Famed Czech surrealist director Vera Chytilova died in Prague on March 12, 2014 at age 85, but she left behind a wealth of singular films and with them, her uncompromising vision. Chytilova came about in the 60s, alongside Menzel and Forman, as one of the most innovative Eastern European auteurs of the avant-garde — not to mention, one of the only females.
The director’s fifth film, from 166, is for diehard cinephiles. Chytilova’s not-easily-digested “Daisies” is the most unconventional of female friendship films, a dreamy, enchanting and, even, alienating tale of two teenage girls who engage in a series of elaborate pranks for their own amusement. The jagged editing and florid production design, which looks at times like a kooky scrapbook, made this one of the most influential Czech films ever, and it shares the innate creepiness of so many films from that country (Jan Svankmajer, for one).
You can stream it on Hulu Plus via Criterion here. Watch the Janus Films re-release trailer below.
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