Broken Flowers

[Kid_Eternity]

Saw a paper ad for the new Bill Murry film Broken Flowers, heard it's got some good reviews anyone seen it?

 

[Random One]

the advert made it look quite boring, but i like bill murray so still wanna see it-but probably wait till someone gets hold of a pirate copy tho

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing this. I really liked Ghost Dog by the same director, although I wasn't at all impressed with "COffee and Cigarettes", one of the most pointless films I've watched in ages.

 

[marty21]

saw it tonight, really enjoyed it, murray is excellent, although he is pretty similar to his role in lost in translation, i guess he knows what he's good at...great cast, great music...sort of a road trip type feel, mixed with a mystery, and a guy looking back at his past misdeeds....

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Yeah the site kinda gives that Lost In Translation impression...

 

[marty21]

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing this. I really liked Ghost Dog by the same director, although I wasn't at all impressed with "COffee and Cigarettes", one of the most pointless films I've watched in ages.

i loved coffee and cigarettes, all that sitting around and talking shit

 

[oryx]

Saw this last night & thought it was excellent. Just discovered that the soundtrack (includes Holly Golightly, Marvin Gaye & some African jazz) is available on Amazon.

 

[Headcheese]

I really liked it, but found the ending a bit annoying - won't give it away.

 

[Dubversion]

i think the shame with this film is that - i think - Murray agreed to do it and Jarmusch wrote it BEFORE Lost In Translation. so if he retreads the hangdog character in this movie, it's not really Jarmusch's fault

 

[Col_Buendia]

Can't recommend this film highly enough. Loved Ghost Dog, and this confirms Jarmusch's total control of his films, the pacing, the humour, the quirkiness of it all... It seemed to me like every frame was filled up with lots of little details, with loads of visual underlinings of the film's themes; the cast was superb; the jokes were great (anybody notice the road sign just before the two blokes pull up in the 4x4 pickup when Murray is lost & looking for gf #3?); and the music was amazing (again). Jarmusch must have surpassed Tarantino for being able to put a madly eclectic score together with such panache. The film plays around with several genres, I loved the way it sent up the detective genre, and then warped into a road movie without arriving anywhere, and the last shot makes the whole thing into some sort of existentialist comment... Dunno why you didn't like the ending, Headcheese, that was what made it for me... and the look on that bloke's face as he stared out of the VW at Bill Murray was priceless

But what about the scene where Murray has "tea" at the little table with the neighbour's daughter? Brilliant!

PS - had an argument with the missus about whether or not the "MSN" and "Mapquest" logos, which appeared so prominently on Murray's travel documents, were a product placement. I reckoned that these companies wouldn't be interested in the (small) audience that Jarmusch would pull, but she argued that their prominence meant they couldn't be anything else. Anyone else notice them?

 

[ChrisFilter]

Saw it, enjoyed it, could have been better. Went to see it with another big Bill Murray fan, and three not-that-bothereds.. the other three fucking loved it, whereas me and the other Bill Murray fan were left ever so slightly disappointed.

 

[poului]

e56er456w3

well I enjoyed it, worth watching the once anyway.

Shaky start but otherwise quite involving.

 

[rusalki]

But what about the scene where Murray has "tea" at the little table with the neighbour's daughter? Brilliant!

I think Murray is also a bit like ZISSOU... I loved Zissou and Murray is wonderful the way he is.

I saw Broken Flowers on the 21st at the Ritzy and I think is weird, sad, poetic, funny - it has a lot to do with what you dreamt once, and what you have become in the present, and the fact that you don't want in any case to surrender to the changes that life is imposing to you... I mean Murray/Don is the only one who, in a certain sense, has remained the same - all his ex-girlfriend have become someone else, someone new: they changed, they accepted compromises, they met their destiny and gave up their dreams. These are the real broken flowers, the dreams, that Don is not giving up - and so in his living room those wonderful, decaying roses smell and fall, instead of rotting in the bin. It is not a case that the last woman he visited is the one who died. Who couldn't break or change. And he cries, silently (what a scene...), for a past life that is gone. He can't really find his son - I mean, this son is the last symbol of a gone youth. Didn't seem strange to you that both the boys at the end wear a track-suit, like Murray himself - as if they were younger projection than him?... You can't have back life. You can't have a new flower from a dead one. But you can still take care of your dreams. And memories.

