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Skritek wrote:A little sad that they can't even spell names right.

Please don't be too hard on them, Skritek. Even when one submits a piece which has all the correct Czech diacritics, I know how those names can sometimes get messed up at the printing stage. Let's all be happy that Sight & Sound have the committment to devote a big half-page to the DVD release of a 40-year old film!

Another rave for Daisies - this one from Chris Nielson at DVD Talk

Skritek wrote:A little sad that they can't even spell names right.

As the author of the piece, I can assure you that the spelling was perfect in the original - but something clearly went wrong between receipt and typesetting and it wasn't caught during proofing.

I'm actually more miffed about the substantial cut to the last paragraph, where I went into some detail about the accompanying documentary - I'd have very happily trimmed the middle rather than lose that outright.

But, as Bikey says, it's a half-page piece about a 40-year-old film, so not worth picking too many nits.

Glenn Kenny compares the Facets and Second Run discs and, being neither blind nor mad, reaches the obvious conclusion.

DVD Outsider.

Alongside a fistful of Czech titles, mostly overlapping with Second Run, but some unexpected delights coming from Malavida in France this autumn.
Including our Vera's Fruit of Paradise and the portfolio collection Pearls from the Deep (?) with a segment from her.
Artwork warning. The easily offended should turn away. Hopefully Second run will come to the rescue here.


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Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Alongside a fistful of Czech titles, mostly overlapping with Second Run, but some unexpected delights coming from Malavida in France this autumn.
Including our Vera's Fruit of Paradise and the portfolio collection Pearls from the Deep (?) with a segment from her.

There's an excellent edition of Pearls of the Deep in the Czech Republic, which not only has a vastly superior transfer over the Facets (we're talking night and day) but also throws in the two shorts by Ivan Passer and Juraj Herz which were completed but cut from the feature version to get the running time down to two hours. Unfortunately, it doesn't have English subtitles, so I was hoping that someone like Second Run might ride to the rescue on this.

An insightful and informative article on Daisies by Iain Boal in the current Mute Magazine:
http://www.metamute.org/en/content/they ... he_flowers

Just watching Daisies (1966) now; my impression is that like Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) it features two girls being silly except Daisies is

1) shot on better film stock.

2) less improvised, seemingly not at all; and therefore less rough and more controlled lunacy.

3) far shorter and features faster editing and therefore pace better suited to the flippant tone.

4) more visually experimental, with a fantastic world of images to accompany the girls' silliness, instead of the Victorian film-within of Celine and Julie.

5) I preferred it.

Not that films are about competition, but since the central situation was reminiscent of Celine and Julie it did get me thinking.

Any resemblance is unlikely to be a coincidence, since Jacques Rivette wrote about Chytilova for Cahiers in the late 1960s.

MichaelB wrote:Any resemblance is unlikely to be a coincidence, since Jacques Rivette wrote about Chytilova for Cahiers in the late 1960s.

!!!!! So, well picked by me, but I suppose I'm not that clever. Its the choice of characters and their spirit that is the same.

MichaelB wrote:Any resemblance is unlikely to be a coincidence, since Jacques Rivette wrote about Chytilova for Cahiers in the late 1960s.

He also references her film About Something Else as an inspiration for Out 1:

Another desire I had, at variance with the first, was one that came to me much later, possibly in thinking about Mediterranee and that type of film. It certainly also came to me in connection with About Something Else and other films based on this principle of parallel narratives. This was the desire to make a film which would not be made up of just two interlocking films but of several, a whole series

I guess he just had good taste!

As well as the brilliant showing in the Time Out poll of DVD's of 2009, the Sight & Sound 2009 'DVDs of the Year' poll of international critics is now up on their website, with a great many mentions for Second Run.
Daisies has 5 mentions (making it the most popular!): http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/exc ... f_2009.php

Bikey wrote:As well as the brilliant showing in the Time Out poll of DVD's of 2009, the Sight & Sound 2009 'DVDs of the Year' poll of international critics is now up on their website, with a great many mentions for Second Run.
Daisies has 5 mentions (making it the most popular!): http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/exc ... f_2009.php

Daisies is at the top of my 2009 DVD list as well. Kudos to Second Run--glad that your efforts are getting due recognition.

Screening as part of London's Roxy Bar & Screen's inspired Extraordinary Film Season on Monday June 7th at 8pm with live improv jazz score from Monkey See Monkey Do.

Reminder for those London-based - don't miss DAISIES next Monday 7th June at the Roxy Bar & Screen with Live score by Monkey See Monkey Do.

Věra Chytilová RIP.

Another great talent gone.

Second Run DVD, The Czech Centre, Dazed & Confused, Picturehouse present a special memorial screening in tribute to director Věra Chytilová, pioneer of the Czech New Wave. Chytilová’s anarchic masterpiece DAISIES will screen on Sunday 13th April at 6pm (18.00) at Hackney Picturehouse, London.

This special screening of DAISIES will be accompanied by the UK premiere of Martin Šulík’s 2009 documentary portrait of Věra Chytilová from the acclaimed 'Golden Sixties' TV series.

Introduced by Dazed & Confused film critic Carmen Gray.

Blu-ray upgrade later this year.

Finally! I wondered who would be first to do this no-brainer upgrade

Excellent news!

It would be nice if we could get Chytilová's early shorts Zelená ulice and Kočičina as extras, or Chytilova versus Forman which sounds fascinating (unsure if it would be more relevant on another Chytilova or Forman release)

Also, there are a number of theatrical screenings of Daisies taking place across the country as part of the touring season Revolt, She Said: Women and Film after '68. For instance, at Dundee Contemporary Arts on August 26th with Chantal Akerman's Saute ma ville.

October 22
• Daisies (Sedmikrásky, 1966) presented from a new HD transfer from original
materials by the Czech National Film Archive
• Audio Commentary by Daughters of Darkness Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger
• Audio Commentary by film historians Daniel Bird and Peter Hames
• Journey (Cesta, 2004): Jasmina Bla evi s acclaimed documentary film portrait of director Vera Chytilová
• Trailer
• Booklet with writing on the film by author and film programmer Peter Hames
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Region Free Blu-ray (A/B/C)
• Original soundtrack in Dual Mono 24-bit LPCM audio