Directed by Věra Chytilová • 1963 • Czechoslovakia
The debut feature from Věra Chytilová interweaves two stories simultaneously: one a narrative about a frustrated mother (Vera Uzelacová) discontented with the drudgery of housework, the other a quasi documentary about a gymnast (real-life Olympic gold medalist Eva Bosáková) training for a final competition before she retires. Taken together, they form a piercing portrait of women’s experiences in 1960s Czechoslovakia and a daring first expression of the feminist themes Chytilová would explore in subsequent works like DAISIES.
Up Next in Women Make Film
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Le bonheur
Directed by Agnès Varda • 1965 • France
Starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France BoyerThough married to the good-natured, beautiful Thérèse (Claire Drouot), young husband and father François (Jean-Claude Drouot) finds himself falling unquestioningly into an affair with an attrac...
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Wings
Directed by Larisa Shepitko • 1966 • Soviet Union
For her first feature after graduating from the All-Russian State Institute for Cinematography (VGIK), Larisa Shepitko trained her lens on the fascinating Russian character actress Maya Bulgakova, who gives a marvelous performance as a once heroi...
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Daisies
Directed by Věra Chytilová • 1966 • Czechoslovakia
Starring Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie ČeškováIf 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...