26th Hall of Fame

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Good question, if I was doing a full review which someday I will, it would be a
that's subjectively...But objectively (art house rating) I'd say it's a
, though I tend to rate by subjectively.

I expected to hate it, and was bored by the first scene where the girls act like robots with ratcheting sounds, but after that I warmed up to it. I thought the food stuff was funny, gross but funny. It was just so weird how they had this food fixation. I thought it was a very creative, experimental, free-form movie that fits what society was experiencing in the late 1960s.
Fair enough. For the record I've actually almost watched this prior to it's nomination but I had no idea it was anything like this.



Fair enough. For the record I've actually almost watched this prior to it's nomination but I had no idea it was anything like this.
I'd never heard of it myself. It helped that I thought the blonde was cute



We all know that Themroc was really love-it-or-hate-it among us (well, maybe not "love-it" lmao), but Daisies, by comparison, is generally considered to be a much better film. A number of critical essays have been written about it, Criterion included it in one of their Eclipse series on the Czech New Wave, and Sight & Sound listed it as one of the best films of all time in 2012. To my understanding, while ueno_station wanted to pick another weird film for this Hall of Fame, she went with something that has more of a classic status.

As an aside, here's the Criterion essay for this film, if you're curious (scroll down a bit on the page to get to the essay for Daisies).
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IMDb
Letterboxd



For what it's worth, I still found the film conceptually interesting and I'd be interested in seeing another film like this. Though I was left rather cold to some of what went on, I do think the unconventional characters were intentional and another viewing may get me to enjoy it a bit more. Who knows.


Wings of Desire (1987)



The trick is not minding
Daisies



Another Hall of Fame where something is nominated that really doesn't have business being in these things. These two acting ladies were terrible, their voices could be the most annoying in movie history. If there is a point to the movie then that's cool but I really didn't care either way. Any scene with food involved is just pure trash. How one can ever be hungry during this movie would be beyond me. They don't even act like real humans. I can give it a half star for how some of the film looks, but that's all I can do. I'll say it again but I think films like this are an honest deterrent to what we are trying to do here, even if somebody likes it we are basically already knowing what has taken last place before the results are even in. As for my favorite part of the movie? The end credits.

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Honest question here, but what exactly is so objectionable about this film?
Content? *
Just a “bad film”? *
If it’s the former, i would have to see it before having any real opinion on it.
If it’s the latter, I don’t see why it can’t be included, as “bad films” are entirely subjective. Considering it’s status as a classic film, especially in its native coubtry (Czechoslovakia), I’d wager it just didn’t connect with you. Which is fine, but that alone shouldn’t disqualify it from consideration.



Angel AThink this was my first Besson, which seems weird. Had never even heard of this movie so that was fun. Rarely get to see something that I have no idea what to expect. I enjoyed the modern It’s A Wonderful Life twist. I thought the performances and script were very solid.

The look of the film didn’t do anything for me. The B&W felt too sanitized and sharp. Didn’t have that lived in feel.

Overall, solid flick.



Serious question for Daisies fans.

Is there a thematic through line that I am missing that adds to it being compelling for you?

Or is it just the unusual visuals?

Or C, have you always dreamed of drinking milk from a bathtub that your filthy friend soaked in?



Serious question for Daisies fans.

Is there a thematic through line that I am missing that adds to it being compelling for you?

Or is it just the unusual visuals?

Or C, have you always dreamed of drinking milk from a bathtub that your filthy friend soaked in?
It's a film for cinephiles. The film was banned in the Czech Republic on it's release and the Director was threatened with exile - because it showed gratuitous rebellious behaviour which men didn't approve of outwardly let alone women. If you look at the lineage of film, if it wasn't for the likes of Daisies, we wouldn't have what we have now. It opened up a path to more freedom of expression, more open film-making. French new wave had started this a few years before, but an Eastern European producing films like this was almost unheard of.

In terms of theme - you take what you will from it - I take it as a direct assault on male establishment, male authority and manhood.

Imagine being a woman in Eastern Europe in the 60s watching this. You'd feel utterly liberated.



Just my opinion anyway. Sorry to hijack the thread.



It's a film for cinephiles. The film was banned in the Czech Republic on it's release and the Director was threatened with exile - because it showed gratuitous rebellious behaviour which men didn't approve of outwardly let alone women. If you look at the lineage of film, if it wasn't for the likes of Daisies, we wouldn't have what we have now. It opened up a path to more freedom of expression, more open film-making. French new wave had started this a few years before, but an Eastern European producing films like this was almost unheard of.

