Though I have immense respect for Daisies and the governmental distress it caused, I think Panelstory is my Věra Chytilová movie. Depicting a day in an ever-growing Prague housing estate so sprawling even its residents can't give directions within it, the film depicts a kind of terrible Purgatory in which simple task are endless, and the will of man is crushed under the weight too many comedies of errors.A man comes home to find that his girlfriend has not only found out about his son, but also has him locked in a cupboard; the boy locked in the cupboard is someone he's never met.An old man, just arrived from the country, spends the entire day wandering the estate, trying to find the apartment of ths daughter with whom he's come to live. (A daughter who has agreed to take him in only because she wants to exchange his cottage for a car.)A young woman finds out she's pregnant and dreams of marrying her boyfriend, an idea to which her own single mother responds with horror and a slap, appalled that her daughter would sacrifice her future for a man and a child.A pair of workers, finding a squatter in one of the blocks that's not yet officially open, suddenly realize that, if the housing was simply made available to people who have nowhere else to live, everyone would be happy, and there would be much less complaining. (No, they realize, no one would never go for a plan like that.)A young mother tells her friend about how happy she's been since she gave up her academic goals and married, then falls into hysterical tears when her husband comes home, lamenting his lack of appreciation, everything she's sacrificed for him, and her terrible, home-bound isolation.And, all the while, new panels are lifted high in the sky, as the half-empty estate grows on, ensuring paychecks for bureaucrats and union men, if not homes for those who need them. Nothing gets done on time or, if it does, it's done so poorly it has to be redone later, but what choice does anyone have? This is work, or it's home, or it's a life so habitual they can't imagine do anything else. Life has become nothing but a series of small, daily battles, victories which mean nothing more than the opportunity to run into the next wall. You laugh or you cry but, in the end, what does it matter? No one is going to look at you or ask what's wrong, so it's best just to keep to yourself and keep moving.⏩ ☭ Soviet (Bloc) Spring 🌷⏩ 52 Films by Women: watchlist | seen
