Synopsis:
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.Read More »
Czech
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Vera Chytilová – Sedmikrásky AKA Daisies (1966)
1961-1970Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtArthouseCzech RepublicExperimentalVera Chytilová -
Vojtech Jasný – Touha AKA Desire (1958)
1951-1960Czech RepublicDramaVojtech JasnýFour stories, four seasons of the year, four periods from the human lifeRead More »
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Tomasz Winski – Hranice Lásky AKA Borders of Love (2022) (HD)
2021-2030Czech RepublicDramaTomasz WinskiPetr and Hana, who after years together share their unspoken erotic fantasies. What begins as an innocent conversation gradually turns into experimentation with a non-monogamous approach to their relationship.Read More »
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Jirí Trnka – Sen noci svatojánské AKA Midsummer Night’s Dream (1959)
1951-1960AnimationCzech RepublicFantasyJirí TrnkaWilliam ShakespeareThe first puppet kinescope in the world. It is based on the famous poetic comedy by William Shakespeare. Three worlds meet in this story: the noble world of three Athens couples, a common popular world of tradesmen amateur theatre and a fairy-tale happiness of magic creatures as elves and nymphs. The film is considered the most remarkable Jirí Trnka work and a milestone in the history of the world animation.Read More »
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Michal Blasko – Obet AKA Victim (2022)
2021-2030DramaMichal BlaskoSlovakiaIrina lives with her son Igor in a small Czech border town. When she discovers that Igor has been assaulted by three Romas her whole world comes crashing down. As times goes on, Irina begins to spot inconsistencies in his story.Read More »
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Miroslav Krobot – Díra u Hanusovic AKA Nowhere in Moravia (2014)
2011-2020Czech RepublicDramaMiroslav KrobotGerman teacher Maruna runs the local pub. It doesn’t look like she’ll ever get married, since there aren’t many suitable men in her small village. But one day, something unexpected happens here, Nowhere in Moravia.Read More »
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Frantisek Vlácil – Holubice AKA The White Dove (1960)
1951-1960ArthouseCzech RepublicDramaFrantisek VlácilA poetic film about a dove getting lost on its way to Prague getting shot down by a paralyzed boy. An artist who finds the dove becomes friends with the boy. Together they take care of it bringing it back to recovery.Read More »
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Jirí Menzel – Zlocin v santánu aka Crime in the Night Club (1968)
1961-1970CrimeCzech RepublicJirí MenzelMusicalQuote:
The charming singer Clara Regina has many admirers. Even the minister of justice fights for her favour, especially enchanted by Clara’s lullaby. Clara’s successes with men are watched with displeasure by her jealous husband, Ikaro Volante. The minister sends a bouquet and a pearl necklace to the singer. The juggler Piterman steals the pearls but frames her shy assistant Pepícek, who, along with inexperienced defence lawyer Vilém Bojanovský, falls victim to blind justice in an unfair world full of intrigue… The form of this outwardly noncommittal crime musical, featuring the songs of Šlitr and Suchý, is influenced by the dark atmosphere that pervaded society after the Prague Spring efforts at reform were crushed in August 1968: the two convicts, performed by this duo from Prague’s Semafor theatre, can now do nothing but sing.Read More » -
Karel Zeman – Poklad Ptacího ostrova AKA The Treasure of Bird Island (1952)
1951-1960AnimationCzech RepublicFantasyKarel ZemanTHE TREASURE OF BIRD ISLAND (POKLAD PTACIHO OSTROVA) – 1952, 77 min. Dir. Karel Zeman. Inspired by a Persian fairy-tale, and told in the ornate style of illustrated Persian manuscripts, Zeman’s first feature is set on a remote island, where the inhabitants discover a legendary treasure that brings them both joy and grief. For the first time in BIRD ISLAND, Zeman combined stop-motion puppetry and traditional animation to create a timeless, glittering world of wonders.Read More »