Daisies

Věra Chytilová’s Daisies (1966) remains a riotous, visually explosive cornerstone of the Czech New Wave, standing as one of the most radical experiments in feminist cinema. The film follows two teenage girls, both named Marie (Ivana Karbanová and Jitka Cerhová), who, upon observing that the world has “gone bad,” decide to become bad themselves. What follows is a series of loosely connected, anarchic episodes: they manipulate elderly men for expensive meals, engage in competitive eating, and systematically destroy their environment, culminating in a legendary final banquet where they literally swing from chandeliers and stomp on a feast intended for high-ranking officials. At its core, Daisies is a profound investigation into the aesthetics of destruction as a form of liberation, using the unruly female body as a weapon against the rigid, gray structures of both patriarchal society and State Socialism.

The film is celebrated for its groundbreaking cinematic techniques, which Chytilová used to mirror the girls’ internal rebellion. Working with cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera, Chytilová employed rapid-fire editing, experimental color filtering, and sudden shifts between monochrome and vibrant, saturated hues. These transitions are not merely decorative but serve to deconstruct the “reality” of the film’s world, suggesting that sense and order are themselves performative constructs. The frequent use of collage—seen in the cutting of magazines and the layering of images—mirrors the Maries’ own desire to cut up and rearrange the world to fit their whims. By abandoning linear narrative in favor of a fragmented, sensory-rich experience, Chytilová aligns the viewer’s perspective with the girls’ anarchic play, forcing a rupture in the traditional, voyeuristic relationship between the camera and the female subject.

From a feminist perspective, the two Maries represent a radical refusal of the “good woman” archetype. They are gluttonous, indolent, and entirely devoid of the domestic virtues or romantic aspirations typical of 1960s cinema. Their behavior is an affront to consumerist logic and social decorum; they consume but do not produce, and they destroy without remorse. This nihilism is infused with a sharp political edge, particularly in the film’s critique of the “Great Men” of history. The final destruction of the banquet can be read as a satirical dismantling of the pomposity of the ruling elite, an act so provocative that the Czechoslovak government banned the film for its depiction of “wasting food.” In doing so, Chytilová exposed the state’s own hypocrisy—their concern for a wasted meal outweighed their concern for the stifled freedom of its citizens.

Ultimately, Daisies is an anthem of female sovereignty and the power of radical humor. The film’s recurring motifs—butterflies, scissors, and clocks—create a symbolic landscape where the ephemeral nature of youth meets the sharp edges of political reality. The ending, which sees the girls attempting to “fix” what they have broken while whispering reassurances to one another, is a biting irony that emphasizes the futility of trying to repair a system that was fundamentally flawed to begin with. By placing two unrepentant girls at the center of this cosmic joke, Chytilová created an enduring blueprint for cinematic rebellion, reminding us that sometimes, the only way to find freedom is to play among the ruins of the status quo.