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Daisies



If the entire world is bad, why shouldn't we be? Adopting this insolent attitude as their guiding philosophy, a pair of hedonistic young women (Ivana Karbanová and Jitka Cerhová), both named Marie, embark on a gleefully debauched odyssey of gluttony, giddy destruction, and antipatriarchal resistance, in which nothing is safe from their nihilistic pursuit of pleasure. But what happens when the fun is over? Matching her anarchic message with an equally radical aesthetic, director Věra Chytilová, with the close collaboration of cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera, unleashes an optical storm of fluctuating film stocks, kaleidoscopic montages, cartoonish stop-motion cutouts, and surreal costumes designed by Ester Krumbachová, who also cowrote the script. The result is Daisies, the most defiant provocation of the Czechoslovak New Wave, an exuberant call to rebellion aimed squarely at those who uphold authoritarian oppression in any form.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring film scholars Daniel Bird and Peter Hames
• New interview with film programmer Irena Kovarova
• Documentary from 2002 about director Věra Chytilová
• Documentary about the artistic collaboration among Chytilová, cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera, and screenwriter Ester Krumbachová
• Two short films from 1962 by Chytilová: A Bagful of Fleas and Ceiling
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic Carmen Gray

Looks like we get an extra doc and two shorts, and lose a commentary from the Second Run release? Are those two shorts/doc worthwhile or available on another release somewhere, so one can avoid the Criterion double-dip without sacrifice?

I noted this in another thread yesterday, but does Criterion have beef with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan? they're basically the only label to have never commissioned either, and their commentary from the Second Run isn't ported here. seems bizarre given y'know, the subject of the movie

therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:14 pm Looks like we get an extra doc and two shorts, and lose a commentary from the Second Run release? Are those two shorts/doc worthwhile or available on another release somewhere, so one can avoid the Criterion double-dip without sacrifice?

Ceiling is on SR's Fruit of Paradise while Bagful of Fleas has a dedicated release shared with Something Different, though those are both just DVD releases

The Second Run disc does say the commentary is "exclusive", maybe they were really serious about that.

Both shorts are on the Criterion Channel. I recall liking both of them, though it’s been a while since I’ve watched them. A Bagful of Fleas was released on disc by Second Run along with Something Different, though it’s DVD only and may be out of print. I’m not sure about any other releases.

What A Disgrace wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:21 pm The Second Run disc does say the commentary is "exclusive", maybe they were really serious about that.

that would be fair! just still is a bit odd...

Daniel Bird and Peter Hames are two of the best though, so no complaints. but unless one really wants the 4K transfer here, you're safe just keeping the SR release

therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:14 pm Looks like we get an extra doc and two shorts, and lose a commentary from the Second Run release? Are those two shorts/doc worthwhile or available on another release somewhere, so one can avoid the Criterion double-dip without sacrifice?

The shorts would be the main reason for me to double-dip since it’s not a 4K disc despite the 4K restoration, but even then, they can be found elsewhere so even though this is one of my all-time favorite films, I won’t be in a rush to get it since I have the Second Run release.

fiendishthingy wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:22 pm Both shorts are on the Criterion Channel. I recall liking both of them, though it’s been a while since I’ve watched them. A Bagful of Fleas was released on disc by Second Run along with Something Different, though it’s DVD only and may be out of print. I’m not sure about any other releases.

Second Run usually show on their website if a release is OOP so I wonder if its unavailability means they're planning an upgrade of their own.

Something Different would be an incredible upgrade. it's worth noting All My Good Countrymen and Love both showed OOP before getting upgrades

anyway, to tie this back to Criterion...I wonder if any of the other films from that first Czech Eclipse will get upgraded or not. I wager no, Daisies is clearly a big Channel hit for them, The Party and the Guests probably not

They don’t only release big hits though- a lot of films this year have been idiosyncratic or virtually unknown. They love copying Second Run with superfluous releases too, so The Party and the Guests, which is a beloved Cannes entry, feels all but guaranteed

I watched A Bagful of Fleas and Ceiling today, and liked them both a fair amount, especially Ceiling which is a remarkably intimate engagement with feelings of exploitation in a world of alienation, centered around an individual who is relentlessly silenced and superficially celebrated at once. This release just got a bit more enticing!

n/m

I guess I WILL be double dipping.

The shorts included are fantastic, and on par with the feature in my opinion, so I'll probably do the same

It's interesting that the 2022 restoration which the Criterion is sourced from has several shots in sepia or other tints while the Second Run is in black and white, and overall cooler looking. I have no idea which is more accurate as I've never seen the film before but the Criterion's warmer tones *feel* more right and the images overall more balanced to me. The Second Run is from 2018 and also from the National Archive (though maybe not the same materials?), so I'm surprised to see such stark differences between the two. I wonder how the restoration team arrived at the results in the 2022 restoration since Věra Chytilová and her DP passed away in 2014 and 1991 respectively.

