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I finally watched "Daisies"--one of the first and defining films of the Czech New Wave. While it wasn't as coherent as I would have liked, I think the overarching message was clear enough to make the film enjoyable. It seemed like the film couldn't decide what it wanted to be: a visual arthouse inventory of manic beauty or a political film with broader philosophical implications: that the hedonistic life is ultimately an empty one--even if that sort of selfish pleasure-seeking existence is the only justifiable way of living, supposing "nothing matters." Some of the shots were pretty for the sake of being pretty with no discernible meaning, which I guess sort of dovetails nicely with the nihilistic undertone. But I had trouble making heads or tails of a lot of it. Some of the symbols were obvious: the scissor-cutting of various phallus-shaped meats, the knife-gutting of the watermelon slices (a metaphorical stand-in I think for the "feminine fruit"). Others: not so much. I feel like I missed out on a lot because I'm not from Czechoslovakia and I am not familiar enough with Czech culture and symbolism. Regardless....I did really like the film.


I also watched the new Office which seems to just get worse and worse. The characters have all become dumber and the show has devolved into stock sitcom gags/slapstick goofiness. I think the show ceased to be compelling when Jim and Pam finally got together. I think the writers sort of relied on the Jim/Pam will they?/won't they? dramatic tension to propel the series along--sort of a cop-out to not have to think up any dramatic plots. Now that they're together, the series has drifted away from the mundane workaday drudgery-based humor to something more like a soap opera. Every episode: it's some big crisis. Michael's leaving. Pam is pregnant. Jan is pregnant. Etc. Etc. Which totally takes away from what made the show brilliant in the first three or four seasons: when episodes revolved around very low-key storylines where nothing much happens. The focus wasn't on the drama, then. The writers had room to make jokes because they weren't so focused on resolving ten colossal plots by the next episode.

Whatever.