A Speech by Deputy Pruzinec delivered in the National Assembly on May 17, 1967 concerning the film "Daisies" by Vera Chytilova - Movies - http://maxpages.com/czechcinema/21_Deputies_Against

I submit an interpellation on behalf of 21 deputies in which I would like to demonstrate how money is wasted which the state budget needs. The National Assembly has the duty to express its opinion concerning basic economic, political, and cultural matters of our Republic. We are convinced that the two films we have seen, and which should be released this month, show a road of our cultural life on which no honest worker, farmer, or intellectual would like to embark. The two films, "Daisies" and "The Report on the Party and the Guests", made in the Czechoslovak studios at Barrandov have nothing in common with our Republic, socialism, and the ideals of communism.
I therefore request the Minister of Culture, the Committee on Culture of the National Assembly, the Central Commission of People's Control, and the entire National Assembly to take up this situation and draw proper conclusions against all who prepared these films, and especially against those who were willing to pay for this trash. We ask the directors, Nemec and Chytilova, what political lessons and entertainment value these films can offer to the working people in factories, in fields, and on construction sites? We ask these cultural workers: How long will they poison the life of working people? How long will they ridicule our political achievements? How long will they play with the nerves of workers and farmers, and what kind of democracy do they plan to introduce? We ask these film makers: Why do you think we maintain the Border Guard which fulfills its fighting duty to prevent the penetration of the enemy into our country? Why do we, Comrade Minister of Defense and Comrade Minister of Finance, pay big sums to our domestic enemies and let them destroy, Comrades of Agriculture, the fruits of our work? We request all responsible news media to take up the matter and prevent these few individuals, who are understood by just a few other individuals and for whom we are not building socialism, from poisoning our lives. How is it possible that the principle of even pay for work according to quality, quantity, and social significance is violated?
Comrades, we consider it a duty for all deputies to see these films and to see for themselves that what we said here is correct. To the responsible managers of our film industry, we direct the following question: What kinds of film are you making these days? They are all essentially as bad as those we named above. These are the films: "The Martyrs of Love", "The Sign of the Cancer", and "Hotel for Strangers". We request that showing these films to our public be stopped and that you take your duties more seriously in the future.

Signed by 21 deputies.

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