I love Jarmush (Dead Man is one of my favourite movie of ... ever).

 

[Col_Buendia]

I think Murray is also a bit like ZISSOU... I loved Zissou and Murray is wonderful the way he is.

Hey, yr link just reminded me I meant to look up the Zissou soundtrack - that beeping track rocks Ta!

Yeah, Jarmusch is god. No doubt. I believe.

 

[Brainaddict]

I liked a lot of things about the film - the locations and lighting and some great characters. I didn't mind the relxed pace too much either - though it was hovering on the border of being a touch too slow in places. However I did think Bill Murray was made to underact a little too much. There's only so many times I want to see him sitting with a hangdog expression on his face not saying anything. I also found it quite a depressing film. The ending doesn't really hold out much hope. The more I thought about it afterwards the more depressing it got.
Still, on the whole I enjoyed it and there were some classic moments. Not for everyone though I think.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Boring fact: the kid in the car is actually Murray's son in real life.

 

[London_Calling]

Anyone else notice them?

Only about 10 times. Ditto the Fred Perry everywhere.

I also saw it at the Ritzy on Saturday night.

Certainly interesting, and I'm still digesting the substance - having now recovered from being beaten over the head for an hour and a half by the not overly subtle 'look-at-my-cool/hip/happening-style' style.


If anyone wants to offer some kind of take on the 'ending', please have at it.

 

[Col_Buendia]

Only about 10 times.

Bugger, I totally misunderstood your post, LC. You were talking about the logos... I thought you meant the road sign! (Just hastily edited this post )So d'you reckon they were product placements or not?

The ending... goodness, it wasn't that confusing, was it? The lines he gave the philosophy student just as they ate their sandwich, the past is gone, the future isn't here, live for the present. Murray's whole search was about trying to change/reform/deny who he was in the present, based on "understanding" something from his past/future (the absent/invented son). Absence of son=unchanged present, hence last shot is of the same Murray that started the film. 'Cept he might have learnt something about the nature of his search.

Convinced? I doubt you are

 

[London_Calling]

HI Colonel - Nah, not over-convinced, to be fair. But on the placement issue, I’d say Hollywood is too cute to offer that kind of promo gratis. For me it was product placement all the way.


Back to the film . . . I didn't really get my head around it at all, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy the journey.

Probably going to look at the four episodes (with his ex’s) separately in another post but, just in general terms:

*Had he not got the head wound, you could have argued he dreamed the whole thing - the 'Dallas' thing
* Who really sent the letter – his neighbour, the girlfriend who was just leaving, himself, one of the four girlfriends, does it matter at all, no one?
* If it was a kind of road trip film, isn’t the journey the most important thing
* 'Broken Flowers' Hmmm ?


I liked being reminded that the way we view past relationships – and partic their ending – is not a shared memory; I can think very fondly of an ex, and she can very easily have hated and regreted the whole experience.

I did a search; here are some ideas to mull over. Maybe. - I'm still finking !

 

[rusalki]

* If it was a kind of road trip film, isn’t the journey the most important thing
* 'Broken Flowers' Hmmm ?

Yes it is. The journey is the main part in every sense. I wrote what I think of the movie some posts ago... maybe some ideas can be a kind of answer (personal, of course) to your doubts...

