This, right here, is one of the most wonderful movies. One of the most wondrous. It seems to come out of nowhere, it shines brightly and then flickers away, only to re-appear again and again. It’s the lost highway and the light in the darkness. Sedmikrásky.
Two young girls, both named Marie, decide to be bad. It’s up to you to decide whether they mean bad meaning good (to quote Run DMC) or bad as in evil – which, in a way, also is bad meaning good. It’s an ironic fall from grace. The rest of the movie they go around, codding men, eating a lot, creating havoc. In other words: they bring da ruckus.
It’s maybe the most miraculous film of the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 60s. Like almost any New Wave in cinema history this movement was maybe not rife with sexism but certainly a boys club. Věra Chytilová got in a lot of trouble for making Sedmikrásky. She only got back to making movies in the 70s, still almost frightfully innovative.
Her film just ends, with a dedication to “everybody who only gets upset over trampled lettuce“. Again, it’s up to you to decide what that means (and if you are one of those people). It’s a total mystery. Are Marie and Marie the delightful little sisters of Maldoror? Are they fascists or anti-fascists? Better watch it again.
If I believed “punk“ to be a really great thing I’d now say that this film is punk. But I don’t, so I won’t. It’s just its own thing. Total sui generis greatness.
http://vimeo.com/63689570