Broken Flowers

Josh_Boelter

Josh_Boelter

Well-known member
Anyone seen "Broken Flowers" yet? I saw it over the weekend and loved it. Jim Jarmusch and Bill Murray make a great combination. I'm wondering if they used any additional lighting at all. It seemed like everything was shot with available light. A couple of the scenes inside the house in the evening are really dark, and I think it works. Anyway, I thought it was a really interesting character study. Good flick.

Cheers,

Josh
 
I caught it when it first came out. I'm a big fan of "Down by Law". This was a far more interior story with observational humour. Still, I thought it was pretty good.

I could be biased because I find it fascinating when a director explores the how and why of lives (according to the quirks of human nature). When he/she gives the audience room to make the causal connections.

There were some strong performances (especially by his Carribean friend). I know people with similar backgrounds and his portrayal was pitch perfect.

The only question I had, or note of questionability, was Bill Murray's "Don Juan" stature. I couldn't see the appeal, or why women would be so attracted to him. It would have been nice to see a scene with him using his charm. But, that didn't detract from the rest of the pics quality.

I was prepared for the pace of the film, so that wasn't a problem.

I read an interview with Jarmusch where he states that in Cannes (where it won the 2nd highest award) some of his most ardent supporters had a 50/50 reaction to the pic. Half loved it, and the other half thought it was his worst film. He said something to the effect of, "good, at least I'm on the right track. With all of this, his most accessible film crap, I thought I was in trouble". :)


I wonder if the film will garner any Oscar nominations?


Cheers.
 
D_and_G said:
I was prepared for the pace of the film, so that wasn't a problem.
Click to expand...

What prepared you? I liked Deadman, but I never really got into BF.

I thought this film was a lot like life: slow, pointless, and unsatisfying.
 
I thought I posted earlier, but i don't see it now. Maybe I forgot to hit the post button?

Anyway -

1) I was prepared because I read some of the Cannes coverage.

2) It was slow, but kinda' poignant.


Cheers.
 
This movie was sooooooooooooooooo bad. If you like extremely long takes with absolutely NOTHING happening (besides an occasional bad musical choice) then this will be the movie for you! I do not 'get' Jim Jarmusch. Unless his films have slipped into that elusive but coveted niche pool of 'films people say they like in order to sound smart', then I don't get how people enjoy this film. It is just soooooo boring. Why hold on a take of absolutely NOTHING happening? Not an interesting shot. Not on the emotion in someone's face. Just a random shot, for 30 seconds! I mean I respect people who go against the 'film school' grain of "everything in a film has to have a purpose', but what are you trying to acheive here? Are you trying to bore your audience to death? Somebody explain to me why this film is interesting.

I have absolutely NO faith in CANNES either (Broken Flowers won some award there). And sometimes I believe they give their awards to movies JUST because they do things differently. Not because they do things differently WELL. JUST because they do things differently. I remember getting duped for the first time with the wretchedly terrible ELEPHANT. After getting all the praise from Cannes I couldn't wait for this film, even if the lead character got the role solely because he was Van Sant's wet dream. And then, much like this movie, I had to endure pointless six hour takes of absolutely NOTHING happening. Oooh! It's just like real life though! NO! IT ISN'T! It's called a MOVIE! Not a REAL LIFE! If we want real life we'll go LIVE IT!

Anyway, back to Broken Flowers. Here's the reason why the movie was destined for failure regardless of anything else it did right or wrong. THE MAIN CHARACTER DOESN'T WANT TO GO ON THE JOURNEY! You base an entire movie on the idea of a man who's going to find his lost son. And he DOESN'T WANT TO DO IT! If he doesn't care, why the hell should I care? Oh yeah, I don't care! What a piece of crap. Jim Jarmusch is one lucky son of a *****. How this guy gets movies made is anyone's guess.

me
 
Whew, you seem kind of angry, c.g. eads. :laugh:

I can see how people would find the movie boring, but I tend to like movies like this. Nothing physicall happens much of the time, but there's always something going on in Murray's facial expressions.
 
The music was absolutely awesome. I downloaded all the ethopian jazz I could find. I love this stuff now.
The film was absolutely pointless and that wasnt a bad thing. The neighbor character really helped out, if it wasnt for him it would have been kind of unbearable. Still the film has some unforgetable moments, which is hard nowadays, when I see a movie and the next day I dont even remember how it ended.
 
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