Sightlines · reception
How Daisies was received
1966 · Věra Chytilová · Daisies on Sightlines
The arc
Banned at home almost immediately — Czechoslovak authorities shelved it and Chytilová spent years frozen out of filmmaking — while it slowly traveled abroad as an avant-garde curio. Now it's the crown jewel of the Czech New Wave and one of the most beloved experimental films on the internet, period.
What’s debated
The perennial fight: is it a radical feminist statement or pure anarchic nihilism — a label Chytilová herself famously resisted, which only keeps the debate going.
Its footprint
The climactic banquet demolition and the two Maries in their flower crowns are endlessly screencapped — a Tumblr/Pinterest aesthetic touchstone and shorthand for chaotic-girl energy that echoes through fashion shoots and music videos.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd darling and 'coolest film you can put in your top four' — the rare 60s avant-garde film that young cinephiles adopt as a personality.
Did you know? The film was denounced on the floor of the Czechoslovak National Assembly — deputy Jaroslav Pružinec railed against its depictions of wasted food — and it was banned, with Chytilová effectively barred from directing at home for years afterward.