Still of Marie and Marie in Daisies (1966)
The 1966 experimental Czechoslovakian new wave film "Daisies" directed by Věra Chytilová has challenged the conventions of film and society since its release. The surrealist masterpiece follows two young girls, Marie #1 (Jitka Cerhová) and Marie #2 (Ivana Karbanová), who decide, "Everything in this world is being spoiled," so they too will be spoiled. The movie is riddled with symbolism and decadence. Non-diegetic inserts and sounds, along with discontinuous editing, creates a blur between fantasy and reality.
The mischevious girls engage in absurd high jinks, meant to embody a rebellion against the pervading authoritarianism and marginalization of women in Czechoslovakia. They bathe in milk, teeter precariously on a rickety wooden boat, swing from a chandelier, and rob an elderly woman in a bathroom stall. They ignore and mock a man on the phone confessing his undying love to Marie #1, while eating phallic foods that they cut with scissors. They try to get rid of an older man who wants be with them by sending him away on a train, then board the train themselves when he refuses.
Their frivolous, destructive characters were condemned by audiences, and the film was subsequently banned on the grounds that they carelessly wasted food during an unproductive agriculture season.
Symbolism and Allusion in "Daisies" (1966)
| Apples |
Dolls |
Butterflies |
| Marie and Marie dance in front of an apple tree. Green apples roll across a checkered floor. |
Non-diegetic squeaks are heard when the girls decide to act like dolls, as they move their limbs in a peculiar way |
One of the Marie's becomes involved with a butterfly collector and covers her bare chest with two framed butterflies |
| The showing of apples is a biblical allegory to the story of Eve, symbolizing feminine rebellion |
The stereotyping of young women to look and act like dolls is exaggerated, showcasing the ridiculous expectations of young women put upon by the patriarchy |
In Czechoslovakian culture butterflies are representative of sex and sensuality |