Post by Vercetti on Nov 27, 2005 16:58:17 GMT
Broken Flowers
Director: Jim Jarmusch
2005 USA/France
Don Johnston's latest girlfriend leaves him the same day he receives a pink envelope that claims he has a son from a previous relationship. His neighbor pushes him to track the woman down. Don isn't interested but for some reason decides to do it, armed with a mix-tape, Mapquest sheets, and his own unknown reason for deciding to go.
"I'm like your mistress, except you're not even married."
Don Johnston (Bill Murray) sits on his couch, completely indifferent from the world it seems. His TV is playing “The Private Life of Don Juan.” His girlfriend walks down, and is about to leave him. She can’t stand her relationship with him anymore, she wants to grow old with someone and have kids, which is the last thing on Don’s mind. She leaves him for being an over-the-hill Don Juan. At the same moment he gets his mail, a pink envelope sticking out from the rest. He takes it to his Ethiopian neighbor’s house, husband, wife, and many children. He snatches a few pieces of cereal from one of the kids as he says “Keep an eye on your Cheerios,” which is funny in a mean sort of way. A second later he helps another kid get his toy from a bookcase. He reads the letter to find that one of his anonymous girlfriends has a son who may be looking for him. He could care less, but his friend Winston is eager to use his internet detective skills.
He gets names of possible girlfriends from Don, and creates a full itinerary for him, complete with a mix-CD for him to listen to. Throughout the rest of the film he drives from woman to woman, listening to music sometimes, and fumbling through the askew Mapquest sheets. He must go to each woman, with pink roses in case she shows a special reaction (the letter was typewritten in pink as well) We don’t even know if he gives a damn about the fact he may have a son, and he probably doesn’t. In one scene he’s on a bus, listening to two annoying teenagers ramble on and on about things, including how a fellow passenger looks like a model. The young man is wearing the same sunglasses as Don. He looks at the kid as if he’s thinking “what if he’s my son?”
The first woman is Laura (Sharon Stone). Her daughter is named Lolita, and she is apparently very comfortable with nudity or lack of clothes, even to a stranger like Don. Don has dinner with them and even stays overnight with Laura. She doesn’t have a son, so he moves on. He goes on to visit several other women, one of which is now buried in a cemetery. Don seems somewhat paranoid. He thinks anyone could’ve written the letter, and even finds it odd that an old flame, Carmen (Jessica Lange) has a dog ironically named Winston. He also sees a young man several times during the travels, and it seems obvious he thinks it could be his son. He is a man lost in his own life.
Bill Murray brings a wonderful performance into Don. He doesn’t have the most lines, but as Omar said, it’s all in his face. Most people will find themselves depending on every facial expression Murray uses through the film, and that’s where the best part of his performance is. He seems to be uncomfortable in social situations with the various women, but he makes an effort with his nonchalant humor, all done perfectly by Murray. In one scene he sits next to a tree, and is ready to cry. We don’t get a big moody cry scene, but we just see his eyelids flood, and the camera cuts away, oddly making it more effective. The supporting cast is very good, especially in Wright, Stone, Lange, and Conroy.
The music is great, diverse and appropriate. My favorite piece is Holly Golightly’s “There Is An End” which plays in the opening and closing credits. In one point Don sits alone in his dark, gloomy home on his couch listening to opera, when Winston comes in to change it to a more up-beat Jazz or Salsa song. Don listens to a mix-CD several times, containing similar songs Winston put on it.
Jarmusch’s direction/writing of course is top notch. He uses fade-outs not unlike the ones he used in “Dead Man” which the average movie-goer will need to get used to. Although the film may feel slow at first Jarmusch quickly picks it up without rushing the pace. The cinematography is wonderful, often cloudy or rainy, adding to the mood of the film. Overall this is a must-see for this year, and so far the best of 2005. Below is my take on the film’s end.
SPOILERS
Throughout the film people may be angry, saying to themselves “Tell them about the letter!” However, after thinking about it on the ride home from the theater, I realized that Don Johnston isn’t a go-getter. He seems to be indifferent to his own life, like the leaf on the ground waiting for the wind to affect its journey. Don simply waits for something to happen to him, which is why nothing is really resolved for him. The only time he really takes action is the ending, where he tells the young man he saw during his travels, “Come on, you think I’m your father, don’t you?” When the young man runs from him disturbed he runs after him, but stops and does nothing once again. The young man had a pink ribbon on his backpack, but is it really significant? No. Just one of many insignificant coincidences amounting to nothing. In his dreams Don remembers the pink things the various women had. I think his final girlfriend wrote the letter. She is seen wearing all pink when she leaves, and even so a color such as pink being associated to one woman is not a strong clue. After all, pink is usually associated with women. Nothing is resolved, because ….
SPOILER END
….Don just can’t bring himself to do what he wants, he’s just a leaf waiting for something to blow him in a different direction. He probably wants to resolve his problems, but can’t even bring himself to bring up the pink letter to anyone other then Winston.
CREDITS
Director[/b]
Jim Jarmusch
Producers
Jim Marmusch/Jon Kilik/Stacey E. Smith
Writer
Jim Jarmusch
Cinematographer
Frederick Elmes
Editor
Jay Rabinowitz
CAST
Bill Murray
Don Johnston
Julie Delpy
Sherry
Jeffrey Wright
Winston
Sharon Stone
Laura
Frances Conroy
Dora
Christopher McDonald
Ron
Jessica Lange
Carmen
Tilda Swinton
Penny
Chloe Sevigny
Carmen's assistant[/size]
Director: Jim Jarmusch
2005 USA/France
Don Johnston's latest girlfriend leaves him the same day he receives a pink envelope that claims he has a son from a previous relationship. His neighbor pushes him to track the woman down. Don isn't interested but for some reason decides to do it, armed with a mix-tape, Mapquest sheets, and his own unknown reason for deciding to go.
