Daisies (1966)

 Vera Chytilova's "Daisies"

Vera Chytilova's "Daisies" is a relatively short and simple film. It portrays two young girls who decide to be 'spoiled' and do nothing but act irreverently and consume as much as they possibly can. However, the construction of these events and the satirical viewpoint of Chytilova's vision has elevated this avant-garde Czechoslovakian film to the status of cult classic. 

The two girls in the film are meant to illustrate ludicrous feminine stereotypes, as they are stretched to their maximum capacity. The two woman start out as literal dolls in the opening sequence, with added creaking sounds every time they move their limbs as if to imply some unoiled hinge. On top of this, the women behave like small children, which demonstrates the absurd infantilization of women through a patriarchal male lens. Through this lens, the two women are also metaphorically depicted as shallow and empty of human emotion. 

These stereotypes are then stretched out to their maximum capacity, as the two women decide to escape their doll box and explore the world, deciding to do nothing but consume and be 'spoiled' since the world itself is so 'spoiled' and everyone only takes and takes from the natural world. The stereotypes exhibited by the two women create a mayhem of disorder and disobedience. They drain wealthy men of their money, they consume food like 'undignified' and 'slovenly' creatures, as well as destroying and creating a chaotic mess of everything they come into contact with. With the overconsumption of food, the fragmentation of their bodies, and their raucous laughter, they are acting in cheerful defiance of the controlled image of the female form. In this way, their stereotyped behavior get redrawn and used as a mechanism for their own rebellious advantage.

Through this behavior, they end up making a mockery of the 'establishment' and of 'order.' Not only destroying the patriarchal idea of femininity, they make an 'attack on manners' and 'an attack on well-mannered spectatorship.' Their destruction of a wealthy dinner party's decadent meal setting itself is even an attack on class structure. The film was such an attack on the establishment and of patriarchal modernity that the Czechoslovakian government implemented limitations on its distribution. They felt the depiction of gluttony was inappropriate. Not only this, the communist-led state party condemned the film, as it was deemed unfit for the communist ideals at the time. 

While also being rebellious in its structural plot, the film is also rebellious in its visual style. Chytilova consistently borrows from the French New Wave visual style and uses a jazz-like editing style in the film. The film changes film stock, film stock color, has scenes imitating a silent film, has starkly modern renderings, and has many other explosive creative choices that only enhance its sense of joyful rebellion. 

Despite being condemned at the time of its release, the satirical view of the feminine form, the rebellion against the establishment and patriarchally tyranny, and its condemnation of authority all made the film such a celebrated work even to this day. It is considered by many to be a New Wave cult classic and is one of the most creative works of the 1960s.