 

[London_Calling]

... I mean Murray/Don is the only one who, in a certain sense, has remained the same - all his ex-girlfriend have become someone else, someone new: they changed, they accepted compromises, they met their destiny and gave up their dreams. These are the real broken flowers, the dreams, that Don is not giving up - and so in his living room those wonderful, decaying roses smell and fall, instead of rotting in the bin. It is not a case that the last woman he visited is the one who died. Who couldn't break or change. And he cries, silently (what a scene...), for a past life that is gone.

Okay, but I would say that feels like a pretty male perspective, and I'm one as well. You remind me of an old Eagles lyric:

"Your prison is walking through this world all alone".

- I think most people would say that, if you meet someone you're prepared to share life with, life itself becomes a compromise.- that's not to say it's broken, or you've given up.

As for the broken flowers representing dreams. Hell, why not.

He can't really find his son - I mean, this son is the last symbol of a gone youth. Didn't seem strange to you that both the boys at the end wear a track-suit, like Murray himself - as if they were younger projection than him?... You can't have back life. You can't have a new flower from a dead one. But you can still take care of your dreams. And memories.

I didn't get any of the ending. Not a sausage - but I like your idea of memories as dreams to be taken care of.

The kid was interesting, maybe he and Murray represented opposite ends of the same 'guy' type road trip. We never find out about Murray's childhood influences (if memory serves), but we do know the kid has father related issues.

In general terms, still a little baffled - but thanks for the very helpful insights.

 

[Ms T]

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it. However, I did feel very uncomfortable when the Lolita character walked into the room naked. It felt very exploitative to me because she was so young. Did anyone else feel that?

Frances Conroy was great as the uptight, real estate ex, I thought.

 

[rusalki]

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it. However, I did feel very uncomfortable when the Lolita character walked into the room naked. It felt very exploitative to me because she was so young. Did anyone else feel that?

Frances Conroy was great as the uptight, real estate ex, I thought.

Lolita!!! I think the most uncomfortable was Murray/Don!!! You're right you don't know if laugh or feel embarrassed... I guess this is the emotion Jarmush wanted to "suggest".

 

[DJWrongspeed]

although I wasn't at all impressed with "COffee and Cigarettes", one of the most pointless films I've watched in ages.

Presumably you don't like Beckett either? really enjoyed C&C, indulgent, yes, but neverless than brilliantly executed.

Can't make up my mind about Broken Flowers although I admired the ending, no compromise, just a general feeling of despair, unusual for those US films.

 

[rusalki]

Okay, but I would say that feels like a pretty male perspective, and I'm one as well. QUOTE]


!!! Male perspective... but I'm a Female!!!

I don't think the Broken Flowers are the actual lives... They are the lives we expected to have and for some reason we didn't.
Well, yes the dream stuff.

Anyway if now someone would bring me pink flowers I think I'd have my eyes filled with tears... And not because I suffer of compulsive identification with everything (movie, book, song) I discover and adore, no, no, not at all...

 

[London_Calling]

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it. However, I did feel very uncomfortable when the Lolita character walked into the room naked. It felt very exploitative to me because she was so young. Did anyone else feel that?

A) Now you mention it, no.
B) She's 21 years old

 

[London_Calling]

Male perspective... but I'm a Female!!!

Pah !

Okay, I'll write some more nonsense about this tomorrow as it's still on my mind . . .

 

[rusalki]

Okay, I'll write some more nonsense about this tomorrow as it's still on my mind . . .

That means you liked it!!!

P.S. rusalka/i is a female spirit of the water in Eastern Europe.
Can be quite bloody sometimes. A legend says she's the spirit of a dead virgin, or dead bride, or anyway of a girl who died before her time, and she attracts and drowns young men...

 

[Ms T]

A) Now you mention it, no.
B) She's 21 years old

Well I did think afterwards that she must have been a lot older than she looked/her character was.

 

[Brainaddict]

Well I did think afterwards that she must have been a lot older than she looked/her character was.

Did you not think her body looked more mature than her face? For me seeing her naked actually spoilt the joke a bit because she didn't look of lolita age with her clothes off.