Editor

Miroslav Hájek

3: briefs
13:00: average
39 min: in total

On film.briefs3

Daisies

Věra Chytilová, Rudolf Jaroš · 1966

A 1966 Czechoslovak avant-garde landmark, Daisies follows two young women named Marie as they enact escalating acts of sabotage — against men, meals, manners, and meaning. Co-directed by Věra Chytilová and Rudolf Jaroš, it deploys rapid-fire editing, shifting colour palettes, and deliberately artificial performances to dismantle patriarchal and socialist realist conventions. Banned upon release for its 'nihilism', it remains a fiercely intelligent, formally audacious assault on well-mannered spectatorship — less a film to follow than one to withstand and reassemble.

13:00

The Fireman's Ball

Miloš Forman · 1967

Miloš Forman’s 1967 Czechoslovak comedy follows a provincial fire brigade’s annual ball as it slowly derails under the weight of its own good intentions, indifference and procedural inertia. Shot at Barrandov Studios by Miroslav Ondříček and scored by Karel Mareš, it observes without judging, repeats without explaining, and ends without resolving — making its case for the quiet absurdity of communal life through restraint, not rhetoric.

13:00

Loves of a Blonde

Miloš Forman · 1965

Loves of a Blonde (1965), Miloš Forman’s second feature, follows Andula, an 18-year-old shoe-factory worker in provincial Czechoslovakia, as she navigates romance, loneliness and social expectation. Shot on location with mostly non-professional performers and extensive improvisation, it uses documentary-style techniques to build a restrained, unsentimental portrait of young adulthood under late socialism. Its power lies in duration, texture and behavioural authenticity rather than plot or exposition.