Broken Flowers

[Kookamoor]

I saw this film last night, and it was interesting, but I'm not sure if I entirely understood it. Has anyone else seen it and want to discuss it?

(Remember to use spoiler tags!)

 

[Ronny]

I haven't seen it yet but I was thinking of going, I like Bill Murray so much . Is it not very good?

 

[Kookamoor]

Oh, I really liked it (big Bill Murray fan right here!). It was a lot like Lost in Translation in the way Murray played the character. But it's also very symbolic in a lot of ways. I would recommend seeing it if you liked Lost in Translation (which I adored - especially the ending).

One of the things that puzzled me was this:

Spoiler

Remember how there was the camera shot of the wing mirror whenever he was driving? Was the focus always the same? I mean, did the rear view represent his past, and the front view behind the wing mirror represent his future? Did the scene in focus change to indicate that his view of things was changing? Because he comes to some conclusion about the past/present/future when he is talking to the boy outside the sandwich shop.

And do you think the letter was real? Or was it sent by the woman who left him the day the letter arrived?

And what was the significance of the kids in the VW at the very end of the film? Were they supposed to be other contenders for his son?

 

[Sonny673]

I don't see what the critics see. Did we even watch the same film? The drawn out shots of Murray sitting there, or Murray looking awkwardly at an object weren't funny. They just came off overly pretentious. There were very, very few scenes that made me chuckle just slightly, but nothing memorable about anything. The music became repetitive, and it didn't even sit well with me in the first place. The characters had no real background. We were just shown how they were twenty years later, and it left me wondering, "Why so much love or animosity towards Don?" Oh, and where is the other half of the film? There was no resolution at all. My god Murray, I'd rather see you behind a Garfield sequel.

Spoiler

And I think the significance of the kid in the VW in the end is that he is suppose to be his real son. But I think the film is trying to say that in the end it doesn't matter because of the experience Murrays character went through. After all he went through he is a changed person, so even if he doesn't find his son, the trip was still worth it.

 

[Kookamoor]

Hey Sonny, you can add spoiler tags around your text as follows (remove the spaces):
[ SPOILER ] This is a spoiler [ /SPOILER ]

Spoiler

I thought that the kid in the VW was supposed to be another possibility that it could be his son - given he had on the same striped jacket. Murray went from doubting the existence of a son based on hard evidence (the letter) to wanting to find him even when there was a logical explanation for the letter (that his current woman had written it).

I actually enjoyed the awkward silences, to tell the truth. I though it was more realistic than trying to fill it. The driving scenes I'm still trying to figure out... I must be missing some significance. I hope there is significance to them!

Also, did he seem to be constantly in the same environment when he visited his old flames? Where was this filmed? He kept flying off to different places and ultimately ending up in neighbourhoods that looked the same. Intentional? Lazy?

 

[Sonny673]

I'd say low budget is the cause.

 

[Ronny]

I finally watched this and I do think it felt a little flat and I kept think how much more they could have done with the story. It probably is one of those movies that would of been better the second time around but I just didn't have time to watch it again.

I did

Spoiler

feel like the repetativeness in the movie was intentional to represent the ruthless cycle his relationships went through. I was a little puzzled by the end as well

 

[JimMorrison]

From an initial viewing, I thought the film was boring, very slow, and extremely dull.

Bill Murray plays his typical role of a man detached from society. The question everyone has is who Don's son is, who the mother is or whether he even has a son.

After letting the movie lull in my mind for a day or two I realized that its not even about that. There is no answer for those questions.

The films resolution lies in the character arc of Don Johnston. At the beginning he is a man who has obviously lived the life of a frivolous bachelor but something is obviously wrong with him. Something is missing in his life.

On his trip to look for his son, he finds no substantial clues to who the mother really is he finds out a little about himself each step along the way and so he re-evaluates the way he has lived his life.

This is how I see the film. And now that I have realized that I really respect the film. It had a good soundtrack that fit with the gloomy aura and arose good thinking.

7/10

 

[Anamnesis]

From an initial viewing, I thought the film was boring, very slow, and extremely dull.

I agree... only I didn't have a change of heart like you did. The acting was good, but with a cast that includes Bill Murray, Sharon Stone, and Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under") that was to be expected. I did enjoy the soundtrack too. Otherwise I was disappointed.