This is one of those films I’ve for some reason have seen four times on 35mm. Three times with an archival print from the Czech Republic, once from Janus Films’ 35mm restoration about a decade ago. The Criterion edition is how I remember the film’s colors. It can also be my memory playing tricks with me, but I remember those moments as sepia toned, not black and white, with the overall color having an overall yellow/green hue.

I'm very intrigued by the extreme difference here. some shots I say Criterion look better and others I say Second Run. I wish I liked the movie more - I have the SR and appreciate the dual (complimentary) commentaries as well as the doc. I'm sure the shorts will make it to BD from them at some point as they upgrade Something Else and Fruit of Paradise, since they're on those discs.

either way, looks like a great release - Criterion have made all of their Czechoslovak (though none of them have been Slovak so far, I should note) Blurays/Second Run ports very worthwhile releases. all of them are worth double dipping for if you like the film, or they're worthy releases if for whatever reason you don't want to get the SR releases. I do hope the films of this era and movement continue to find new audiences in the US thanks to Criterion's wide pull. speaking of that...

therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:09 pm They don’t only release big hits though- a lot of films this year have been idiosyncratic or virtually unknown. They love copying Second Run with superfluous releases too, so The Party and the Guests, which is a beloved Cannes entry, feels all but guaranteed

Party and the Guests would be a fun one, though admittedly I struggle to think how they can add on to the SR, which had a 4K restoration, two excellent commentaries, The Hand, and an incredible cover. at least The Cremator had a new transfer and different extras. I definitely think Distant Journey and Ikarie XB-1 are gonna be the next Second Run "ports" we see from Criterion, and both are certainly in need of wider recognition stateside

Not germane to this particular release, but there appears to be no better thread for it:

I’ve been catching up on my unwatched Second Run discs and the Czechoslovak New Wave collection on the Criterion Channel and finally got to Věra Chytilová’s Something New. I can’t say it was a pleasant watch! It was difficult to sit through the frankly abusive treatment of the child, Mylda, by his (both onscreen and real-life) mother and the abusive treatment of the gymnast, Eva, by her coach. I know better than to judge 1963 by the standards of 2023, but it was still shocking to me nonetheless.

Putting that aside, there was some great filmmaking technique involved here, and I was particularly struck by the shot of Eva at practice, with the camera upside down and which shifts to right side up exactly in sync with her forward walkover. And I definitely appreciate Chytilová’s centering and juxtaposition of the women’s stories. But as much as I admire her skill and importance as a filmmaker in her time and place, I can’t say I’ve actually enjoyed any of her films so far, particularly Daisies (which is just far too whimsical for me). Like a good student, though, I will probably keep plugging away at what’s currently available on the Criterion Channel.

On the other hand, I did really enjoy Ester Krumbachová’s The Murder of Mr. Devil, also playing on the Channel. A very playful and amusing trifle about a woman head-over-heels in love with an actual devil who can’t ever get enough to eat. It’s full of fun surprises and clever situations, and it’s too bad Krumbachová didn’t have an opportunity to direct more films (though the Czechoslovak New Wave wouldn’t have been the same without her many creative contributions in other areas of filmmaking and with other notable filmmakers).

Decided to check this out and it’s immediately rocketed to one of my all time favorites in how much it chooses to disrupt the traditionalist notions of film in such an anarchic, carefree, and slightly cynical that somehow feels transcendent and joyous at the same time. There’s a small shot around the start that features Marie II cutting open a white, colorless blanket revealing the beautiful colors inside of it that I find is probably the perfect representation of what the film is going for. The world of Daisies is one devoid of color and rather dull set to a mechanical score that creates a feeling of monotony but once our central leads decide to go on their journey to be as spoiled as the world, the film bursts into color not only in the presence of people so openly feminine and defiant but as a momentary distraction from a world of restriction (which is presumably why in the film’s depiction of a countryside away from the colorless void of the city life that we’ve seen, the girls don’t have any effect on the villagers as does the girl dubbed the wingless angel who appears in the bathroom, seemingly content with her life). No better is this seen then in the restaurant number where slowly but surely the female dancer of the restaurant’s dancing duo slowly stops dancing, entranced or possibly offended by the Maries as though she’s looking at a younger version of herself and the unruly joy in her youth contrasted with her current life of being made to dance in a way not to far from a puppet, but whatever she’s thinking it makes her stop and look even if just for a couple seconds. And through Daisies’ leads we’re also opened into a new dimension of visuals formed with jump cuts and psychedelics heralded by a women’s perspective in a movement defined by men as though Daisies is proclaiming “this is what the world of cinema is losing by not allowing women to express themselves as freely as the men” although I may be horribly mistaken in that assumption. But Daisies I feel is very much a film that could be viewed at in a load of different ways from it’s politics to it’s biblical parallels, however even ignoring that at the end of the day it’s still a wonderful and splendid time.