Daisies (1966)

The Czech New Wave of the late 1960s and early 1970s produced some of the most original works of fiction ever put to film, like writer/director Vera Chytilovà's absurdist farce Daisies (1966)! Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová both play characters named Marie, whose only joy in life comes from pulling pranks on people. The film opens with Marie I and Marie II dancing in their bathing suits next to a tree resembling the biblical Tree of Knowledge. When Marie I grabs an apple and takes a bite, the two are instantly transported back to their apartment where they make a pledge to start behaving badly! This involves going on dates with men, eating excessive amounts of food, and berating the men throughout the date, only to ghost them on a train platform. When they drop by the house of an older woman who hopes to join them in their youthful exuberance, they instead rob her blind and beat her up! The film goes to show that one woman's prank is another's crime! As the two reckon with the chaos and destruction they've left in their week, they find themselves on a collision course with destiny, one which will leave them and their view of the world irrevocably changed! Both Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová spend a substantial amount of screen time scantily clad, with Ivana going completely nude at the 27-minute mark, though an overlay of butterflies in the frame block us from seeing anything! Keep your eyes peeled 20 minutes later, however, when Ivana briefly bares her buns in the bathtub!