Daisies

NEW 35mm PRINT! ► A daring, delirious landmark of psychedelic 1960s cinema, and one of the most memorable works of the Czech New Wave, Daisies is the film that established Vĕra Chytilová’s international reputation — but only after it had been banned for a year by shocked Czech authorities! Chytilová was the only major female Czech director of the period. Her sardonic, surrealist comedy chronicles the anarchic antics of two bored young women, blonde Marie and brunette Marie, who embark on an orgy of outrageous pranks, provocations, and destructive acts aimed at the mindless materialism and repressive sexism of their society. The sassy subversive spirit of the piece finds formal expression in an acid-trip array of bright expressive colours, crazy collages and superimpositions, visual distortions, and startling décor. The film was a major influence on Jacques Rivette’s 1974 opus Celine and Julie Go Boating. Daisies screens here in a beautiful new 35mm print struck from the original elements at National Film Archive in Prague and featuring new, freshly-translated subtitles. “A formally radical, surrealistic classic, Daisies remains a touchstone, transcending genre tags and any sort of definable labels ...The climatic food-fight sequence plays like Monty Python’s ‘Mr. Creosote’ skit as directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini” (Jordan Crank, Slant). Colour and B&W, 35mm, in Czech with English subtitles. 76 mins.