Broken Flowers

As a long time fan of Jim Jarmusch, I had to go see Broken Flowers, his newest directing/writing attempt and first full length film since Ghost Dog (1999).

His films always let me slow down, look and think. Rather than the blockbuster way of force-feeding everything the viewer needs to know and feel, Jarmusch lets you just be there in someone else's life for a bizarre moment. In the case of Don Johnston (Bill Murray), that life would be a little sad and surreal.

The character made me think a lot about Kurt Vonnegut's characters because so many of them are passive people. Passive in the sense that life is happening to them and they are simply letting it carry them along. Don Johnston is a bachelor. Women just seem to happen to him and when they aren't happening, he's perfectly resigned to being alone, sitting in his living room in the dark and sleeping on the couch. The only part of his house you see is that living room, maybe a symbol of the ease at which he can close off other parts of his mind and past.

When he gets a letter on pink stationary from an anonymous ex about a teenage son who may be looking for him, he's ready to throw the letter away and not think about it. His neighbor sets him up on a trip which takes him to see his ex-lovers for some detective work.

The story doesn't make a dramatic conclusion, another reminder that there are no conclusions in life. But in Jarmusch's subtle style, there is development. By the end, Don Johnston takes a slightly more active roll in the mystery. And again, just like in life, all we can expect in such a short amount of time is a small amount of progress.

Posted by Ari at 12:31:13