In terms of theme - you take what you will from it - I take it as a direct assault on male establishment, male authority and manhood.

Imagine being a woman in Eastern Europe in the 60s watching this. You'd feel utterly liberated.



Just my opinion anyway. Sorry to hijack the thread.
You aren’t hijacking the thread.

Maybe what your saying about being a woman during this time and seeing this is true. I just don’t see it when the women in the movie aren’t doing anything that’s liberating. I definitely feel like this movie would be more for the male gaze than some kind of freedom cry.

I would say calling this a movie for cinephiles is more than a little condescending.



Here’s looking at you, kid.
It's a film for cinephiles. The film was banned in the Czech Republic on it's release and the Director was threatened with exile - because it showed gratuitous rebellious behaviour which men didn't approve of outwardly let alone women. If you look at the lineage of film, if it wasn't for the likes of Daisies, we wouldn't have what we have now. It opened up a path to more freedom of expression, more open film-making. French new wave had started this a few years before, but an Eastern European producing films like this was almost unheard of.

In terms of theme - you take what you will from it - I take it as a direct assault on male establishment, male authority and manhood.

Imagine being a woman in Eastern Europe in the 60s watching this. You'd feel utterly liberated.



Just my opinion anyway. Sorry to hijack the thread.

So the film is better in the right context?

Wonder if everyone that didn’t appreciate it didn’t know it’s origins, either way, I’ll be sure to read up on it before giving it a look see 👀



So the film is better in the right context?

Wonder if everyone that didn’t appreciate it didn’t know it’s origins, either way, I’ll be sure to read up on it before giving it a look see 👀
I wouldn't tell anyone how to watch a film, how much to read up on it before or afterwards etc. But this film is lauded by certain parts of the film world, and it does therefore insert a bit of intrigue as to why, so maybe it does require context put next to it to fully appreciate it.

That's why I said this film is for cinephiles. It's highly unlikely a casual film viewer who just likes to be instantly entertained by movies would stumble across this film and love it.

Having said that, it's obviously possible for anybody to still dislike this film. I just think it's quite close to unique.



Serious question for Daisies fans.

Is there a thematic through line that I am missing that adds to it being compelling for you?

Or is it just the unusual visuals?

Or C, have you always dreamed of drinking milk from a bathtub that your filthy friend soaked in?
It's the unusual visuals and the joy these girls extrude, (I think extrude is the right word for this). It sort of reminded me of the old Benny Hill TV show being a series of running gags.

It's a film for cinephiles...
I'm not a cinephile, in fact I'd reject that terminology for myself. I'm just a guy who likes movies. I might like some mainstream Hollywood flick then again I might not...I might like some artsy film, then again not. I did like Daisies though.

So the film is better in the right context?

Wonder if everyone that didn’t appreciate it didn’t know it’s origins, either way, I’ll be sure to read up on it before giving it a look see 👀
The only context I needed was knowing that all over the world, the culture of the young baby boomers was changing in the late 1960s.


Glad to see a little convo happening here



It sort of reminded me of the old Benny Hill TV show being a series of running gags.
On this we totally agree. Pretty much what I was getting at when responding to Scarlet Lion saying it was liberating for women.



On this we totally agree. Pretty much what I was getting at when responding to Scarlet Lion saying it was liberating for women.
It probably was liberating for women and men in a stifled eastern block communist country, though that had no bearing on me liking it. It did help that my wife liked the movie



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The Passion of Joan of Arc


Really liked the close ups. Got a lot of emotion out of Falconetti. I watched the version with the ongoing score in the background and I'm still not sure how I felt about the score. In ways it felt a bit too overpowering for me. I think it was well directed too, you can see that Dreyer put a lot of work into studying the history of the event before he put it to screen. Overall, it's a film that's hard to enjoy and I probably won't come back to it but it still has it's place of importance.




It's been a while since I've seen Daisies, but I do remember liking it quite a bit and I remember reading the film as being about feminist rebellion and anti-patriarchy. After all, the opening conversation between the two leads spells this theme out so clearly it almost borders on bring too obvious.

Regardless, feel free to like/dislike what you want. Let's just try to keep our negative reactions focused towards the film and not towards the person who nominated it. I don't want to make anyone feel bad for nominating a film in this Hall.



It probably was liberating for women and men in a stifled eastern block communist country, though that had no bearing on me liking it. It did help that my wife liked the movie
I suppose that speaks to where me and the sex positive crowd part ways. I don’t see playing up to the male gaze and their fetishes as liberating. I see it as dehumanizing.