Daisies (film)
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[edit] Introduction
Daisies is a 1966 Czech Film by director Věra Chytilová. It follows two sisters Jezinka and Jarmila, who throughout the film are always engaged in strange pranks as acts of rebellion against the world in which they find themselves living. The plot is hard to follow, and without the greater understanding of the times or the Czech language it is impossible.
[edit] Film Summary
The opening sequence is that of a spinning flywheel with shots of airplanes strafing the ground. The shots of the airplanes are most likely from World War Two. The first scene shows the two main characters sitting in bathing suits. Their conversation is robotic and from that point on they decide to be bad. The Next scene shows Jezinka and Jarmila dancing in front of a tree. The tree has many fruits and resembles the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Once Jezinka eats from the tree, they both fall and appear in their apartment. There is significant action here, with Jezinka looking out the window at a parade and Jarmila eating. The next few scenes are all similar. They show the two girls on a date with an older man, a sugar daddy. Jarmila eats voraciously and Jezinka eventually starts acting like her, eating a lot of food. They eventually go to a nightclub, and they outperform the 1920’s style dancers. They also cause a rutcus with the waiters. Jarmila also goes to an apartment of a man who is a butterfly collector. In this scene there is a lot of butterflies shown as still frames. At the end she says she wants to eat. Later on, the go to a factory. There are still frames of locks, and the building looks run down. They look for "nourishment" and stumble upon a feast presumably set out for communist leaders. They eat the food, make a mess and destroy the room. It then cuts to them being being dunked in water like witches. They decide to go back and make everything right again, and at the end a giant chandelier crushes them.
[edit] Interpretation
The opening sequence can be seen as an establishing shot in a few ways. One, it could set the world up as and industrial and war filled world, like our own. Secondly, it could be juxtaposing creation and destruction. The last possible interpretation is a reference to the military industrial complex.
The first scene can be seen as the women acting as puppets. This is likely the case because at different scenes they acknowledge the director, and this could just establish this fact in this scene.
In the meadow sequence, it can be interpretated as women taking fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is significant because by doing so, they would be able to see what is good and evil. The laws of morality would have been set by God, seen by many as an old man, and they are violating his edicts.
In the “Sugar Daddy” sequences, it can be interpretated as an old man having an affair. Jezinka would be playing the role of a proper woman, not eating or speaking much, and Jarmila being an improper woman, eating ravenously and asking about the older man’s family.