"I'm like your mistress, except you're not even married."
Don Johnston (Bill Murray) sits on his couch, completely indifferent from the world it seems. His TV is playing “The Private Life of Don Juan.” His girlfriend walks down, and is about to leave him. She can’t stand her relationship with him anymore, she wants to grow old with someone and have kids, which is the last thing on Don’s mind. She leaves him for being an over-the-hill Don Juan. At the same moment he gets his mail, a pink envelope sticking out from the rest. He takes it to his Ethiopian neighbor’s house, husband, wife, and many children. He snatches a few pieces of cereal from one of the kids as he says “Keep an eye on your Cheerios,” which is funny in a mean sort of way. A second later he helps another kid get his toy from a bookcase. He reads the letter to find that one of his anonymous girlfriends has a son who may be looking for him. He could care less, but his friend Winston is eager to use his internet detective skills.
He gets names of possible girlfriends from Don, and creates a full itinerary for him, complete with a mix-CD for him to listen to. Throughout the rest of the film he drives from woman to woman, listening to music sometimes, and fumbling through the askew Mapquest sheets. He must go to each woman, with pink roses in case she shows a special reaction (the letter was typewritten in pink as well) We don’t even know if he gives a damn about the fact he may have a son, and he probably doesn’t. In one scene he’s on a bus, listening to two annoying teenagers ramble on and on about things, including how a fellow passenger looks like a model. The young man is wearing the same sunglasses as Don. He looks at the kid as if he’s thinking “what if he’s my son?”
The first woman is Laura (Sharon Stone). Her daughter is named Lolita, and she is apparently very comfortable with nudity or lack of clothes, even to a stranger like Don. Don has dinner with them and even stays overnight with Laura. She doesn’t have a son, so he moves on. He goes on to visit several other women, one of which is now buried in a cemetery. Don seems somewhat paranoid. He thinks anyone could’ve written the letter, and even finds it odd that an old flame, Carmen (Jessica Lange) has a dog ironically named Winston. He also sees a young man several times during the travels, and it seems obvious he thinks it could be his son. He is a man lost in his own life.
Bill Murray brings a wonderful performance into Don. He doesn’t have the most lines, but as Omar said, it’s all in his face. Most people will find themselves depending on every facial expression Murray uses through the film, and that’s where the best part of his performance is. He seems to be uncomfortable in social situations with the various women, but he makes an effort with his nonchalant humor, all done perfectly by Murray. In one scene he sits next to a tree, and is ready to cry. We don’t get a big moody cry scene, but we just see his eyelids flood, and the camera cuts away, oddly making it more effective. The supporting cast is very good, especially in Wright, Stone, Lange, and Conroy.
The music is great, diverse and appropriate. My favorite piece is Holly Golightly’s “There Is An End” which plays in the opening and closing credits. In one point Don sits alone in his dark, gloomy home on his couch listening to opera, when Winston comes in to change it to a more up-beat Jazz or Salsa song. Don listens to a mix-CD several times, containing similar songs Winston put on it.
Jarmusch’s direction/writing of course is top notch. He uses fade-outs not unlike the ones he used in “Dead Man” which the average movie-goer will need to get used to. Although the film may feel slow at first Jarmusch quickly picks it up without rushing the pace. The cinematography is wonderful, often cloudy or rainy, adding to the mood of the film. Overall this is a must-see for this year, and so far the best of 2005. Below is my take on the film’s end.
SPOILERS
Throughout the film people may be angry, saying to themselves “Tell them about the letter!” However, after thinking about it on the ride home from the theater, I realized that Don Johnston isn’t a go-getter. He seems to be indifferent to his own life, like the leaf on the ground waiting for the wind to affect its journey. Don simply waits for something to happen to him, which is why nothing is really resolved for him. The only time he really takes action is the ending, where he tells the young man he saw during his travels, “Come on, you think I’m your father, don’t you?” When the young man runs from him disturbed he runs after him, but stops and does nothing once again. The young man had a pink ribbon on his backpack, but is it really significant? No. Just one of many insignificant coincidences amounting to nothing. In his dreams Don remembers the pink things the various women had. I think his final girlfriend wrote the letter. She is seen wearing all pink when she leaves, and even so a color such as pink being associated to one woman is not a strong clue. After all, pink is usually associated with women. Nothing is resolved, because ….
SPOILER END
….Don just can’t bring himself to do what he wants, he’s just a leaf waiting for something to blow him in a different direction. He probably wants to resolve his problems, but can’t even bring himself to bring up the pink letter to anyone other then Winston.
CREDITS
Director[/b]
Jim Jarmusch
Producers
Jim Marmusch/Jon Kilik/Stacey E. Smith
Writer
Jim Jarmusch
Cinematographer
Frederick Elmes
Editor
Jay Rabinowitz
CAST
Bill Murray
Don Johnston
Julie Delpy
Sherry
Jeffrey Wright
Winston
Sharon Stone
Laura
Frances Conroy
Dora
Christopher McDonald
Ron
Jessica Lange
Carmen
Tilda Swinton
Penny
Chloe Sevigny
Carmen's assistant[/size]