist attitudes of the Marie's,as Chytilová pulls the daisies of the Czech New Wave.

A peerless, cinematic celebration of the powerlessness of the individual, which the film shows to be both a good and a bad thing; no matter how much havoc the two girls-who-just-wanna-have-fun cause, or how much they exploit the work of other people, they are never a serious danger to society, instead their irresponsible lifestyle really only endangers their own lives, not that the through and through nihilistic 'Daisies' says that the alternative of being "good" would be any more rewarding in the end, which again stresses the meaninglessness of life.Towards the beginning in the club there is an interesting juxtaposition between a man and woman performing the wild and silly Charleston(?) dance while the Maries are putting on their own wild show and apparently seem to draw all the attention away from the performers and to themselves. The former two get paid for their performance and are considered entertainment while guests doing the same are considered a nuisance or even a threat so the Maries are thrown out of the club. I guess this also reflects the viewer's relationship with the film and its protagonists, it's fun for us to watch this controlled chaos from a safe distance and knowing that its just a show, but if those same girls would be random people invading our lives behaving like this we'd probably find it anything but fun.

This is one of the strangest non-linear films that I have ever seen, and therefore it is one of the hardest films to comment on. After an excellent beginning montage sequence, the film plunges into the world of two women who agree to be "bad". The reason for this is supposedly that all else is bad in the world already, so they should be bad too. The rest of the film involves them acting glutton, especially when they are around men. So what is the meaning of this? Is it some feminist statement in which the women try to gain power by the way they eat? There are a lot of allusions to the male sexual organs that back up this theory, but the real point of it all is still rather obscure. It is an interesting enough concept as it is, but the downfall comes from the premise being stretched to the length of a feature film. While the excessiveness can be tolerated, the same stuff is generally repeated over and over, and there is little reason apparent why it could have not been done in just twenty minutes of film. As awkward and confusing as it is, the length to which the material is stretched is what hammers is potency. Either way, the film is certainly work a look. The colour work is fascinating, the sound effects are interesting, and it is an intriguing film to a limited extent, due to the ambiguity of its messages and story.

This movie is a trip! Daisies was created in an avant-garde era in which artist were experimenting with abstract music, painting, photography, etc. Furthermore, this movie depicts a feminists perception of the world, specifically men. The first time I watched this film I walked out because it was too far out there for me. But watching it again two years later with a friend and analyzing it made the film much more enjoyable. There are subtle scenes in the film that give the viewer a glimpse of what the director was trying to get through to the audience. For instance, about half-way through the film the main actresses, Marie I and Marie II, begin to chop-up various foods shaped as male genitalia and proceed to eat them. Furthermore, Marie I receives a phone call from a male "companion" in which the traditional male-to-female roles are reversed. In order to get the most out of this movie, try and ask yourself the bigger question..."What is the director trying to tell me?" Rather than, "What the hell is going on?" All-in-all...good film and I highly recommend it.