(watched in Toronto)
"Broken flowers" won the 2005 Cannes Grand Prix award, which should not be a surprise as Jim Jarmusch has always been loved by the French.
The title however I connect immediately with the lyrics in one of my most favourite Gilbert and Sullivan numbers, in Trial by Jury:
"Comes the broken flower
Comes the cheated maid
Though the tempest lower
Rain and cloud will fade."
This connection is not entirely irrelevant, if we look at some more lyrics in this G&S's shortest operetta, the defendant's plead to the judge on his reason for deserting the young lady, the plaintiff:
"One cannot eat breakfast all day,
Nor is it the act of a sinner,
When breakfast is taken away,
To turn his attention to dinner.
And it's not in the range of belief,
To look upon him as a glutton,
Who, when he is tired of beef,
Determines to tackle the mutton."
This is exactly the plight of Don Johnston (Bill Murray) in the movie, albeit it examines the consequences rather than the process of Don Juan-ism. But while G&S strives on exaggeration, Jarmusch is all minimalism.
This episodic film starts with Sherry (Julia Delpy) walking out on Don, refusing to be his "mistress" playing second fiddle to the remote control of his plasma screen. An anonymous letter in a pink envelop announcing an upcoming visit from a hitherto unknown 19-year-old son and well-intentioned pressure from neighbour Winston (Jeffrey Wright) send Don on a quest to look for the mysterious mother from among five of his old girlfriends. Equipped with a bouquet of pink flowers (a fitting motif) on every call, Don starts out hopeful, but soon finds that the experience is one continuous downhill slide.
Starting out pleasantly enough, the encounter with widowed Laura (Sharon Stone) ends in one night spent with her, presumably for old time's sake. She even asks him to come back whenever he likes, but her daughter who likes to walk around the house with nothing on, appropriately named Lolita, is somewhat disturbing. The flowers are well received.
Next come Dora (Frances Conroy) and her husband Ron, affluent real estate agents, who invite him to stay for dinner. While the meal is friendly enough, the conversation is quite awkward, not exactly what Don would consider a happy reunion with Dora. The flowers are received but embarrassingly placed under a painting which they resemble.
"Animal communicator" (whatever that means) Carmen (Jessica Lange) is not unhappy to see Don but does not have much time for him, and it's plain to see that there is something between her and the attractive assistant (Chloe Sevigny if you've seen her in "Shattered Glass" and "Melinda and Melinda" you would likely be watching out for her other movies). The flowers are returned to Don by this assistant (we never learn her name) at his car before he drives away.
High strung Penny (Tilda Swinton) greets Don with obscenity, just keeps asking what he wants and flies off the handle at his mention of the word "son". The end result is his getting a black and bloody eye from one of the rough characters she stays with. The flowers become a pile of garbage.
The fifth ex-girl friend receives her flowers passively, as they are placed on her gravestone. But the movie does not end there. There is more.
It should be quite apparent by the middle of the movie, if not earlier, that the "mystery" is not the point. What we see is sketches of Don's re-encounter with these women with whom he once shared intimacy, and it is a fascinating mental exercise to reconstruct those relationships based on what we see.
This movie is entirely Murray's show, and I can't think of anyone who can make people laugh so much by doing so little. This actor is phenomenal. Don't miss the movie.
23 out of 40 found this helpful