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Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Admirable film.

Blistering performances.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

"Daisies" is the sort of film that they really only made in the 1960s and 70s and which 'intelligent' people love. It's an artsy film that is completely absurd nonsense and it's like a primer for filmmakers on how NOT to make a movie...and folks like the author of "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" enjoy. I noticed that most of the reviews were by folks who enjoyed the movie and thought it brilliant...I just thought it stole about 75 minutes of my life.The script for the film is pretty much non-existent. Instead, two young women act like real jerks and bounce from one setting to another with little, if any, coherent rhyme or reason. They go on dates with older men and behave like pigs, set fires, blow bubbles, annoy everyone around them, interrupt night club acts, take baths together, talk INCESSANTLY and pretty much think they are the two most clever folks on the planet. To me, it's like watching a couple 20-somethings behave like they are 6 year-olds and the effect is really annoying.So should you see this film? Well, if you've seen and enjoyed absurdist films like "Buffet Froid" or "Pierrre le Fou" or like taking LSD and then watching television test patterns, by all means give the 'film' a try. As for me, life is too short to waste seeing crap like this. The only possible good I can see with this film is that it obviously annoyed the repressive Czechoslovakian government when it debuted and it was labeled as 'depicting the wanton'. I would have described it as 'depicting the stupid'.

An avant-garde think piece from the late Mrs. Vera Chytilová (1929-2014), a spearhead figure emerges from Czech New Wave in the 60s, and keeps working consistently and domestically until her late age, DAISIES is her second feature with an economic length of 76 minutes, perhaps still remains as her most well-known work in her filmography.A whimsical, outlandish and provocative escapade about two young girls, both named Marie, Marie I (Cerhová), is a black-haired, Bardot-ish seducer and Maire II (Karbanová) is a blonde gamine, devilishly chic. Introduced by a robotic conversation between them, they decide to conduct a decadent lifestyle since the world has sunk to corruption and debauchery.Under Chytilová's unorthodox enforcement of cinematic tricks, the shots are immensely hyperactive, montages-laden with unexpected color-variations, fluidity and image-composition, and the two girls' follies become ever-enchanting, as audience's attention jumps from one scenario to another, they indulge in fine food and let some wealthy man-about-towns pay the bill, then swindle them to board the train on the pretence of going away with them before backtracking in the last minute (it works both ways, they leave with the train while the patron unfortunately misses the train). Occasionally, they snitch money and disturb a pas de deux in a club, revel in their own frolic bravado before being dragging out by the guard.When they are alone in their apartment, food and playfulness continues to running rampant, young suitors' romantic courtships cannot compete with a luxurious milk bath garnished with some raw eggs. A fantastic sleight of hand stuns when they shear each other to smithereens then the fragments being re-arranged into a knowingly comical presence like a misplaced puzzle. Their insatiable gluttony will reach the zenith in the sumptuous episode, where they single-handedly wreak havoc on a lavish banquet, an unapologetic manifesto to ram home epicurism to its dumbfounded spectators.In the coda, the two girls are granted a second chance to redeem their wanton acts, but Chytilová will not risk anything to foil her mischievously nonconformist endeavour. In one word, DAISIES' enduring allure lies in its radical Dadaism style and Chytilová's full liberation of her whimsy and artisan-ship. A fine piece of art can evince a wonderful change from the offerings of cinema's conventional product line, as it manifests in the end, the film is dedicated to those whose spiritual life has descended into completely chaos.

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.